Rusted Sky

The 12v halogen under-cabinet lighting we've got in the kitchen's getting a bit fragile. The fixtures, due to heat and UV, are getting brittle, and we've been having lenses and bezels fall off. But we like the underlight, it's dimmable and makes the kitchen very pleasant at night - also it was one of the things that sold us on the kitchen, which sold us on the house.

Oddly enough, they don't make the 12v style fixtures any more. I'd gotten some as spares - but we've been talking about putting in tile backsplashes above the counters and now would probably be best to swap the 12v systems for 120v systems. So last weekend I started on the easiest of the jobs, and promptly ran into snags that required the dishwasher be moved out and a lot of holes cut in the cabinet walls. Whoever installed the 12V systems didn't think they'd ever need replacing, apparently. They've put junction blocks behind drywall, ran cords through holes just barely large enough to accept the cord (much less any replacement ones) and overall it's been a lot more fun to swap out 8 lights so far than I would have thought. (And yes, I did try the trick of using string to snake the wires through - but the folks who did this (as I said) had minimal clearances on all turns and holes.) I wish I could use the 12v wiring for 120v, but we're pretty attached to this house and would hate to have it burn down. I just don't trust the wiring to take the extra voltage.So I've been cramming myself into cabinets trying to get wire pulled through the walls, swearing at the folks who installed this stuff, and leaving sufficient slack and large enough access holes so the NEXT swapout will just be annoying, not miserable.

Gotten 8 swapped out so far... only 10 remaining. But those will be the fun ones. 6 terminate in two transformers, which are at the back of a 6" wide cookie sheet cabinet by the side of the stove. I'll have to pull the stove out for those, I think. Well, next weekend will be soon enough to worry about them...

J.