Under-cabinet lighting usually uses long incandescent tube lamps or halogen lamps, gives off a warm, yellow light (sometimes with dimmers), and is found in kitchens, desks, bookcases, or your numerous trophy cabinets. In addition to tubes, sometimes
under-cabinet lighting takes the form of hockey puck-sized discs. Remember when I said it was warm? Incandescent or halogen lamps produce a lot of heat—almost 90 percent of the energy they use makes it, and the little left over makes light. In addition to adding unwelcome warmth during the summer, the lamps are sometimes hot enough to damage items nearby. (You see where this is going, don’t you?)
Fluorescent lighting is considerably more energy efficient, using most of its tiny bright muscle for light instead of heat. It also lasts 10 to 20 times longer than incandescent light bulbs! And you get lots more light for the same amount of wattage with
fluorescent light bulbs than incandescents. While fluorescent lights have a bad rap in the minds of many consumers, they’ve majorly improved in past years. There's no more flicker, thanks to electronic ballasts, and the way colors are rendered can look quite natural. Plus, compact fluorescent light bulbs now come in some seriously small sizes, so retrofitting your existing incandescent under-cabinet fixture could be a snap.
If you want to keep using incandescent light bulbs in displays you rarely illuminate (read: annual reunion of the 1994 Math Olympians), just turn them off when no one is viewing them. The longer an item is used, the more important that it be energy efficient.
1. Under-cabinet lighting is often a plug-and-play deal, needing only to be attached to the mounting surface and plugged in, being careful to route the cord out of view and out of reach from the workspace. (Hard-wired fixtures require basic wiring skills or hiring a licensed electrician.)