Ambiance Undercabinet Lighting

The Ambiance Effect

Undercabinet lighting in a kitchen can be a very effective means to light the countertop workspace. Over the past several years (13) I have been utilizing an application of undercabinet lighting system called "Ambiance", manufactured by Sea Gull Lighting; with fantastic results. I say an application of the Ambiance system, because there are many different products in the line, adaptable for a great number of uses. I will be take you through an installation of one of the systems, including track, cable, sockets, lamps and transformers, and I will be talking strictly about the undercabinet installation application amd considerations.The Ambiance system consists of a flexible nonmetallic base trac, two wire low voltage cable, sockets that stab into the cable and snap on the track, a track cover piece and a transformer to drop the voltage from 120 volt line voltage to the 12 volts necessary to power the lamps.The flexible track section is predrilled along it's length at six inch increments for fastening with flat head wood screws to the underside of the kitchen cabinet. This 48" trac section can be screwed in place, as mentioned, it can be adhered with two-sided tape, held in place with snap-on 1-hole clips, or a combination of all three.The Ambiance cable, a flexible cord with two #10 AWG stranded conductors, is designed to snap into the base track and is held in place by friction, the lamp sockets and/or the snap-on track cover.The Ambiance sockets snap onto the trac while simultaneously two very sharp angled points pierce the insulated conductors in the cable and make contact. A zenon lamp, 5 or 10 watts apiece, of very white high intensity lamp designed for the socket being used, is snapped in place. The Ambiance trac cover can be used (or not) to hold the conductors in place, or to neaten up the work. The sockets are placed at whatever distance apart that is necessary, and in this way I will actually build the lighting fixture in-place, customizing each installation as I go.