Phantom Lighting System

Kitchen cabinet lighting with Phantom linear strips allows the architect and builder a complete freedom of application, and it allows the homeowner and interior designer to expand the decorative quality of kitchen lighting in general. Custom kitchen undercabinet light fixtures manufactured to the exact mounting requirements and dimensions of cabinet undersurfaces and interiors allow designers to source exceptional glare-free luminance thanks to a proprietary method of shielding makes it possible to light countertops, backsplashes, and cabinet interiors with true luxury quality lighting.

We recommend that architects and builders give strong consideration to the benefits of using our linear lighting strips equipped with the latest LED undercabinet lighting technology. We have patented a new festoon lamp design that combines a high intensity light output with a very low heat output. This allows our kitchen cabinet lights to work as completely concealed light sources both underneath cabinets and inside closed cabinets with glass doors.

Kitchen under cabinet lighting can provide an elegant source of task lighting for cabinets and backsplashes. Because they mount on the front undersurface of the cabinet and direct the light across the countertop toward the backwash, illumination more evenly spreads across the surface. The patented shielding that we build into these strips minimize reflective glare to the greatest extent allowable by the laws of physics and reflection. Builders have long noted after they have installed our kitchen under counter lights that homeowners complimented our products on creating both a better work area and a more decorative expression the granite and marble counters commonly found in custom kitchens.

Many of these kitchen cabinets are built with glass doors that allow collections of fine china and dinner ware to be viewed and admired. Illuminating these collections has long been a challenge for builders and designers. Many xenon linear light strips are manufactured specifically for this purpose, but all of them generate heat buildup that limits the amount of time the homeowner can leave them on. Both incandescent and xenon lamps, though very elegant in color temperature and luminance levels, simply radiate too much heat for long periods of operation.

This was one of the LED lighting advantages that led our engineering team to develop the 2800K LED festoon, which is a near-identical match to the color temperature of xenon. The naturally cooler burn of the LED, linked to a unique heat sink we also engineered to work specifically with our cabinet lights, now makes it possible to have the highest quality of light shine radiantly from within cabinet interior space with virtually no forward throw heat. Even more decorative are the effects of these lights when they are dimmed. Low-level lighting can be set at night when the rest of the lights in the room are turned off, allowing late-night guests to admire collections bathed in the warm amber glow of the only high-end warm color LED cabinet lighting on the market. LED also offers the additional advantages of low-power consumption and the longest lamp life of any luminaire on the market, so homeowners can expect a return on their investment in the form of power bill savings and minimized replacement costs.

Phantom kitchen 12 volt LED home cabinet lights can be manufactured as either horizontally or vertically mounted fixtures, depending on the size and build of the cabinet. Because every fixture is cut to the precise dimensions of the surface to which it affixes, ordering these lights simply a matter of calling our factory and publishing drawings or specifications to our team. Our design consultants will answer any questions you may have about which trim mounts and colour temperatures will best work with your cabinet interior and the material build and aesthetic qualities of your counter tops and backsplashes.

Our undercabinet lighting manufacturing facility is located in Houston, Texas. Feel free to contact us toll free at 800-863-1184 for assistance.

We have a network of nationwide distributorships and Phantom lighting sales reps than fan out throughout all 50 states into cities like Scottsdale, Arizona, Seattle, Washington (SEA), Los Angeles, CA, (LAX) Boston, Massachusetts (BOS), Princeton, NJ (EWR), Philadelphia, PA, Dallas, Texas (DWF), Pasadena, California, Chicago, IL (ORD), Baltimore, MD (BWI), and Minneapolis, MN (MSP).

Architects and builders order Phantom TL series linear strips anytime they need a source of under cabinet kitchen lighting capable of meeting all the complex demands of custom kitchen cabinet lighting. Our diversity of trim and lamping options makes this unique task light adaptable to the under surface of any cabinet, and its exceptionally small size makes it very easy to conceal behind the front lip of the cabinet.

We built this versatility into our under kitchen cabinet lighting fixtures because we know how important countertops are to custom kitchens. Just as they function as much needed work areas, counter tops are also foundational design elements. Builders will go to exorbitant lengths and invest expense to install a marble or granite counter that sets the entire tone for interior kitchen design. Because this is such an important room, the appearance of kitchen countertops often plays a pivotal role in establishing home sale price.

The two greatest enemies of countertop aesthetic are reflective glare and shadow. Glare creates white spots that can irritate the eyes of people handling utensils such as knives. Shadows make it hard to distinguish between shades of color, which in turn makes it hard to see food products clearly. Uneven kitchen undercabinet lighting diminishes the aesthetic of custom stone work that characterizes many modern kitchens. To combat these enemies, architects must use under cabinet kitchen lighting fixtures engineered with better trims and more precise angles of light distribution. They must also turn to any number of both traditional and non-traditional festoon lamp designs in order to find the very best color temperature to match to the particular material and design of the countertop they are illuminating.

Phantom lighting strips are intended to function as linear templates that can be customized to specific lamping and trim requirements on a case by case basis. For example, beam distribution angles range from 88 degrees to 166 degrees, depending on which trim you select. Because our under kitchen cabinet lights mount on the forward under surface of the cabinet, the light shines backward across the countertop. While this does not reflection, most of the light that is reflected travels away from the eyes and illuminates the backsplash. This is a much better method lighting a counter than using puck fixtures, which are notorious for creating white spots beneath cabinets. A concealed source also results in more attractive presentation than one produced by visible fluorescent fixtures. In spite of the energy-saving qualities of fluorescents, they invariably create an eyesore by shining glare toward the viewer, and by visibly protruding below the cabinet surface.

A better aesthetic luminance that also saves on energy costs is the new Phantom LED festoon lamp. It is capable of producing a lumens output equivalent to a 5 watt xenon lamp, yet it operates at only 1.7 watts. Its patented heat sink technology draws forward throw heat away from the cabinet and the counter, making this a truly cool-burning source of illumination. Capable of reducing energy costs by as much as 60 percent, the Phantom LED festoon gives homeowners he option of leaving their under kitchen cabinet lights on as decorative luminaires for extended periods of time. Our warmest color temperature, the 2800K, is a close approximation to xenon, and one that is highly favored by builders who install marble and granite countertops. Cooler counter top colors, such as white and off white, are often lit with our 2950K series LED cabinet lighting.

For architects who prefer color temperature ranges between 2600-3000K, Phantom also installs xenon lamps in its linear strips in order to provide that traditional, luxurious lighting effects that xenon has always been famous for. Although the lamp life is much shorter than that of LED (7500 hours as opposed to 40,000 to 50,000 hours), dimmers on our cabinet lights let users offset normal power consumption, driving down operating costs and extending lamp life as a result. Dimmer controls also offer the added aesthetic matching decorative and task lighting levels to precisely compliment general kitchen lighting.

Phantom under kitchen cabinet lighting strips are custom-made to fit the exact specifications of every cabinet undersurface. Trims and lamping options are based on cabinet surface area, material build, color, and decorative pattern. These options are chosen with the help of a Phantom Lighting specialist who knows your industry and can help you match our technology to functional and decorative expectations of your clients.

Our in-cabinet lighting supply facility is located in Houston, Texas. We then distribute these nationwide through our network of lighting suppliers that encompasses all 50 states into cities like Keahole, HI (KOA), Dallas, TX (DFW), El Paso, TX (ELP), Duluth, MN (DLH), Charlevoix, MI (CVX), Montrose, CO (MTJ), Telluride, CO (TEX), Dubuque, IA (DBQ), Mason City, IA (MCW), and Chicago, IL (MDW). We also service clients internationally, with lighting manufacturer representatives working out of Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America.

We invite you to contact us toll free 800-863-1184 to obtain more information on all of these options. You can also request literature on our main website, visit our mobile website, or read through the many informative summaries and FAQs located on our lighting blog. All of these resources contain a wealth of information about our custom; low-voltage lighting products that are the dream come true of art lighting designers and cabinet lighting builders on two major continents.

Undercounter lighting is necessary to both the aesthetics and overall functionality of kitchen design and workflow. Dark spots under cabinets make it hard to see colors and work with tools. Food preparation is difficult (and sometimes a bit unsafe) if you do not have an adequate source of glare-free light to work with. It is also more difficult if the light is unevenly distributed or brighter in some places than in others.

Fluorescent under cabinet lights have long been used for undercounter lighting sources for many reasons. Originally developed as energy efficient task lights, fluorescents could operate for long hours with lower energy cost and less frequent lamp replacements. It made sense to then adapt these same sources to indoor task lighting applications like under undercounter kitchen lighting. In some ways, they are ideal for this task—provided the lighting is uniform and aesthetic outcome is not the highest priority.

Fluorescent undercounter kitchen lights are segmented fixtures that mount in series underneath the rear of the cabinet. Depending on type and origin of manufacture, these segments vary in length. Ideally, these segments can be lined from side to side, end to end, and evenly distribute light across the countertop.

Fluorescent undercounter lighting can work very well in such a setting if the counter features a matte finish that reflects virtually no light, and provided that the fixtures can completely line the posterior undersurface of the cabinet. You will encounter problems, however, if you are looking to build a custom home with more sophisticated cabinetry and countertop design.

Custom cabinets vary and cabinet light solutions cut to standard lengths cannot precisely match their horizontal surface. A series of fluorescent fixtures can still be installed here, but there will be gaps on one end or both due to the fact that standard lengths, even when combined, may not precisely match horizontal measurements. You will see an immediate, noticeable deterioration in the quality of undercounter lighting. Dark spots will appear under the sides of your cabinet due to the lack of lighting uniformity.

The problem becomes more compounded if you are planning to install a granite or marble countertop. Because these surfaces are so reflective, glare becomes just as much of an enemy as shadow. Fluorescent undercounter lights installed at the back of the cabinet will not work here because they will shine light forward across the counter which will then reflect up into the eyes.

For these situations, LED undercounter lighting with linear strips is much more effective than fluorescent lighting. Because they mount to the forward undersurface of the cabinet, they direct light backward away from the eyes and provide a higher quality aesthetic. Custom made strips are to be preferred above standard-sized linear strips because they can be manufactured to fit the exact horizontal dimensions of the cabinet. Glare shields should also be present, with options in light distribution angles offered by the manufacturer as well. Lights should also fitted with dimmers so homeowners can adjust countertop lighting to match general room lighting levels. Furthermore, multiple lamp options should be made available to the builder who needs freedom of choice in selecting light source and color temperature.

To meet all of these requirements, Phantom Lighting engineered the TM series linear task light for kitchen cabinet lighting. The TM strip light can be fitted with your choice of incandescent, xenon, or LED festoon lamps. This series comes in 5 available trims, each one having a specific light distribution angle that allows you to precisely match beam spread in kitchen cabinet lighting applications. TM linear strips are 100 percent dimmable, so homeowners can easily and instantly adjust light levels. Each strip is also glare shielded to minimize spill light and direct the majority of luminance away from the eyes into the back splash.

We have further developed our technology with the patenting a new LED festoon lamps that can closely imitate the color rendering and luminance output of xenon—at only 60 percent of the power consumption. Furthermore, heat sinks built into our festoons make it a cool-operating light source that can be left on for long periods of time without measurable heat buildup.
You can order Phantom LED festoons in the warm color temperature of 2800K, the slightly cooler 2950K, and the cool color 5000K. You can also order incandescent and xenon lamps in the same color temperatures for special, luxury under counter lighting applications. If this is your decision, we recommend you use dimmer controls to minimize heat and power consumption, which will also help keep temperature down and maximize lamp life.

We manufacture cabinet lighting fixtures in our Houston, Texas facility. A network of nationwide lighting supply sales representatives fans out throughout all 50 states into cities like Scottsdale, Arizona, Seattle, Washington (SEA), Los Angeles, CA (LAX) Boston, Massachusetts (BOS), Princeton, NJ (EWR), Philadelphia, PA (PHL), Dallas, Texas (DWF), Chicago, IL (ORD), Baltimore, MD (BWI), and Minneapolis, MN (MSP). We also service clients internationally, with lighting manufacturer representatives working out of Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America.

We invite you to contact us toll free 800-863-1184 to obtain more information on all of kitchen and display lighting products. You can also request cabinet lighting literature on our Phantom Lighting website, visit our Phantom Lighting mobile website, or read through the many informative summaries and FAQs located on our cabinet lighting blog. All of these resources, including our online virtual lighting showroom contain a wealth of information about our custom; low-voltage lighting products that are the dream come true of art lighting designers and cabinet lighting builders on two major continents.