Fire in Kitchen From Undercabinet Lighting

One night while I was sitting at the other end of the house I heard a popping noise.  Hmm, the cats were next to me – not them.  Silence.  Oh, well it went away.  I little later I smelled something, though I hadn’t previously burned dinner.  I got up walked out into the hall, light flashed from the kitchen doorway.  A tiny amount of smoke, sparks and a flame shot out underneath my kitchen cabinet!  As quickly as my hand hit the switch, the little fire dissipated.

What if I hadn’t been home?  OMG the house could have burned down!!!  Technically these are task lights which doubled as the nighttime ambient lighting we always used whether at home or not.  For explanation of task and ambient click here.

Undercabinet Xenon light bar

Photo via WAC Lighting

Whether or not it was the fixture or the bulb,  I stay away from halogen in undercabinet lighting.  Not just because of my fire but because halogen is hot.  So hot it can cook the spices in a cupboard, make oils go rancid and allow a cabinet do double duty as a plate warmer.   Not a good thing.

Benefits of Xenon or LED bulbs:

• Longer bulb life
• Safe – a person can touch a lit Xenon or LED bulb unlike a halogen one.
• Lower energy cost
• Better quality light

Most designers working on a kitchen and bath project now specify Xenon or LED for undercabinet and overhead lighting.   In certain instances homeowners can easily retrofit existing fixtures with new LED or Xenon bulbs.  If not, be safe and just get new fixtures.

As a follow up, the company who produced my fixture has switched their low voltage undercabinet light bars to Xenon and yes, I still use their fixtures.