NA: interior cabinet light switch conundrum?

Huckster79

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Huckster79
Well you guys have given me some solid advice on some other stuff for my kitchen remodel… so here goes again:

wanting to add lighting to the interior of the cabinets… figure it will add some “elegance” as well as functionality of being able to find stuff easier.

I figured it would be a simple project… my conundrum comes in switching them on. The google has been of little help as all info I find is for under cabinet lights…

was hoping a motion sensor would fire the light- regardless of which door was open or even the drawer up top. See pic below- figured if I ran LED tape lights where it’s marked in red you wouldn’t see them direct and they would illuminate all shelves and even the drawer… figured motion sensor where green mark is.


But almost all the switches say “PIR” or “passive infrared” and says it senses human body temp - concerned that may not fire light unless we wave our hand inside- guess not end of world. But will it fire sensing the drawer being pulled out?

anyone with experience with PIR switches as to how sensitive they are? Some articles say they’ll fire at any motion others say only body heat….

mechanical or magnetic switch cud work but wouldn’t fire on the drawer moving, and would need one on both doors of cabinets with two doors… possibly could run them in parallel? Also liked idea that motion switch could be completely out of the way.

Any ideas?

47763EAC-7063-47C4-81BB-D9F878DD3567.jpeg
 
… “PIR” or “passive infrared” and says it senses human body temp - concerned that may not fire light unless we wave our hand inside..]
That’s a valid concern, we have a PIR controlled light in the pantry. While it *usually* recognizes background IR changes and switches the light on before we enter, it doesn’t always do so.

If you can face the PIR sensor to look out at the larger room then it may catch the background IR change when the cabinet is opened, but that would be dependent on the door blocking the sensor is the one opened, or having two sensors.
 
PIR may or may not work, but probably not as well as you’d want it to.

A guy might be able to work out a reed switch arrangement that would work, but what just occurred to me would be an IR emitter in one cabinet door, an IR receiver in the other door, and a reflective strip on the bottom of the drawer. With everything closed, the light path is complete. Move any of the three parts, the bean is broken and the light comes on.

Better would be the emitter and receiver attached to the inside of the cabinet with reflective strips on all three moving parts; this would involve no flexing wires or drilled holes. Installing would be… fiddly, though.

A martini ago I could probably have come up with a good solution.
 
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What I don’t like about reed switches is not being able to figure out how to not need three of them per cabinet. Then again, maybe it’s just not a problem.
 
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thanks for the ideas so far!

I was wondering if something reflective would help.


Yea three switches per door seems like more lil wires than I’d like… but man idk if I don’t if this will work reliably.

I ordered a “pre-canned” PIR on a tape light roll from Amazon for $13 to kinda experiment with.
 
What I don’t like about Rees switches is not being able to figure out how to not need three of them per cabinet. Then again, maybe it’s just not a problem.
Not sure why you would need three, they are just an Double Pole switch (the ones I posted a link to at least). so just run the switches in parallel using only the NC side any time you open a drawer or door the light turns on.

one switch per door/drawer

I use them in series on my Gear warning on my glider. The Gear handle switch opens the circuit when the gear is down. The Spoiler switch closes the circuit when I open them.

Brian
 
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It’s worth a try. I can think of a couple of clever ways to do this, but they’d be a pain to DIY.

A Hall effect switch might be the way to go, but I think it would require some electronics. A single sensor might be able to sense any one magnetic source moving away (or have a fixed magnet and vanes on the moving hits) but honestly… I’ve never designed or built anything with Hall effect switches, so I’m not sure.
 
Not sure why you would need three, they are just an Double Pole switch (the ones I posted a link to at least). so just run the switches in parallel using only the NC side any time you open a drawer or door the light turns on.

one switch per door/drawer
Right, so three per cabinet, right? Each cabinet has two doors and a drawer.
 
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Not sure why you would need three, they are just an Double Pole switch (the ones I posted a link to at least). so just run the switches in parallel using only the NC side any time you open a drawer or door the light turns on.

one switch per door/drawer

I use them in series on my Gear warning on my glider. The Gear handle switch opens the circuit when the gear is down. The Spoiler switch closes the circuit when I open them.

Brian

I’ll have to look again. I was thinking one for each cabinet door on the side boxes, and one for the drawer…

but I guess it would only be two in most boxes…

I need to brush up on my parallel wiring n such, knew it once but it’s faded :)
 
If it helps - PIR needs to things to fire, a difference in temp, and movement. So kind of tricky to do if everything in the cabinet and drawer are the same temp.

If you do magnetic switches, look to alarm parts suppliers. There are a lot of small and hidden magnetic switches designed for doors and such. Should be simple to wire. Consider that they are designed for low voltage, and low current. For reliability you'll need some sort of relay to switch the lights.

Another cheaper way to do it would be to just switch the drawer lights on when the kitchen overhead lights are on. If the lights are dim, you might not notice them, and they won't use much power.
 
Are you sure you need a light strip above a pull-out drawer? I'm having trouble seeing the utility in providing light in a drawer that you are opening into a lighted room. I understand the lighting for the cabinets.
 
Magnetic switches are a good solution, bu they aren't usually rated for 120 VAC. You also don't want to leave the 120v wiring around where a kitchen knife in a drawer may puncture it.

When we moved into our house, it had an incredibly stupid design for the light in the pantry. The door opened inward, and the light switch was on the HINGE side of the door. You had to open the door, enter the pantry, and CLOSE the door to access the switch.

I replaced it with a Silicon Controlled Rectifier, with a 9V transistor radio battery wired through a magnetic switch to the Gate for control. Worked just like a refrigerator light. The battery would last about five years.

Twenty years later, we were having the house remodeled, and I knew the contractor would balk at such a non-code modification. Had them change the light switch to the outside of the pantry door, and I installed a fan timer switch similar to this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Enerlites-HET06A-White-1-5-10-15-20-30-Countdown-Decorator/dp/B00IB0ZJXE/ref=sr_1_8?crid=XBP49JYD414V&keywords=fan+switch&qid=1650640881&s=hi&sprefix=fan+switch,tools,167&sr=1-8&th=1

Typically don't plan to be inside for very long, so it's easy to just punch the "1 minute" button as you enter.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Magnetic switches are a good solution, bu they aren't usually rated for 120 VAC. You also don't want to leave the 120v wiring around where a kitchen knife in a drawer may puncture it.

When we moved into our house, it had an incredibly stupid design for the light in the pantry. The door opened inward, and the light switch was on the HINGE side of the door. You had to open the door, enter the pantry, and CLOSE the door to access the switch.

I replaced it with a Silicon Controlled Rectifier, with a 9V transistor radio battery wired through a magnetic switch to the Gate for control. Worked just like a refrigerator light. The battery would last about five years.

Twenty years later, we were having the house remodeled, and I knew the contractor would balk at such a non-code modification. Had them change the light switch to the outside of the pantry door, and I installed a fan timer switch similar to this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Enerlites-HET06A-White-1-5-10-15-20-30-Countdown-Decorator/dp/B00IB0ZJXE/ref=sr_1_8?crid=XBP49JYD414V&keywords=fan+switch&qid=1650640881&s=hi&sprefix=fan+switch,tools,167&sr=1-8&th=1

Typically don't plan to be inside for very long, so it's easy to just punch the "1 minute" button as you enter.

Ron Wanttaja

Why didn't you just do a switch on the door jamb like a lot of closets use?
 

BTW, the sensor on these are an IR emitter/ receiver pair that shines on the back of the closed door.

If it sees a closed door reflection from a short distance away, light off.

No reflection from open door, light on.

Easy peasy.
 
I’m going to check the ikea ones out, only thing I did t see at first glance we’re small ones for put 9 and 12 inch cabinets.

the good news is I think the PIR may work the one I got from Amazon turned in w the drawer opening and popped on the cabinets the second we put our hand in
 
Any way that touch resistance on a metal drawer/cabinet knob/pull could work? I’m just brainstorming for ya, no idea how to implement it.
 
Why didn't you just do a switch on the door jamb like a lot of closets use?

I did that on the cabinet under the kitchen sink. Mounted the switch tight to an 18" fluorescent fixture. It's not LED because I did it 18 years ago.

:D
 
Any way that touch resistance on a metal drawer/cabinet knob/pull could work? I’m just brainstorming for ya, no idea how to implement it.

touch resistance? I’m not following.

I appreciate the brain storm ideas… that’s what I was looking for
 
Like push button on an elevator that is not an actual mechanically actuated button, or those touch lamps for bedroom or family room where you touch the body of the lamp for off/hi/med/low.

Wire up the knobs using the back screw. You’d have a wire that flexed every time the drawer/door opened though. And you’d have to use a metal uncoated pull/handle.

No idea if a low voltage thing like this exists
 
Like push button on an elevator that is not an actual mechanically actuated button, or those touch lamps for bedroom or family room where you touch the body of the lamp for off/hi/med/low.

Wire up the knobs using the back screw. You’d have a wire that flexed every time the drawer/door opened though. And you’d have to use a metal uncoated pull/handle.

No idea if a low voltage thing like this exists

You'd also have the issue of accidental touches and having to touch it again to shut the light off when closing the drawer. Lord help you with power flashes that seem to trigger those touch lamps to default "on". Every cabinet and drawer light would kick on, lol.
 
I’m ordering these up, along with a USB multi port charging station and USB “extension cords”

the test unit worked to my satisfaction and the simplicity of plug n play vs wiring switches seems nice.

3DD7F6A4-CCE8-4B49-963B-786C9F49DAC4.png

Lots of other custom DIY projects in this project so going to be nice to simplify one! We’re making our own faux cement counters and a custom backsplash that will have old ads for kitchen appliances, handwritten recipe cards, etc behind that pour on epoxy like they do at bars with pennies under it… so this will simplify this touch… Custom DIY automotive painted appliances, etc…

I appreciate all the input, all yawl been very helpful in my “engineering” different aspects of this project.
 
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