How to Hook Up Under-Counter Lighting

Turn off the electricity to the kitchen at the central circuit breaker. To confirm that all power is cut off, plug an electronic device into a kitchen outlet, and make sure it doesn’t turn on.

Unscrew the wall plate from the outlet that's closest to the place where you will install the lighting. Use a screwdriver. Disconnect the wires from the power receptacle, and remove the receptacle from the electrical box.

Make room for all the extra wires you will need for the lights by tracing the outline of a two-gang electrical box over the smaller outlet opening with a pencil. Enlarge the opening in the wall, using a compact cordless power saw. Pry out the old electrical box with a flat pry bar to make room for the new two-gang electrical box.

Drill a half-inch hole through the wall directly below the upper cabinetry with a power drill fitted with a spade drill bit. This hole will allow the power cable attaching the under-cabinet light and the electrical box to run unseen behind the wall.

Cut the appropriate length of 12/2 nonmetallic electrical cable long enough to extend from this hole to the electrical box hole, plus 2 feet. Feed the cable that will connect the under-cabinet light to the electrical box through the half-inch hole, and pull it back through the electrical box hole.

Install a flush-mount light fixture with an integrated on/off switch to the underside of the upper cabinetry. Screw it in place with the screws provided, using a power drill.

Hold the cable in place at the rear of the light fixture by attaching a cable connector to the knockout hole. Strip 6 inches of the plastic sheathing from the nonmetallic electrical cable, and feed it through the cable connector. Tighten the connector’s screws with a screwdriver.

Position the new electrical box close to the enlarged hole, and feed the ends of the dangling cables through the box. Push the box into the hole, and tighten the screws until you feel the box’s plastic fins pull tight against the backside of the drywall.

Join the copper grounding wires together with a pigtail connector.

Cut two 8-inch strips of white wire with a wire cutter. Strip a half inch of the insulation off, and join one end of both strips together with the other two white wires in the box. Fasten one end of an 8-inch strip of white wire to the silver GFCI screw terminal labeled “white-wire line,” using a wire connector.

Cut two 8-inch strips of black wire, strip off a half inch of insulation, and join one end of each wire to the black wire in the box. Fasten one end of an 8-inch strip of black wire to the GFCI terminal labeled “hot-wire line,” using a wire connector.

Attach the remaining end of the black wire to the black wire of a dimmer switch that you have purchased. Use a wire connector. Attach the remaining end of the white wire to the dimmer’s white wire, using a wire connector. Attach the copper ground wire to the dimmer’s green ground wire, using a wire connector. Attach the dimmer’s yellow wire to the light fixture’s black wire, using a wire connector.

Fold all the wires into the box, and secure the switch plate cover with the screws provided.

Connect all the wires in the light fixture by color, using wire connectors. Screw the light bulbs in place, and install the cover on the fixture.