My NON walk-in pantry has a light at the top of its 10′ inside ceiling. It’s way up there, and I hate changing out the bulb. For years I’ve wanted to go LED, but then something came in from Rockler that got my attention—the Loox LED Light Bar Kit. This is a 22″ LED light bar kit that comes complete with a switch, plug-in power supply, and plenty of cabling to make it work in just about any situation. A light went off in my head (yes, pun intended) and I quickly realized I could solve my problems AND achieve even better functionality than a pull string light.
The Loox LED Light Bar Kit in a Nutshell
This review will be quick—but that’s a good thing. You can probably install this kit in the time it takes me to post this review and upload the photos. The it comes with two 22″ LED light bars and a power supply (called a “driver”) that can handle up to six lights or 30 Watts (there are six connection points for attaching the 5W light bars). Each LED light bar comes with 78″ of wire, so you can really place them anywhere you want—even if you need to locate the driver away from the actual light locations. If you do need more distance for some reason (perhaps you’re going up and over a microwave or need to run it through several cabinets), you can purchase extension leads individually in either 39″ or 78″ lengths.
Since the driver plugs right into an outlet, you don’t have to hardwire the system in place (though you could). The lights are rated to run for 50,000 hours and they run really cool, so there’s not a lot of heat build-up or wasted energy.
Features and Options for the Loox LED Light Bar Kit
Surface mountable- 24V 30W Driver plugs directly into a wall outlet
- Maximum lights/connections: 6
- Energy efficient 5W output per channel
- Lamp life: 50,000 hours
- Option: Dimmer Switch (56850)
- Option: Door Contact Switch (53213)
- Option: Extension leads (39″ 57395 and 78″ 56279)
- Available light bars: 10″ 24V LED Light Bar (59315), 16″ 24V LED Light Bar (54840), 22″ 24V LED Light Bar (55942), 34″ 24V LED Light Bar (58967)
Installing the Lighting Bars in the Pantry
This LED lighting kit is absolutely perfect for under-cabinet lighting, accent lighting, or for adding some extra visibility over a shop table. Of course, I was using them to light up a pantry. I also added one more thing to the mix: the door contact switch. With this configured I could actually get my pantry to come on automatically when the door opened more than an inch.
I started by replacing the bulb in my pantry with a 120V socket adapter—giving me an outlet for the lighting kit. I next mounted the driver on the wall just inside and above the pantry door, rendering it virtually invisible. Before plugging in the driver to the 120V socket outlet, I attached both of the 22″ light bars as well as the door contact switch wire. I mounted the door contact switch near the hinge side of the door. You want to do that so that the door doesn’t have to be completely shut in order to turn off the lights. I have kids and they never shut the door all the way. Plus, the little bit of me that is OCD would never fully trust that the lights were actually turning off! Mounting the switch near the hing side actually allows the door to shut off the light when it’s about an inch or so from closing.
From there, I plugged in the driver and then manually engaged the switch to test the lights and plan where I wanted them. Holding them up, I settled on a nice midpoint, pulled off the tape covering the LED light bars’ sticky adhesive, and pressed them into place on the inside door frame. The sticky adhesive looks like it will hold forever, and the light bars didn’t seem to be fragile at all, even should they happen to get bumped.
The last part of the job was cleanup. I gathered the extra cord and tie-wrapped it in place near the driver on the inside of the pantry. The end result was a very clean look and an automatic lighting system that impressed my wife and kids. The entire installation took about 45 minutes—mostly because I was taking pictures as I went.
Conclusion
For $119, the Loox LED Light Bar Kit from Rockler is a tremendous value. This got rid of a big line item on my “honey do” list and it’s sure to earn you some brownie points should you decide to surprise your significant other with this type of system. There’s aren’t a lot of things I can critique about this system. You have nearly endless options—including various 24V bar lengths and puck options.
Check it out at Rockler.com.
