Is halogen or xenon better for a strip undercabinet kitchen light?

Question

Is halogen or xenon better for a strip undercabinet kitchen light?

Answer 1

If budget is not a concern, LEDs are the way to go.  Good color, very low heat, and dimmable.  Kills the budget.

Second choice is xenon.  Better color than flourescent, no flicker, dimmable.  Xenon over halogen because the heat output is less and the bulbs are not as fragile.

Either way, strip lights are much better for under cabinet than puck lights.  Puck lighting tends to be spotty.

Answer 2

I would use a compact florescent light. Not only is it very energy efficient but runs cool. Halogen is power hungry and most of the energy goes to the heat being expelled. Xenon requires a ballast due to their high voltage requirement to light and would not recommend it. Today's compact florescent light has more of incandescent hue in color and draws about only 30 watts for equivalent light from a 100 watt incandescent bulb.

Answer 3

actually, flourescent would be better than the both of them. While your choices give off plenty of light, it is a centralized, and very hot light. Meaning you have a couple of areas of intense light, but also with an intense amount of heat being given off. Flourescent lights meanwhile, give a more even lighting, generate almost no heat, and are extremely cheap to operate. In fact they require so little power that there is actually little cost in leaving them on around the clock!