DIY Lighting Blog

Who is ready to remodel that kitchen? Maybe you need extra light to meal prep, or you want to host a fabulous dinner party now that we can have people over.  Under-cabinet lighting is an excellent option for that touch of class in your kitchen. Sadly, not all under cabinet fixtures are the same and choosing the right one can be daunting. Join us as we discuss some of the key features to look for when selecting an under cabinet fixture.

Overall Construction:

Even though this fixture is hidden under your cabinet, the quality of the fixture is important. No one wants to buy a fixture only to replace it years later due to poor craftsmanship. Our under cabinet fixture comes in two colors: white or bronze. It is well made and intended to last well into your next bout of creativity. Not only is the fixture made to last, but it is simple and elegant. 

Compatible Lengths:

Cabinets come in varying lengths to accommodate our creativity as well as functionality in our kitchen. No one wants to locate the perfect fixture just to find out that it only comes in two lengths. Fortunately, our undercabinet fixture comes in 9”, 12”, 18”, 24”, 34”, 42”, and 46-inch lengths. Now that the lengths are covered, what about color temperature?

Color Temperature:

Not sure what color temperature is? Learn more here.

Color temp is a personal choice. Whether you like a cooler or warmer-looking kitchen, we got you covered.  With our fixture, you can switch between 3000K (warmest), 3500K, and 4000K (coolest).  Now you don’t have to buy a new fixture or swap out a light bulb just to change the color temp.

The nitty-gritty:

This information may be more interesting to your electrician, but the details are important when selecting a fixture. Our 1⅛” by 3 ½” LED fixture has an excellent color rendering of 90CRI along with an average life of 50,000 hours. It can be dimmed from 10% to 100%.

Like most LEDs, this fixture uses 75% less energy than the standard under cabinet lighting. With the following approvals: Energy Star, JA8, Title 24, and ETL, this eco-friendly fixture does not require an external transformer. See our kitchen blog for how to properly light a kitchen. Plus it is easy to install by any qualified electrician.

Hopefully, you learned a little more about under cabinet lighting, and are excited to try it out. Thanks for dropping by our website. We are a small family business and hope that no matter where you shop you consider buying from a small business. We are Total Lighting Supply and we know lighting. We have been doing it for 30 years plus :)

See our video that we make specifically for this LED Under Cabinet  CCT Selector Light.

Two Shipping Myths Big Business Doesn’t Want You to Know

Who doesn’t like saving money? How many times have you left a website because they didn’t offer free shipping? As a small family-operated online retail company, we get hundreds of questions a day. However, the most popular questions we get are about shipping prices. Almost everyone wants free shipping.  Today we are going to share the top two myths big business doesn’t want you to know.

Myth 1: Free Shipping Always Saves Me Money!

The other guy offers free shipping, why don’t you?  We get this question every day, and every day we tell our customers the same thing. “Shipping isn’t Free.” In all our years of business, we haven't found a single carrier who is willing to ship our orders for free. In fact, every week, our shipping carrier sends us that pesky little invoice requesting payment for service. 

So how does that other guy get away with calling it free shipping then? Here is what they don’t tell you. Let’s say you order a recessed trim for $21.41 with free shipping, and live in a state with 10% sales tax. The cost of the trim is $2.41 and the shipping cost is $19.00. However, you are getting free shipping so these two costs are combined into 1 line item. The 10% sales tax on the $21.41 trim is $2.14, making your total order $23.55. It is only $2.14.”I can’t get a cup of coffee for that much.” “I am getting free shipping, so I don’t mind giving away my money.”

What if the other guy decided to charge you shipping?  Let’s find out. Back to our favorite $2.41 recessed trim. Because they charge you shipping, the $19.00 is a separate line item. This means the 10% sales tax is only being applied to the $2.41 trim, making the order total $21.62 instead of $23.55. You just saved $1.93!! Still not a cup of coffee, but savings is savings.

Now that we know sometimes free shipping isn’t always the best deal. I bet you are wondering “Why does it cost $19.00 to ship that $2.41 trim.” You are not alone. Let’s see why.

Myth 2: The Cost Of Shipping Depends On The Cost Of The Order.  

How could something so inexpensive, cost so much to ship? This recessed lighting trim has to go into a box so it gets to you undamaged. No one wants to delay their DIY project due to a cracked or dented trim. To prevent this mishap, the warehouse puts bubble wrap, air cushions, or paper inside the box to prevent movement. Then they tape, and label the box. We want to focus on the shipping cost, not the handling costs, right?  We use UPS to ship this trim; however, all the common carriers are about the same. 

How are shipping costs determined? All the popular shipping carriers have a shipping calculator on their website. This calculator asks for the delivery location, the dimensions of the box ( Length, Width, and Height), and the weight of the box. With that information, they will tell you how long and how much it cost depending on when you want the package. We use ground service as it is the least expensive. In our $2.41 trim example, we enter the following information: Miami, Florida, 11” x 8” x 8”, and 1 pound. Why Miami? We have been shipping a lot of boxes there right now, but you can go to UPS.com to test this for your location. 

If the box weighs 1 lb, why is the billable weight 5 lbs? All shipping carriers combine the weight and the size of the box to determine the actual cost to transport your package from us to you. The industry calls this “dimensional weight.” After plugging all this information in the shipping calculator, the cost to ship this trim ground from New Mexico to Miami, Florida is $19.00.

What if I put a $5,000 diamond ring into the same box, would it cost more? The delivery location is the same, the box dimensions are the same, and it weighs less than a pound. Using the handy shipping calculator, we find that it still costs $19.00 to ship UPS ground from New Mexico to Miami, Florida. 

If shipping isn’t free, why do we offer free shipping? First, we know that is what people want. Many times that is the first thing consumers seek out when buying online  Second, we need to stay competitive, and offering “free shipping” on some of our products helps us do that.  We are a small family business and we have to try to compete.  If you run a small business you know how hard this can be.

Why do we still charge shipping on some items, if people want free shipping? Well, we want to give our customers the opportunity to find the best deal for their project. Many times a customer can save money having shipping as a separate line item, especially when buying larger quantities or heavier items.

We know you have choices out there, and hopefully, after reading this you are a more informed consumer that will choose Total Lighting Supply for your next lighting project.