How to Add Cabinet Door Activated Light Switch

New to LED Lighting?

There are tons of benefits from LED lighting including, low maintenance, energy savings, instant on, size advantage and more. Adding something like a door activated light switch to a kitchen is a great starting point and an easy DIY project.

You may also want to examine LED color temperatures to get a feel for what would work with your projects. The various color temperature preferences can vary from person to person, but there are some standards to be aware of.

How the Sensor Works

When your cabinet door is open, the light will come on and when the cabinet door is closed, the light will turn off. Before securing all wires and connections, it is important to make sure the placement of the door switch is properly surface mounted to be activated by the cabinet door.

We recommend doing a couple mock ups before mounting. Without accurately mounting the sensor, the light can flicker as it may not be aligned with the door properly.

If your light switch sensor is sensing your hand when reaching into the cabinet, simply move the sensor to the top shelf of the cabinet and as far to the side of the shelf as possible.

What’s Needed?

The 12V Power Supply

This particular 12V DC power supply is dimmable on the trailing edge or the 12V side. It comes with a 4 foot lead cord to give you some extra space in-between your wall outlet and light fixtures. 

The cabinet door sensor will have an input and an output side. The power supply will connect to the input plug of the sensor. The other sensor wire will then go to your LED light fixture wire.

The 12V Cabinet Door Activated Sensor

This switch activates your LED light(s) when the cabinet door is open. It’s great for standard cabinet LED lights, closet led lights, or drawer lights.

When there is no object in front of the sensor, with a distance over 2″, (this will mean the door is open), the sensor will turn on.

The sensor should be surface mounted in the cabinet about 3/4″ back from the cabinet door. I would suggest a trial run on this to make sure the location is ideal.

The 12V LED Light Fixture

The last piece of the puzzle is the LED fixture. Something like a tape light with adhesive backing could be a good option. These come in a bright white bright white and also a warm white color temperature. This tape light is cuttable and linkable. The roll is 16.4ft and is 12V.

Typically wood color cabinetry looks good with warmer lighting tones and white cabinetry looks great with cooler tones.