Adding LED light to kitchen pantry

[MikeInOregon]

Our kitchen pantry is really dark. So, I thought since the stove range hood is beside the pantry, I will just tap into a 12 volt wire of the range hood light, run a wire to the pantry and add a light. This sounded like a simple task. I tapped into the 12 volt wire and ground wire of the range hood light and ran the wires into the pantry. The new LED light in the pantry does turn on when the range hood light if off, but the pantry light turns off when the range hood light is turned on. Is it possible to get 12 volt power from the range hood that is not interrupted by the range hood switches?

[MikeInOregon]

I'm happy to report a successful conclusion to the kitchen pantry light project. Thanks to D.E. Bishop and BTP01 for the suggestions. BTP01 pointed me in the right direction by suggesting that the white wire may be the 12 volt ground to use, and it was! The positive side of the LED lights is attached to the hot wire of the range hood light and the negative side is attached to the white wire 12 volt ground. The pantry lights will turn on and off independently of the range light and fan.

I added a door jamb switch so the light will come on when the pantry door is opened and turn off when the door is closed. The switch is connected to the negative side of the circuit. It all works great and my wife and I can actually see inside the pantry now. Excellent!

When taking the pictures I could only stand back far enough to get two of the three shelves in the picture, but you can see that the lights make a big difference. I have one 12 inch LED light bar above each shelf.

Before


After

[BTPO1]

Mike,
In your picture it looks like the red wire coming off the top that is hot when the switch is off is correct. It then goes to the LED and comes back through the black wire. Correct? If you take that black wire and put it to a DC ground you should get a light in the pantry. Those white wires in your picture may be 12VDC grounds, I'm not sure. Be aware if there is no switch at the LED light it will always be on if there is power. A switch would be put in the red wire to stop current flow to the LED. Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

[D_E_Bishop]

Mike, one of the wires to the switch is hot all the time, find that one and the ground and the pantry is on it's own. What type LED light did you use? I've been using strips at home and love them. They come in 5 meter lengths and with adhesive backing, cut in three inch sections if you want. I have an 8 foot under cabinet light with touch pad dimmer, works great.

[MikeInOregon]

I attached a picture of what I have done. The range hood light switch is on the right in picture. The top connector is hot when the hood light switch is off. The top connector is not hot when the hood light switch is on.

I attached the red wire that leads to the new LED light to the top (hot) range hood light connection using the blue tap connector.

I attached the black wire that leads to the new LED light to the bottom (ground) range hood light connector using the blue tap connector.

It looks like I'm close to making this work, but apparently close is not good enough in horseshoes and electricity 🙂 Please point me in the right direction.

[BTPO1]

A picture of what you have or a drawing of what you have done would be nice. The answer to your question is yes depending on where you are getting 12VDC from and how you hook it up. It would need to come off the hot side of the hood light switch with the switch in the off position. Then go to the LED then return to a ground to complete the flow path. JMO