Customer Reviews

Westek ALV30RC 20-Watt Halogen Line Voltage Accent Light Kit, 3 Pack, Bronze

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The price was right for this light kit but I ended up hard wiring the lamps as I could not get the connectors to work. I am an electrical engineer and quite handy around the house so it was not for lack of experience. But now that they are hardwired and working they are fine. These do have 110 volt lamps as opposed to the 12 volt low voltage version that I replaced. I'm not sure if this is a good thing on not as far at lamp life goes.

Installation was not too difficult. I did have a problem with the connections making good contact so I had to CAREFULLY nick the plastic casing on some connections to get it to make contact (you'll understand better what I mean once you get a look at the directions.) I did a lot of cussing, but got them up in an afternoon after a trip to the hardware store. (Explained below in the cons section.)

I love the fact that I didn't have several lights with plugs to plug in due to the aforementioned method of connecting the lights. Basically you hardwire the lights together then add a plug. You can use the inline switch given or simply plug it into a socket. I chose to plug it into a remote control socket (purchased separately at Walgreens) and use a remote light switch to turn it on and off. I hid the remote plugin behind the fridge so I did not lose a counter socket.


CONS:
The heat the lights give off is intense. So I wouldn't buy these if you have limited clearance under the cabinets or other tight spots. I wouldn't put anything closer then 4 inches to the light, save the cabinet you attached it too.

Also they smelled like they were burning for a while, but that has gone away. Suppose it was "new light smell." But it made me nervous due to the heat I mentioned before. I thought it was going to burn my cabinets.

One day one of the glass covers popped off for no reason, didn't break even after hitting the ceramic tile floor. That hasn't happened again and they have been installed for about three months now. So may have been installer error.

I also had to purchase different screws since the ones they had were too short, in my opinion, to successfully hold the lights up.

OVERALL I'm happy as I can be. Still mad at my contractor for "forgetting" to wire for regular lights. But these work and look almost as good.

Hi:

I used these puck light kits before (same manufacturer, same description), bought at a name hardware store. The ones here had an almost too good to be true price. Two of the three light kits were cheaper than one of the five light kits, per light. Well, they are OK, but are missing some of the qualities of the kits I bought before. These don't sit flush against the surface they are mounted on. They are not adjustible to the direction of the light. (It is point straight or nothing, but the other kind have an angle to how the glass cover fits, so you can have them either straight or directed.)

I'm using these for lighting shelves in a open display cabinet so the light puck is fully visable.

This kit is fine if most of the materials are hidden, such as under counter lighting. Installation is easy enough. The price is right. But get something a little better if you need a nicer, finished look, such as as book shelves or a curio cabinet.