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Industry Insight: Under The Counter Strip Lights
Under-cabinet strip lighting has become an essential component in commercial and industrial environments, where functional, durable, and code-compliant illumination is critical. Commonly deployed in food service areas, retail displays, manufacturing workstations, and medical facilities, under-the-counter strip lights provide targeted task lighting that enhances visibility, improves safety, and supports operational efficiency. As energy efficiency and regulatory compliance grow in importance, these lighting solutions must meet rigorous standards—ETL and CE certifications are now industry benchmarks, ensuring electrical safety, electromagnetic compatibility, and adherence to North American and European regulatory requirements.
Beauty (STC) Manufacturing Co., Ltd., established in 1998, has emerged as a trusted leader in commercial and industrial LED lighting solutions. With over two decades of engineering expertise, Beauty STC specializes in high-performance under-the-counter strip lights designed for reliability, long service life, and seamless integration into demanding environments. Backed by a commitment to quality and innovation, the company’s products consistently meet and exceed ETL and CE standards, providing specifiers, contractors, and facility managers with lighting solutions they can trust.
Technical Specs & Certifications
Beauty STC Manufacturing Co., Ltd. designs and manufactures under-counter strip lights to meet the demanding requirements of modern residential and commercial lighting, where precise color rendering, energy efficiency, and environmental resilience are critical. Our technical specifications reflect a commitment to premium performance and longevity, particularly for applications like kitchen task lighting, retail displays, and hospitality settings where accurate color perception is essential.
Lumens per Watt (lm/W) efficiency is a core focus in our under-counter LED strip development. Beauty STC strips consistently achieve a minimum of 120 lm/W at the system level under standard operating conditions (25°C ambient, with appropriate thermal management). High-performance models utilizing advanced SMD LEDs and optimized drivers reach 130-140 lm/W. This efficiency is realized through rigorous component selection, including high-efficacy mid-power LEDs and low-loss constant current drivers, ensuring significant energy savings over the product lifetime without compromising light output or quality. We validate these figures through independent LM-79 testing, providing reliable data for energy modeling.
Color Rendering Index (CRI) performance is non-negotiable for our under-counter solutions. All Beauty STC strips targeting premium applications guarantee a minimum CRI (Ra) of 90, with the vast majority of our portfolio exceeding Ra 95. Crucially, we prioritize the R9 value (saturated red rendering), ensuring it consistently exceeds 50 and often reaches 70+ in our highest CRI (Ra 97-98) offerings. This exceptional color fidelity is achieved through proprietary phosphor blends and strict binning processes during LED manufacturing, ensuring vibrant, natural-looking illumination for food presentation, merchandise, and interior finishes. We provide full IES TM-30-15 reports upon request for detailed color fidelity analysis.
IP Rating selection is application-specific and clearly defined for each Beauty STC under-counter strip series. For standard dry-location installations such as above kitchen counters away from direct water exposure, our strips carry an IP20 rating, indicating protection against solid objects larger than 12.5mm but no water resistance. For installations in damp locations like under bathroom vanities, near sinks, or in commercial kitchen prep areas requiring splash resistance, we offer robust IP65-rated strips. These feature conformal-coated PCBs, sealed silicone jackets, and specially designed end caps to prevent dust ingress and withstand low-pressure water jets from any direction. IP67 options are available for specific demanding environments, though IP65 represents the optimal balance for most under-counter damp location needs. All ratings are verified per IEC 60529 standards.
Beauty STC’s quality assurance is embedded throughout the manufacturing process, directly impacting the reliability and consistency of these specifications. We implement stringent in-line automated optical inspection (AOI) and electrical testing at multiple stages, including 100% aging and photometric verification before shipment. Our strips utilize rigorously binned LEDs from tier-1 suppliers, ensuring minimal batch-to-batch variation in color temperature and output. Superior thermal management is achieved through high-thermal-conductivity flexible PCB substrates and optional aluminum mounting channels, directly contributing to sustained lumen maintenance (L70/B50 > 50,000 hours) and stable CRI over time. All products undergo comprehensive safety certification testing (UL, ETL, CE, RoHS) and are backed by industry-leading warranties, reflecting our confidence in the durability and performance of Beauty STC under-counter lighting solutions. This commitment ensures that the specified lm/W, CRI, and IP ratings are not just initial values but represent dependable, real-world performance throughout the product’s operational life.
Factory Tour: Manufacturing Excellence
Beauty (STC) Manufacturing Co., Ltd. operates a modern manufacturing facility in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, strategically located within one of China’s key industrial hubs. The factory is equipped with advanced production and quality control systems to support high-volume, precision manufacturing of LED lighting products, including specialized solutions such as under-cabinet strip lights.
The production line features state-of-the-art SMT (Surface Mount Technology) machines that ensure accurate and efficient placement of electronic components onto printed circuit boards. These SMT lines are automated and calibrated for high-speed assembly with tight tolerances, allowing for consistent product quality and improved throughput. The use of automated optical inspection (AOI) systems integrated into the SMT process further enhances quality assurance by detecting soldering defects and component misalignment in real time.
To ensure long-term reliability and performance, all LED strip light products undergo rigorous aging tests. These tests simulate extended operation under various thermal and electrical conditions, typically running products continuously for 24 to 72 hours at elevated temperatures. This process helps identify early-life failures and verifies the stability of drivers, LEDs, and thermal management systems before products are cleared for shipment.
Beauty STC has well-established OEM capabilities, offering comprehensive customization for under-cabinet strip lights. This includes tailored lengths, color temperatures, lumen outputs, dimming options (such as PWM, 0–10V, or DALI), and custom labeling or packaging. The company supports clients from initial design and prototyping through to mass production, providing engineering collaboration, circuit design, thermal analysis, and compliance testing for international standards. With in-house tooling and molding resources, Beauty STC can rapidly develop custom profiles, diffusers, and mounting solutions to meet specific application requirements.
Overall, the Jiangmen factory combines automation, quality testing, and flexible manufacturing to serve global lighting brands with reliable, high-performance LED strip light solutions under OEM agreements.
Application Scenarios
Under-counter strip lights serve critical functional and aesthetic roles across hospitality, retail, and corporate environments when applied correctly. In hotels, prioritize installation beneath front desk counters to create a welcoming glow that reduces harsh overhead glare during guest check-in while highlighting branded surfaces. Kitchen workstations and housekeeping supply stations benefit from task lighting that illuminates preparation areas without casting shadows from staff movement. Avoid placing strips where they cause reflections on guest-facing countertops or where heat exposure from appliances exceeds fixture specifications.
For malls, deploy these strips extensively in food court preparation zones to meet health code illumination requirements over cooking surfaces and ingredient stations, ensuring true color rendering for food safety. Retail checkout counters utilize under-counter lighting to discreetly highlight transaction areas and security features without distracting shoppers. Critical installation considerations include selecting IP65-rated strips for wet zones like beverage stations and ensuring channels are fully enclosed to prevent grease ingress in food courts. Never install strips directly above open electrical panels or where they interfere with customer queuing sightlines.
Office applications focus on functional efficiency. Install strips under reception desks to maintain professional ambiance during video calls, and in break rooms beneath countertops to illuminate sink and coffee stations after hours. Server rooms and IT closets require cool-white strips for precise cable management under racks, but thermal management is non-negotiable—maintain minimum 20mm clearance from heat-generating equipment. Avoid placing strips under standard workstations where they cause screen glare; instead, reserve them for specialized task areas like design studios with color-critical workflows.
Installation must address three universal engineering principles. First, thermal management: always mount strips on aluminum channels with continuous thermal contact, never on flammable substrates like plywood, and verify ambient temperatures stay below 45°C. Second, voltage drop prevention: for 24V systems exceeding 5 meters, use parallel wiring with multiple power feeds and calculate wire gauge using our voltage drop charts—never daisy-chain beyond 10 meters. Third, safety compliance: power supplies must be housed in accessible junction boxes with 20% spare capacity, and all connections require IP20-rated connectors in dry areas or IP67 pigtails in damp zones. Crucially, verify local codes for emergency lighting conflicts—under-counter strips cannot substitute required egress illumination. Always conduct photometric validation post-installation to ensure uniformity stays within 1.5:1 ratio for task areas.
Why Choose Beauty STC Lighting
Upgrade your cabinetry lighting with high-quality under the counter strip lights designed for both functionality and elegance. Partner with Beauty (STC) Manufacturing Co., Ltd., a trusted leader in LED lighting solutions, to bring innovative and energy-efficient products to your customers. Our under the counter strip lights offer seamless illumination, easy installation, and long-lasting performance—perfect for kitchens, retail displays, and workspaces. To learn more or discuss a custom solution for your business, contact us today at [email protected] and let Beauty STC illuminate your next project.
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