Glass shelves let the light keep going down
Glass passes light down to the level below, so a stack lit only at the top looks fine from three feet away and hollow up close. The top shelf plus every second shelf is often enough; a run on each level can flatten the case.
Fix that number before any strip is cut, because it drives the footage, the driver and the legs.
Solid shelves make every level its own problem
A wood or painted shelf stops light dead, so each level needs its own run, mounted under the shelf above and set back behind the front edge.
Set back too far and the front row goes dim. Half an inch here beats any change of product later.
Reflections in the glass front decide the mounting line
A glazed door reflects a bright strip straight back at whoever is looking in, and the fix is position rather than output: keep the run behind the face frame or door stile. See our note on putting strip behind a glazed face.
Mirrored backs and pale interiors
A mirrored back doubles the objects and the strip, so the mounting line must hide from the reflection as well as the direct view. A pale interior needs less output than a dark one. Neither excuses skipping the dry fit.
Heat in a closed case, and where the driver goes
LEDs and drivers generate heat in normal use, and a sealed cabinet has nowhere to put it. Nothing here runs cool. A profile from the channel and profile catalog helps dissipate it, and reduces but does not guarantee that the dots disappear, with LED density, channel depth and diffuser type all bearing on the result. A channel is never mandatory.
Keep the driver outside the case where you can, and give it air either way. A supply buried in a closed plinth is what installers end up moving. Our guide to what heat does in a sealed enclosure has the wider picture.
Prep, dry fit, mount and wire
Clean and degrease every mounting face, then dry fit each run with nothing stuck down and nothing energized. Put the objects back, close the doors, and look. The step catches a reflection or a shadow while it still costs nothing.
Once the positions are confirmed, cut. Many strips can be cut at designated points and reconnected with compatible connectors or by soldering, depending on the product. A cut-anywhere option such as the MaxCut cut-anywhere COB tape suits varying shelf widths, so check its cut interval, watts per foot, tape width and CRI. Then mount, and run every leg back to the driver in parallel, never one shelf chained into the next. With the lengths fixed, size the supply from the drivers listed by rated output at published watts per foot over the installed footage, plus 20 percent or more current headroom, verified. Nothing in the chain converts voltage for you, so a 24V tape needs a supply and a control both marked 24V.
Now the boundary. Not one connection gets made until the breaker feeding that room is off. A hardwired driver, a junction box, a switch or dimmer box, in-wall cable run into building wiring, and any permanent connection are work for a licensed electrician, done to the manufacturer instructions, to whatever the local electrical code says, and to the NEC where it is in force. A live line voltage connection is not something to test or probe. This guide covers 24V work only, and grants nobody standing to carry out line voltage work without a license.
