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I'm struggling finding a power source for the cabinet lighting in our remodel. The breaker box is very full and I'd rather not re-wire/double up breakers are this time.

Is it ok to pigtail off of one of the LINE inputs of a 20A kitchen GFCI?

These are all LED lighting, which I've read about the issues with GFCI cicruits and LEDs on the load side. Hence, pigtail off of the LINE side.

It would be fed into a metal 4x4 box and conduit.

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    Is there a reason you can't drop down a single receptacle from the kitchen lighting circuit?
    – ThreePhaseEel
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 16:58
  • Short answer: yes, cause there isn't any on this side of the kitchen.
    – eduncan911
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 20:46

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No. A circuit which supplies kitchen countertop receptacles can ONLY serve:

  • Receptacles located in the kitchen or dining area
  • A clock on the wall (remember those)
  • Auxiliary electrical loads in a gas powered oven/range

Even if your installation is grandfathered, you're not allowed to make a grandfathered installation worse than it already is.

However, kitchen receptacle circuits can certainly serve receptacles in the kitchen under or near a cabinet. Are you sure that low-voltage LED lighting doesn't come with some sort of power supply that plugs in?

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  • kitchen receptacle circuits can certainly serve receptacles in the kitchen under or near a cabinet correct, which is basically what I'm asking: I can pigtail on the LINE side of the existing GFCI circuit add receptacles under the cabinet? I cannot find in code where it says I can only have a single GFCI on the kitchen 20A circuit and nothing else on that branch.
    – eduncan911
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 15:49
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    Then you would have a non-GFCI outlet in the kitchen, Which something else could be plugged in to (unlike a dedicated non-GFCI to serve a fridge or freezer hidden at the back of it.) Not sure where you are getting "LEDs plus GFCI's = bad" unless you are using shoddy LED drivers - I've got 30 or 40 LED fixtures which run off a GFCI protected circuit and have no problems with them at all - of course, those are actual UL-Listed devices, not ali-baba or amazon direct-ship self-imported unlisted devices. My trick for that circuit is not having anything that ISN'T a light on it = 0 nuisance trips.
    – Ecnerwal
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 15:58
  • The issue is "tripping the GFCI = lights go out", which is a problem all its own
    – ThreePhaseEel
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 16:58
  • @eduncan911 If it's even remotely possible for a person seeking a socket to plug a coffeemaker, toaster whatever into that, then it must be GFCI protected (in the usual use-cases where they must be; I don't recall them exactly). There is some debate as to whether under-counter sockets such as for garbage disposals need GFCI, but it's tending toward "yes". Eel I can live with under-cabinet lighting going out on a GFCI trip, it's not like it's all the lighting!
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 17:11

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