How do I hard wire an under cabinet light if it has a plug?

Can I cut the plug and hard wire it to an existing box I stubbed out or should I install a receptacle and plug it in. I would rather hard wire it because the stubbed box will be covered up in a cabinet - I don't want an exposed receptacle "hidden" in my cabinet.

Public Comments

1. You could cut off the plug and hard wire it, or you could look at it this way: when you go to change your fixture, you could just plug it in in to the plug you installed years ago. Its really up to you. If you do put in a receptacle, you should put it in a box, so nobody down the line gets shocked just reaching around
2. Why, if in fact you "stubbed out" a box would you be so indecisive about how to proceed?
3. Follow the cord into the light and simply wire your hard wire in the same spot. I would not recommend splicing into the cord.
4. You need to install a receptacle and plug the light in as designed or get a different fixture. Lamp cord is not designed to be directly connected to rough wiring. The heat rating of the insulation is not sufficient. Also, the wire is usually a very fine stranded type to allow the cord to be very flexible. This generally does not work well when connecting to solid or a heavier stranded wire.
5. I would try to remove the cord and replace it with romex or bx cable if I could. But you cant have joints made up in a junction box thats coverd up. By code you must have access to the junction box at all times, this can be hiden by a cabinet but you have to be able to get to it.