Inexpensive Pantry Lighting!

[Galileo]

The lack of light in the pantry has always bugged me. I suppose if you’re a weekend warrior and only have a can of beans, burger buns, and a bag of marshmallows in the pantry it’s fine as it is. Since we pretty much live in our Oliver for three months at a shot - and we like interesting food - then finding anything in a fairly well-stocked pantry with no light - is a challenge.

Initially, I was using a little “Nebo” LED light that you can get from most hardware stores. It has a motion-sensing feature that is an improvement. I’m still using one of these in the Norcold fridge.

One night, I saw the light in the pantry was coming on without the door being opened. Not sure why, but I think the passive infrared sensor was picking up movement -through- the pantry door or wall. Still dunno why.

At any rate, I found another solution that’s been working well and isn’t subject to being triggered by things moving in the pantry as you drive or other false movement.

Amagle 4 Pack Door Open Automatic... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NVCJLF5?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
 

These are inexpensive enough to not fret over if they don’t work or if one quits on you.

The only real challenge - after trying to figure out the best location(s) - is to line up the magnet with the sensor on the light. Due to the design of the door - and without wanting to design and make custom spacers - you need to mount the magnet close enough to shut the light off when the door is closed. I used a dry erase marker and Post-It flags to help me do this. 
 

Below are a couple of pictures that (hopefully) give you a hint where to mount the magnets once you choose where you want the lights. I placed two in my pantry, but I may go to three or even four. You’ll need to mount the lights as close to the edge as f the pantry opening as possible. Magnets need to be set back away from the edge if the door to clear the frame opening.
 

Reviews on Amazon state that the foam tape supplied is too weak. They’re correct. I replaced mine with 3M “Command” foam mounting tape as I like the option of not leaving goopy adhesive behind if I change my mind.

Finally - since you can’t tell if the light(s) are shutting off when the door is closed, I used my iPhone video camera to monitor it - and verified they DO turn off when I shut the door. (You could also do that with your home fridge if you’ve always been curious if that light turns off!)

(I’d show more pics - but my pantry’s a bit of a mess at the moment…)