A cozy, beautiful home is everyone's dream...The modern idea of this dream is somewhat different from what it was 20-30 years ago. In the age of new technologies, there are many design solutions that give the house style, comfort and beauty. These are different materials for finishing wall repairs, practical floor coverings, exclusive furniture.
With the help of ceiling lighting you can makethe interior of the room stylish and individual. And the ceiling today is not just a snow-white whitewash. A modern ceiling can have the most intricate design, it is not always white, and a special highlight is the ceiling lighting, created with your own hands, which radically changes the idea of what beauty and comfort are at home. How to create coziness in the house with the help of ceiling lighting? What options are the most advantageous? There are several ways to illuminate the ceiling. Which one to choose depends on the design of the installation site, as well as on the desired brightness of the lighting and the design of the room. There are neon, LED strip lighting and lighting with built-in spotlights.
Neon lighting: features
Classic neon ceiling lightingconsists of glass tubes with inert gas - neon. The inner surface is treated with a special powder - luminophore, which begins to glow under the influence of voltage.
Scheme of a niche with hidden lighting.For room design, hidden neon lighting is most often used. The lamps are installed in such a way that they are hidden in a special niche, through the open side of which diffused light enters the room. The more hidden the niche (the narrower the hole for the light to exit), the clearer the backlight strip. The easiest way to install neon lighting is to install it in a polystyrene cornice. There are many models on the market that are suitable in size for these purposes. Such lighting can be installed independently, without the help of specialists. The main difficulty is connecting the neon lamp circuit to the electrical network. Neon lighting requires a fairly high voltage to operate, so a special current converter is installed during installation at the rate of one converter for every seven meters. Where to install each converter is planned at the stage of ceiling installation. As a rule, special niches are mounted in the wall using a concrete circle and a grinder, to which current is supplied. A copper wire with a thickness of 2:75 mm2 is sufficient for power supply. In addition to aesthetic functions, neon lamps have a long service life (10-15 years), do not heat up to high temperatures, which significantly reduces fire safety during their operation. The disadvantages of such lighting include high energy consumption and fragility of neon lamps. Return to contents</a>
Illumination of a ceiling by dot fixtures
The device of a spot light.It is often compared to the starry sky, as the spotlights are randomly placed on the ceiling, creating the illusion of the night sky. According to the installation method, there are several options for ceiling lighting with spotlights:
- overhead - the lighting element is located on the ceiling surface;
- built-in - mounted inside the ceiling;
- suspended, similar to a small chandelier.
There are three types of spotlight lamps.All of them operate from a 220 V or 12 V network. When installing an electrical circuit with 12 V lamps, it is necessary to install a current converter. Return to contents</a>
Additional options
The space of a fluorescent lamp is filled with mercury vapor. When an electric current is applied, the mercury vapor is converted into ultraviolet radiation, which subsequently turns into visible light.
Installation of halogen lamps withtransformer in a suspended ceiling. The main disadvantage of such lamps when installing ceiling lighting is the depth of the lamp socket. Therefore, it is necessary to lower the ceiling by 8-10 cm, which is unacceptable in rooms with low ceilings. Fluorescent lamps are economical, and the heat output is low. This allows you to install such lamps in a suspended ceiling made of polyvinyl chloride. LED lamps. The most economical and having the highest efficiency is an LED lamp. A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor that glows when an electric current passes through it. The more LEDs are built into the bulb, the brighter the light. The only disadvantage of such lamps is their high cost. But it's worth it. All the advantages that an LED lamp has allow you to close your eyes to this only drawback. Installing a spotlight on any suspended or stretch ceiling is easy. To do this, you must first prepare a hole to size. In plasterboard ceilings, this can be done using a grinder with a nozzle that matches the diameter. In stretch ceilings, a sharp stationery knife is enough, and the lamp is installed on a special stand that is attached to the main ceiling. Built-in lamps are attached to the ceiling using antennae on a spring. Spotlights are connected to the network using a copper wire with a cross-section of 2:75 mm2. In places where the lamp is installed, sockets are connected that correspond to the type of selected bulbs. Return to contents</a>
LED ceiling lighting with LED strips
Wiring diagram for LED strip with onepower supply. LED strip lighting is becoming increasingly popular. An LED strip is a flat flexible base with LEDs connected to it, which form an electrical circuit when connected. The market offers a wide range of LED strips with a variety of color solutions and lighting programs. According to the density of diodes, strips are 120, 60, 30 diodes per meter. Which one to choose depends on the desired intensity of the backlight. The brightest ones can be used as the main lighting. It should also be noted: the convenience of the LED strip is also in the fact that you can cut any required size in a specially marked place on a flexible base. Installation of such lighting is extremely simple. The electrical circuit consists of the LED strip itself, which is attached to a ceiling niche or ceiling cornice using the adhesive side. A controller is connected to it, acting as a switch, and a power supply, which is connected to the electrical network while observing the polarity. LED strip lighting is the most practical, economical and easy to install. Return to contents</a>
Practical advice of designers
You shouldn't count on the backlight asthe main source of light. Even the most powerful light bulbs built into the ceiling are not able to replace a chandelier that illuminates the entire room in a circle, and not just the place where it is installed. In rooms with low ceilings, a complex structure with light-emitting elements built into each niche will look heavy and tasteless. It is good when the lighting in the interior solves a specific problem, for example, to emphasize the futuristic style of the interior, or there is a need to zone the room, for example, in the kitchen above the dining area. Also, with the help of lighting, you can beat the color scheme of the entire room or, conversely, create a contrast to the overall color scheme. Lighting will look ridiculous in interiors of the Empire, antique, romantic style. That is, in styles where epistolary architectural solutions are used for decoration, such as columns, stucco molding. All furniture is made of solid natural wood in the classical genre. In such interiors, modern lighting will look ridiculous. In addition, when installing niches, you need to remember that they will not be illuminated during the daytime, and such recesses look rather gloomy. Therefore, the main thing to focus on is to make the ceiling please and look impressive even without lighting. A good option is to mount LED or neon lighting in a cornice or niche for curtains. It very advantageously emphasizes the design of the curtain and creates the necessary coziness in the interior. Backlighting in the room is an excellent solution only if you “don’t overdo it”. When creating intricate designs and combining several types of lighting in one room, for example, spotlights across the entire ceiling and LED strip along its perimeter, you should think about how long such a design solution will please and whether the eye will get tired of constantly looking at it.
