The presence of two or more floors in a private house in itself indicates that it cannot do without stairs. Well, the stairs themselves in such conditions most often perform not only a functional role, but also are a decorative element of interior design.
Staircase lighting – which system is better to choose?
When designing and constructing such interfloor passages, many different nuances are taken into account. And the first thing that needs to be taken into account when starting such work is to ensure the maximum degree of operational safety of the structure being created. This concept can include such points as non-slip steps that are comfortable for climbing in height and width, an optimal slope angle for flights of stairs, comfortable and durable fences. And another safety parameter is effective staircase lighting. It is clear that the lighting of staircases inside a private house should also play a decorative role, that is, fit organically into the overall style of decoration of the premises.
Find out how to decorate the space under the stairs with your own hands from our new article on our portal.
Next, we will talk specifically about providing illumination for these interfloor transitions, which can be arranged in different ways, and using various lighting devices.
Step lighting options
Experts advise choosing the type of staircase lighting based on the technological parameters of the staircase. If the flight of stairs is made of wood, incandescent lamps and halogen lamps are not recommended due to their significant heating. Contact between a hot lamp and wood may cause a fire.
Staircase lighting with LED strip is the most common option for lighting the steps of a country cottage, combining the elegance of the solution, ease of installation and cost-effectiveness.
Wooden steps are most often illuminated with warm lamps of a yellowish tint, which can convey the warmth of wood. Metal spans are equipped with cool white light.
In addition, craftsmen always take into account the configuration of the flight of stairs:
- Spiral staircases are usually small in size. The presence of many flexible lines involves the use of LED strip, which is easy to attach to the openwork elements of the spiral staircase. It is advisable to organize lighting for each step, since screw structures are characterized by a significant displacement of the steps.
- The risers do not allow the installation of an LED strip. In this case, spotlights or wall sconces are installed.
- Stairs with clear treads made from tempered fiberglass or acrylic create a fully illuminated effect where a diffusion screen gently spreads light across the entire surface of the step.
- The configuration of the concrete staircase does not allow the use of LED equipment. In such a situation, only wall sconces are applicable.
Ceiling chandelier
Do you have high ceilings at home? The right interior solution would be to choose a chandelier for the staircase in the house. If there are many steps, a cascading lamp will do. Note that today this is not the most popular lighting option. But if it seems most suitable to you, choose a chandelier that will match the style of the rest of the interior. For example, if you have a classic design and a wrought iron staircase, then the lamps can also be wrought iron. For a loft-style room, a wooden lamp with metal elements is suitable.
If the chandelier will be the only lighting fixture, choose a large one with bright lamps. It is desirable that it illuminates every corner. There should be switches at the bottom and at the top - their location is thought out at the early stages of repair.
Types of staircase lighting
- Automatic staircase lighting allows you to save on lighting costs. The sensor automatically turns on the light in response to the movement of residents or sound signals. When a flight of stairs is passed, the light turns off automatically. “Smart” lighting of a country house greatly simplifies the life of the owners. Sensors with a timer turn on at a certain time, devices with photocells independently turn on the lighting when it gets dark.
- Wireless lighting runs on batteries, which significantly reduces electricity costs, allows the lighting to be used as emergency lights, and also does not require special installation skills. It is enough to glue the wireless lamp onto tape or mounting glue.
- Traditional lighting of stairs from the network will require the work of a professional. It is necessary to draw up a plan for laying the main line, purchase materials and carry out the correct installation of all equipment.
Calculation of tape length and power supply power
Let's assume that you decide to highlight the steps of the stairs. Their total number is 10 pieces, width – 1 meter. Thus, you will need 10 meters of tape or two five-meter rolls. The ice tape is cut into meter-long fragments, which are connected in series into a train with a total length of no more than 5 meters.
Exceeding the length of the cable over 5 meters is not allowed. The reasons are a large voltage drop, a decrease in brightness, and burnout of current-carrying tracks on the printed circuit board.
It turns out two loops of five meters each. You can connect them to separate low-power power supplies, or in parallel to one, more powerful AC/DC converter.
Then you need to calculate the total load power and add a margin of 25% to it. Let's say it turns out to be 100 W, add another 25 W, we get 125 W. It is based on this indicator that it is necessary to select the rated power of the power supply.
Types of lamps for staircase lighting
- Halogen lamps provide excellent illumination of the room, but the heating of the lamp can cause a fire in a wooden house.
- Neon light sources provide soft lighting; the lamps are durable, but not resistant to vibrations and external influences.
- LED lamps are great for span lighting.
The lamps are characterized by high energy efficiency, durability and a variety of colors.
Fire safety technology
Fire safety standards related to the installation of lighting and highlighting devices are different for the types of staircase structures:
- Wooden stairs, even in a simple classic design, but with additional decorative and functional lighting, are suitable for many design solutions. When installing lighting for staircase steps in contact with a wooden surface, do not forget about the fire hazard of wood. To do this, wooden surfaces must be impregnated with fire retardant compounds that prevent combustion. Particular attention should be paid to wiring insulation to avoid short circuits.
- The high-tech style involves the use of plastic products in staircase systems that not only support combustion, but also emit toxic substances. Therefore, lamps are mounted away from plastic and installed in protective components made of glass and metal. It is necessary to securely fasten the contacts and insulate not only from short circuits, but even from heating the wires.
- The least safe in terms of fire are stairs with additional illumination of the steps in the classic design made of stone, concrete, lined with tiled non-combustible materials. Lamps on such structures are safe, with a great decorative effect, emphasizing the advantages of the color and texture of the materials used.
Choosing a location for installing foot lighting
- Wall sconces are distinguished by their beauty and grace, however, in order to illuminate the entire span, it is necessary to hang several sconces at a small distance from each other, which does not always look quite aesthetically pleasing.
- Recessed lighting for stairs remains the most popular option. Installation is carried out secretly, all wires are hidden in the steps, behind the wall panel or inside the staircase elements.
- Floor lamps (miniature spotlights) are installed on the floor and directed to the segment of the span that needs lighting.
Dimmer, RGB controller and amplifier for staircase lighting with ice tape
Additional equipment will be needed in three cases:
- Brightness adjustment is required - install a dimmer;
- multi-color ice tape is used - an RGB controller is installed;
- The dimmer/controller power is not enough - an amplifier is added.
All these devices are connected to an electrical circuit between the power supply and the tape. Connection options are shown in the figures:
DIY lighting installation
At the first stage of installing lighting for the stairs, you need to decide on the type of future lighting by marking the places where the wires and lamps are attached.
It is worth thinking about lighting control by determining the installation points for motion or noise sensors (if the lighting is automatic) or a wall switch (if the lighting is manual).
- The formation of mounting points is done using a drill. Holes are cut for lamps or LED strip fasteners.
- Profiles for laying electrical wires or tape are inserted into the mounting holes.
- The wiring extends from the distribution box, which the craftsmen recommend installing under the stairs.
This location will allow you to extend the highway to any step. The LED strip is attached using an adhesive layer applied on the back of the product.
This greatly simplifies the installation of step lighting: no special tools are required to attach the strip. Automatic lighting must include at least 2 sensors (on the first and last step of the staircase). Having connected all the wires into a single network, it is necessary to configure the trunk.
Review of manufacturers
When purchasing spotlights or LED strips and tubes, you should first pay attention to the manufacturer.
Today the lighting market is highly competitive, there are many players, but preference should be given to well-known and branded manufacturers. The reason is simple: the price of the products is high, which means that if you purchase low-quality products, you will not only have to repurchase the products, but also incur significant costs for dismantling and reinstalling lighting fixtures.
There are several criteria for choosing backlight
Among the leaders in the production of luminaires for lighting stairs, a number of Italian companies should be noted:
- Artemide – for style and quality;
- Delta Light – unusual product design;
- Halla, Vivo Luce - varied price range, decent quality.
Among the offers of automatic systems, one can note INTERACTIVE-HOME products with a complete set, including controllers, sensors, relays, and LED lamps.
Photo of beautiful lighting of staircase steps
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Subtleties of choosing lighting equipment for staircases
The light produced by LED lamps looks most impressive. In terms of service life, such lamps can last more than ten years with minimal power consumption.
Example of LED backlight.
Compared to incandescent lamps, LEDs consume 20 times less energy. And if we take into account that the switching on occurs from the movement of the object, then the cost of electricity will be minimal.
Standard kit
- lamps - 5 pieces;
- motion sensors - 2 pieces;
- installation instructions.
What is attractive about staircase lighting:
- When a person enters the field of view of the sensor installed before the start/descent of the stairs, a smart autonomous motion sensor installed on the stairs is triggered, which transmits a control signal to all lighting elements.
- The wireless circuit allows you to install elements in any, even the most inaccessible places.
- The maximum distance between all elements of the system is about 16 meters.
Sensors
We install one motion sensor at the beginning and end of a flight of stairs.
We recommend that you learn more about how to adjust the motion sensor if you are using a non-programmable version of the device.
Our infrared motion sensors for turning on the lights on the stairs are quite functional, but the installed caps narrow the viewing angle. Therefore, we get rid of the caps and leave the sensor itself. In order for it to turn on when approaching the steps, it is advisable to even deepen it a little during installation in order to further narrow the viewing angle. Thus, it will react to movement precisely when approaching and leaving the steps.
Another light sensor wouldn't hurt. Thus, we get automatic control of the brightness of the backlight so that it does not blind the eyes after dark.
The final system diagram looks like this:
Preparing the controller
What is a controller with Arduino based driver chips? This is a microcontroller with many ready-made settings and hardware modules.
In order for it to work in the desired mode, it needs to be programmed. Suitable firmware with download instructions are freely available on the Internet. Below is also a sketch of the program, you can download the sketch here: https://cloud.mail.ru/public/5GtW/5M5CvRwLc
We take our Adruino scarf and connect it to a computer or laptop. Go to the Arduino IDE and click on the “Download” button.
Once the selected firmware is downloaded to the board, we can begin the final assembly of our entire backlight circuit.
