Increasingly, different types of lighting, designed to decorate the interior, are used in apartments and houses. An excellent option to diversify your home is to organize LED lighting for paintings, frames, mirrors, etc. It will not only emphasize the features of a work of art, but also add sophistication to the environment. Let's try to figure out what good LEDs are, what are and how they are connected.
LED Benefits
Such illumination fits perfectly into the interior of any room and serves as an additional source of lighting.
LEDs look spectacular and mysterious, and also have many advantages:
- long service life;
- safety for humans and the environment;
- low cost;
- the ability to choose different types of fixtures;
- various design options (for example, tapes with LEDs can be laid out in the form of different shapes);
- options for the color of the glow, which will create various effects;
- durability;
- ease of installation.
Choosing a place to highlight
To make a person comfortable in the room, it is necessary to properly position the LED backlight for paintings. For example, it can be located: outside, inside, around the perimeter, complemented by auxiliary devices, etc. With the help of lamps, you can emphasize the shape, color and other features of the products. If you choose the right distance and angle of incidence of light, you can control the flow and choose the most successful design options.
Depending on the location, the lighting can be: contour, point, directional or figured. The first option involves the use of tapes with LEDs. Spotlights differ in directional luminescence, and strip - diffused. You can also arrange lighting at the top of the picture, below or on the sides. Very popular today is the option of three-way lighting. To make the interior look harmonious and beautiful, you should combine it with the lighting of the entire room.
LED Guidelines
So that the LED backlight for the pictures looks stylish and does not stand out from the general atmosphere, you need to choose it and mount it correctly.
Experts advise to comply with the following requirements:
- When buying diodes, determine their power and density.
- Depending on the humidity of the room, use moisture-resistant models or simple ones, with or without an adhesive layer.
- Consider color preferences, as the luminaires can be single-color and multi-color. Remember that the first option will additionally require a controller.
- If you have to cut the diode tape, it is important to do it in the intended places.
- Place the lights where you want (you can even in a hidden place).
- When connected, the maximum tape length per power supply is 15 m.
How to choose a backlight
Before placing the device, it is worth deciding on the location of the picture (if it is not already hanging). In addition, her motives must match the purpose of the premises. For example, for an office, an image of historical events is well suited, for a narrow and long room - an etude with bright lighting. Once the paintings are in place, you need to prepare a wiring diagram. It displays: conclusions for the fixtures, their type and other technical details.
Remember that each room and work of art will have its own individual lighting. It is important to consider the softness and brightness of the light flux (the optimal color rendering indicator is 70-90, the color parameter is 2700-3000 K). These indicators can be seen on the packaging of fixtures. The pictures with LED backlighting embedded in the canvas look very nice. In this way, important parts of the image can be distinguished.
Types of LED Devices
There are several options for lighting paintings with LEDs, which can be made in the form of lamps, ribbons or lamps with matrices. Lamps are most often attached to the wall above the picture, and focus on the entire product. They can also be suspended, built into the ceiling and walls. Illumination of a picture with LED strip is usually used for additional lighting of the room. She usually hides in some design and serves as a hidden glow.
A great option for the interior in a modern style - lamps with matrices that can be placed on the wall. You should know that for paintings and rooms in a classic style, they will not work. Diode tapes will help to highlight the image contour, ordinary and matrix lamps are suitable for directional light.
The device and types of wall lights
Illumination of paintings with LED devices is in great demand, because with compact sizes they shine quite brightly. They have a long service life, consume little energy, make the room lighter and can be controlled by a remote control. Among the disadvantages of such lamps are: the cost of buying a power supply, dullness that appears over time.
LED wall lights are:
- Vertical. They protrude from the wall and make the room cozy;
- Recessed. Such models are located inside the wall or ceiling, and do not take up much space;
- Linear (perfectly emphasize different interior details);
- Moisture-proof (well suited for kitchens and bathtubs).
Wall lights consist of a housing in which there are LEDs and reflectors. So that it can cool, it is equipped with a radiator. Before installing them, choose the model of the device and its location. Then it is disassembled, holes are planned on the wall, holes are drilled and the lamp is fixed. The last stage of work is its assembly.
The principle of operation of LED strip
LED illumination for paintings can be in the form of a tape and highlight the entire perimeter of the product or only images (built into the frame). Such devices can be moisture resistant and simple, one-color and multi-color. The moisture resistant version is equipped with a silicone shell, which allows you to illuminate the space in rooms with high humidity. Using multi-colored ribbons, you can emphasize certain interior details. Moreover, they have different light flux intensities. Such devices operate on a 12 V DC network and are connected using a power supply.
With the help of LED strips, there are great opportunities for the realization of any ideas, for example, you can select the entire perimeter of the picture, one or more sides. In addition, they have several more advantages:
- the ability to control the light flux;
- ease of installation and connection, since the device has a simple circuit and a small number of connected elements);
- low power consumption.
Connection Features
When installing LED illumination of paintings, mirrors and other products, it is important to observe safety precautions. The best option is hidden wiring with mandatory grounding. Now you need to decide how the device will turn on: button, sensor, remote control. The button is the simplest option, and it can be located on the lamp or in any other place (top, bottom, side). Touch switches look very modern, and will turn on the backlight from movement or touch. Keep them away from shelves, hangers, cabinets, otherwise they will interfere. The control panel is convenient to use, because it allows you to control the backlight from afar.
When using LED strip, remember that it must contain a power supply. With its help, the load will be evenly distributed, depending on the power of the device. Perform installation work in the following order:
- measure and cut the desired length of the tape (there is a marking on it);
- attach it in the right place and connect the power supply;
- install the switch.
Do it yourself!
Very interesting and unusual look luminous items made by yourself. Let's try to figure out how to make a battery-powered LED backlight for the picture. For work you will need: plexiglass, a stationery knife (awl), a 3 V battery and an LED.
Getting to the production of:
- We draw up a sketch (for the first time it is better to take something simpler) and transfer the contours to plexiglass;
- Cut the pattern with a knife. Deep lines will make it brighter, but care must be taken not to break the canvas;
- Gently erase the contours;
- Getting to the backlight device. For small paintings, you can use the LED and the battery, and for large ones, use an additional power supply;
- We make a frame from any material you like and glue the picture to it.
Below is a video on how to make an LED backlight for a picture. It will certainly help the master to master the process.
LED illumination of paintings with lamps or ribbons is an excellent design solution that fits well into the interior. Installation of such lighting does not require significant costs and can be done on its own. And a handmade picture will look especially beautiful with LEDs.