The practice of lighting the bedroom with LED strips
At giktims, they again raised the topic of LED lighting as the main one in the room, but did not fully disclose it, and readers had questions. I want to share practical experience of the full transition to LEDs. This method is suitable for almost any geek.
When I began to plan repairs in the apartment, I immediately set a goal - to get rid of chandeliers and make LED lighting. The idea of fix came to mind back in 2009, when the LEDs just began to come into use. Over the years of painstaking repairs, I tried at the “stand” various LED strips from both local and Chinese stores. Some of them had a low CRI, some unpleasant spectrum, some quickly burned out, and some even had an unpleasant smell.
When in 2014 I was finishing repairs in the bedroom, it was time to buy a production tape and I plunged into the search for a more worthy version of LEDs. After some time, the Centrsvet Dreamled tape caught my eye. The site claimed that the tape had CRI = 97 Ra, so without thinking twice, I went to the company's showroom to see for myself. Of course, I didn’t have any instruments for measuring the parameters, but the lighting from the tapes was really pleasant and natural. According to my calculations, there were enough models of the Dreamled 50 line, so for the test I bought 1 drum (5 meters) of GOLD tape (solid light) and one drum of PLATINUM tape (neutral light).
Comparison of PLATINUM 50 4000K 15 W / m and non-tape 3500K 14 W / m:
Both photos were taken without automatic white balance, with the same aperture and shutter speed.
Comparison of “PLATINUM” 4000K and “GOLD” 2700K from Centrsvet
For Dreamled 50 LED strips onboard, SMD 5050 form factor LEDs are deployed at an angle of 45 degrees, and the tape width differs from the usual one - 15mm. In the summer of 2014, the updated 50th series was released and the width of the tape was reduced to 12mm. Another difference from the tapes common on the market is a voltage of 24 volts.
After checking the tapes in “combat” conditions, I decided that the GOLD model with warm light was more suitable for the bedroom interior and bought another drum in August 2014. The bedroom area was ~ 10m2, but the tape ceiling needed about 8 linear meters.
The difference in technical characteristics of the old (in the foreground) and the new (in the background) GOLD series:
As you can see, not only the width, but also the power of the tapes has changed.
During many hours of test runs, I measured the temperature of the tape. Unfortunately, a year later I don’t remember the numbers, but then they clearly made it clear that you can do without cooling radiators. Therefore, the installation was much simpler - I decided to just stick the tape on the ceiling fillet with LEDs to the ceiling. My fillet is wide enough, and if you stick the tape to the wall, most of the light will remain in the groove between the wall and the fillet.
Unfortunately, I did not find any connectors for this tape, so I had to solder:
Mounting tapes on the fillets
Connecting tapes
Total based on materials:
- Two tapes with a total length of 8.3 meters and a power of 110 W (5m * 12W + 3.3m * 15m)
- Block power supply with an output power of 150 watts and a voltage of 24 volts.
- ~ 2 meters ShVVP 0,75mm2 for connection of tapes among themselves and with BP.
Costs:
- LED strip: 3000 + 4700 (bought a second drum after 8 months, and the price has changed due to the rate) = 7700 rubles;
- Power supply: 2200 rubles;
- Insulating tape + sleeves + terminals + wire: ~ 100 rubles;
Total: 10,000 rubles.
The feelings over the past year are purely positive. Light does not bother, but rather creates a positive mood. Eyes feel quite comfortable. The bedroom seemed to be lit by the summer sun at eight o’clock in the evening. It's funny, but sometimes, on cloudy days, when you see the reflected light from the bedroom, you fall into the bait: "Wow, did the sun come out?" And then you remember that these are LEDs.
The solution with mounting the tapes on the ceiling fillets turned out to be very successful: simple and cheap. Yes, the total cost of the solution was more expensive than a budget chandelier with bulbs somewhere in one and a half to two times. But, compared with the chandelier, there is a huge plus: there is no bright irritant in the center, but there is comfortable uniform illumination along the contour. This solution is suitable for those who do not overhaul with multi-level ceilings.
PS There are distortions in the photos of the room, as the photos are panoramic.
Updated 12.27.15:
At the request of readers, I took measurements, for which I had to buy a light meter. The measurement was made in the center of the lighting zone. At a height of 1.1 m, the device showed 250 lux, at a height of 1.7 m - 350 lux.
Selection and purchase
When I began to plan repairs in the apartment, I immediately set a goal - to get rid of chandeliers and make LED lighting. The idea of fix came to mind back in 2009, when the LEDs just began to come into use. Over the years of painstaking repairs, I tried at the “stand” various LED strips from both local and Chinese stores. Some of them had a low CRI, some unpleasant spectrum, some quickly burned out, and some even had an unpleasant smell.
When in 2014 I was finishing repairs in the bedroom, it was time to buy a production tape and I plunged into the search for a more worthy version of LEDs. After some time, the Centrsvet Dreamled tape caught my eye. The site claimed that the tape had CRI = 97 Ra, so without thinking twice, I went to the company's showroom to see for myself. Of course, I didn’t have any instruments for measuring the parameters, but the lighting from the tapes was really pleasant and natural. According to my calculations, there were enough models of the Dreamled 50 line, so for the test I bought 1 drum (5 meters) of GOLD tape (solid light) and one drum of PLATINUM tape (neutral light).
Comparison of PLATINUM 50 4000K 15 W / m and non-tape 3500K 14 W / m:
Both photos were taken without automatic white balance, with the same aperture and shutter speed.
Comparison of “PLATINUM” 4000K and “GOLD” 2700K from Centrsvet
For Dreamled 50 LED strips onboard, SMD 5050 form factor LEDs are deployed at an angle of 45 degrees, and the tape width differs from the usual one - 15mm. In the summer of 2014, the updated 50th series was released and the width of the tape was reduced to 12mm. Another difference from the tapes common on the market is a voltage of 24 volts.
After checking the tapes in “combat” conditions, I decided that the GOLD model with warm light was more suitable for the bedroom interior and bought another drum in August 2014. The bedroom area was ~ 10m2, but the tape ceiling needed about 8 linear meters.
The difference in technical characteristics of the old (in the foreground) and the new (in the background) GOLD series:
As you can see, not only the width, but also the power of the tapes has changed.
Mounting
During many hours of test runs, I measured the temperature of the tape. Unfortunately, a year later I don’t remember the numbers, but then they clearly made it clear that you can do without cooling radiators. Therefore, the installation was much simpler - I decided to just stick the tape on the ceiling fillet with LEDs to the ceiling. My fillet is wide enough, and if you stick the tape to the wall, most of the light will remain in the groove between the wall and the fillet.
Unfortunately, I did not find any connectors for this tape, so I had to solder:
Mounting tapes on the fillets
Connecting tapes
Total based on materials:
- Two tapes with a total length of 8.3 meters and a power of 110 W (5m * 12W + 3.3m * 15m)
- Block power supply with an output power of 150 watts and a voltage of 24 volts.
- ~ 2 meters ShVVP 0,75mm2 for connection of tapes among themselves and with BP.
Costs:
- LED strip: 3000 + 4700 (bought a second drum after 8 months, and the price has changed due to the rate) = 7700 rubles;
- Power supply: 2200 rubles;
- Insulating tape + sleeves + terminals + wire: ~ 100 rubles;
Total: 10,000 rubles.
Verdict
The feelings over the past year are purely positive. Light does not bother, but rather creates a positive mood. Eyes feel quite comfortable. The bedroom seemed to be lit by the summer sun at eight o’clock in the evening. It's funny, but sometimes, on cloudy days, when you see the reflected light from the bedroom, you fall into the bait: "Wow, did the sun come out?" And then you remember that these are LEDs.
The solution with mounting the tapes on the ceiling fillets turned out to be very successful: simple and cheap. Yes, the total cost of the solution was more expensive than a budget chandelier with bulbs somewhere in one and a half to two times. But, compared with the chandelier, there is a huge plus: there is no bright irritant in the center, but there is comfortable uniform illumination along the contour. This solution is suitable for those who do not overhaul with multi-level ceilings.
PS There are distortions in the photos of the room, as the photos are panoramic.
Updated 12.27.15:
At the request of readers, I took measurements, for which I had to buy a light meter. The measurement was made in the center of the lighting zone. At a height of 1.1 m, the device showed 250 lux, at a height of 1.7 m - 350 lux.