Increasingly, different types of lighting are used in apartments and houses, designed to decorate the interior. A great option to diversify your home is to organize LED lighting for paintings, frames, mirrors, etc. It will not only emphasize the features of the work of art, but also add sophistication to the surroundings. Let's try to figure out why LEDs are good, what they are and how they are connected.
Advantages of LEDs
Such lighting fits perfectly into the interior of any room and serves as an additional source of lighting.
LEDs look impressive 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, strips with LEDs can be laid out in the form of different shapes);
- color optionsglow that will create different effects;
- durability;
- easy installation.
Choosing a location for backlighting
In order for a person to be comfortable in the room, it is necessary to correctly position the LED backlight for paintings. For example, it can be located: outside, inside, around the perimeter, supplemented with auxiliary devices, etc. With the help of lamps, you can emphasize the shape, color and other features of 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, lighting can be: contour, spot, directional or figured. The first option involves the use of strips with LEDs. Spotlights are characterized by a directional glow, and tape lights are diffused. You can also organize lighting at the top of the picture, below or on the sides. The option of three-sided illumination is very popular today. To make the interior look harmonious and beautiful, you should combine it with the lighting of the entire room.
Recommendations for working with LEDs
In order for the LED backlight for pictures to look stylish and not stand out from the general atmosphere, you need to choose and install it correctly.
Experts advise the following requirements:
- When buying diodes, decide on their power and density.
- Depending on room humidity, usemoisture resistant models or simple, with or without an adhesive layer.
- Consider color preferences as fixtures can be single or multi-color. Remember that the first option will require an additional 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 (even in a hidden place).
- When connected, the maximum length of the tape per power supply is 15 m.
How to choose backlight
Before you place the device, you should decide on the location of the picture (if it is not already hanging). In addition, her motives must correspond to the purpose of the premises. For example, an image of historical events is well suited for an office, and a study with bright lighting for a narrow and long room. Once the paintings are in place, you need to prepare a wiring diagram. It displays: outputs for lamps, their type and other technical details.
Remember that each room and piece of art will have its own individual lighting. Here it is important to take into account the softness and brightness of the light flux (the optimal color rendering index is 70-90, the color parameter is 2700-3000 K). These indicators can be seen on the packaging of fixtures. Paintings with LED lighting built into the canvas look very nice. In this way, important parts of the image can be highlighted.
Types of LED fixtures
There are several options for lighting paintings with LEDs, which can bemade in the form of lamps, ribbons or fixtures with matrices. Lamps are most often attached to the wall above the picture, and focus on the entire product. They can also be hung, built into the ceiling and walls. Illumination of the picture with LED strip is usually used for additional illumination of the room. It is usually hidden in some kind of construction and serves as a hidden glow.
A great option for a modern-style interior - lamps with matrices that can be placed on the wall. You should know that they are not suitable for paintings and rooms in a classic style. Diode tapes will help to highlight the contour of the image, conventional and matrix lamps are suitable for directional light.
Design and types of wall lamps
Illumination of paintings with LED devices is in great demand, because with their compact size they shine quite brightly. They have a long service life, consume little energy, make the room brighter 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.
Wall LED lights come in:
- Vertical. They protrude from the wall and make the room cozy;
- Embedded. Such models are located inside the wall or ceiling, and do not take up much space;
- Linear (perfectly emphasize different interior details);
- Waterproof (goodsuitable for kitchens and baths).
Wall lights consist of a housing that contains LEDs and reflectors. So that it can be cooled, it is equipped with a radiator. Before installing them, choose the model of the device and its location. Then it is dismantled, holes are marked on the wall, holes are drilled and the lamp is fixed. The last stage of work is its assembly.
The principle of the LED strip
LED lighting for pictures can be in the form of a ribbon and highlight the entire perimeter of the product or only images (embedded in the frame). Such devices can be moisture resistant and simple, single-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. With the help of multi-colored ribbons, you can emphasize certain details of the interior. At the same time, they have different light intensity. Such devices operate on a 12 V DC network and are connected using a power supply.
With the help of LED strips, ample opportunities open up for the realization of any ideas, for example, you can highlight the entire perimeter of the picture, one or more sides. In addition, they have a few other 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 painting illumination,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: a button, a sensor, a remote control. The button is the simplest option, and it can be located on the lamp or anywhere else (top, bottom, side). Touch switches look very modern, and will turn on the backlight from movement or touch. Place them away from shelves, hangers, cabinets, otherwise they will interfere. The remote control is convenient to use because it allows you to control the backlight from afar.
When using an 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 sequence:
- 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
Luminous products made by hand look very interesting and unusual. Let's try to figure out how to make a battery-powered LED backlight for a picture. For work you will need: plexiglass, stationery knife (awl), 3 V battery and LED.
Getting Started:
- We draw up a sketch (for the first time it is better to take something simpler) and transfer the contours to plexiglass;
- Cut out the picturewith a knife. Deep lines will make it more vibrant, but care must be taken not to break the canvas;
- Gently erase the contours;
- Let's start the backlight device. For small paintings, you can use an LED and a battery, and for large ones, use an additional power supply;
- Make a frame from any material you like and glue the picture to it.
Below is a video on how to make LED lighting for a painting. It will certainly help the home master 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 serious costs and can be done on your own. And a hand-made picture with LEDs will look especially beautiful.
