The kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the house. People spend a lot of time on it: they cook, eat, read a newspaper with a cup of coffee, etc. The significance of this room is great, so when arranging it, it is very important to choose all the details of the interior with special attention. Illumination of the working area in the kitchen requires a carefully thought-out approach. Places such as a sink, hob, countertop are most often left in the shade. This is mainly due to the fact that hanging cabinets, an extractor hood, and a dish dryer are located above them. This is what leads to some discomfort during use. The solution to the problem is quite simple - beautiful LED lighting of the working area of the kitchen.
Common types of lighting
- Chandelier. Main light source. Most often mounted on the ceiling, in the center. Her role is more aesthetic than functional.
- Fluorescent lamps. Mounted on the bottom of the wall cabinets. Their light is soft but bright. Quite well illuminate the entire work surface.
- LED strip. Can be used in the most inaccessible places. It performs both a decorative function and a practical one. Her light can be classically white, as well as all other colors of the rainbow. Installing dimmers is the most successful option to completely transform the kitchen. LED lighting of the working area is considered an economical and rather original design move.
- Skinali - special glass panels that are used to finish the kitchen apron. Their feature is the built-in LED backlight. It effectively highlights the ornament depicted on them, giving the space originality.
- Spot LED bulbs emit soft, diffused light. They do a good job with the main task, but they can distort the natural color of the products.
- Suspended and swivel luminaires can be either installed on the ceiling or mounted on furniture. Their advantage lies in the fact that they not only capture the work area, but are also ideal for general lighting.
- Spots have a clearly directed light. Are established in furniture cornices, lockers, ceiling designs. Most often, such devices are designed to illuminate a specific area.
Choosing the backlight for the working area in the kitchen
In order to correctly position the lighting fixtures,you need to be aware of some of the nuances. The first thing you need to pay attention to is the level arrangement. As a rule, there are 5 levels in the kitchen:
- The first level is ceiling. Both pendant chandeliers and various compositions of spotlights can be used. Their location should take into account certain areas: dining and working. For the first option, chandeliers are ideal. They will give harmony and comfort to the kitchen space. And for the work area, spotlights are good, which will cope well enough with lighting.
- The second level is the upper area of wall cabinets. If the furniture design has a special cornice, then the ideal option would be to install spots, you can also use rotary lights. Their advantage is mobility, if necessary, such devices are deployed in a certain direction. This is what allows you to qualitatively illuminate that part of the working area that is needed at the moment.
- The third level is the lower part of the cabinets. Here, the illumination of the working area in the kitchen can be varied. These are LED strips, fluorescent lamps, spots, etc. As a rule, only personal preferences are guided in this matter.
- The fourth level is the countertop. Only waterproof LED strips are suitable for this part of the work area.
- The fifth level is gender. The lower part of the tables is decorated in the same way as the tabletop.
It is worth noting that the LED strip is ideal for installation at all levels.
What are the backlight options?
Most effective solutions:
- General lighting allows you to fully illuminate the entire space of the kitchen. This option will make the room as comfortable and bright as possible. The following sources are suitable: spotlights, ribbons, chandeliers. Preference is given to LED lamps.
- Local illumination of the working area in the kitchen, namely the countertops, provides comfortable conditions during a certain process, for example, cutting meat, washing dishes, cutting salad, etc. It is designed to illuminate the sink, bar counter, cooking panel.
- Decorative lighting plays the role of decorating the space. In order to achieve excellent results, LED strips with light bulbs of different colors are most relevant. Can be installed on ceiling tiers, kitchen cabinets, countertops.
Examples of decorating a kitchen with LED lighting
- Skinali is the most common and successful option.
- Complex ceiling structure with several levels of LED lamps installed in different light.
- Combining light sources such as chandeliers, spotlights and LED strip.
- The effect of floating furniture is achieved by installing special lighting on the bottom of the tables.
- It is recommended to additionally install light sources near the glass and mirror inserts. Is notwill only decorate the space, but also visually increase its size.
- Kitchen lighting countertops and work area with lamps and LED strips.
- Ideal would be a parallel distribution of sources, for example, on the upper and lower levels of cabinets.
- In the case of a glass top, you can use a certain color LED strip. In combination with skinali, the effect will be stunning.
In fact, there are many more such options, the use of LEDs to illuminate the kitchen space allows you to widely use your imagination and experiment.
How are LEDs arranged? How they work
LEDs are semiconductors, they emit light when connected to electricity. Depending on the chemical composition, its brightness and saturation change. Do not connect directly to the network, as this will lead to overheating and the LED will burn out. It is recommended to use a special device that stabilizes the voltage in the network - a stabilizer. LEDs come in infrared, ultraviolet, yellow, white and other colors. They differ from each other in the type of glow, size and number of crystals.
LED backlight: advantages
- Significant energy savings.
- Resistant to mechanical damage.
- LED work area lighting in the kitchen has a varied palette of colors.
- Environmental safety.
- There are models with a higher levelmoisture protection.
- Long service life: 15-20 years.
- Bright but soft light.
- Affordable price.
Top lighting
When setting up the kitchen, it is important to fully illuminate the countertop area, since this is where a lot of things need to be done. However, when choosing devices, it is worth considering the specificity of its location. The countertop is constantly under the influence of water, grease, soot and other dirt. Therefore, it is very important to choose LED strips with certain technical characteristics. There are models that have a special layer, it is he who will protect the lamp from moisture, vaporization and pollution.
There are several types of mounting LED backlight. Most common:
- Mounting occurs with the help of LED-profile, it is quite light, as it is made of aluminum. It also provides complete security by hiding wires well.
- Sticking. Recently, self-adhesive LED strips have become in great demand. Their installation is quite simple, and in terms of quality they are not at all inferior to conventional models. However, the advantage is obvious: in those places where it is not possible to install a profile, the self-adhesive tape will be fixed quite simply.
- Installation of LED lamps. As a rule, they are placed at the corners of the countertop. They are small in size, so you can install them without additional effort. And the wires are hidden with the help of an LED profile.
Pro Tips
In order for the LED lighting of the working area in the kitchen to please the owners for a long time, when installing it, you must follow these rules:
- The power of the tape and the power supply must be the same.
- It is better to connect the contacts with a soldering iron.
- It is allowed to cut the tape only in a place with signed contacts "+/-".
- It is recommended to install a dimmer to adjust the brightness.
- When connecting the tape, the contacts must be completely insulated, that is, they must not touch each other at all.
Illumination of the working area in the kitchen: installing tape
- Sizing is done with a tape measure.
- On the tape, the required length is cut with a margin of 1-1.5 cm to free the contacts.
- Before gluing, the surface must be completely degreased.
- Solder pieces of cable to the contacts, then connect to the power supply.
- It is necessary to install a profile and a special box in which the rest of the wires will hide.
- The switch is installed and connected to the LED strip.
Economy, versatility and durability of this backlight brings it to the forefront. However, she also has a weak point - the power supply. It is worth noting that it fails quite often, so it must be installed in the place where it will be easy enough to replacenew or repair.
