Hey all,
I'm purchasing an unfinished condo, and planning on having some LED lighting strips installed. I'm going to be asking the electrician to do it, but wanted some advice on what to ask for so that I get what I want.
In one room I'm planning on having LED light strips in the floor around the perimeter of the room (hardwood floor), and I'd like them to shine as a continuous line of light (instead of showing individual bulbs). I'd like it to be fairly bright (with ability to dim), but won't be using that as the main source of light in the room. Probably just solid white in terms of colour. I was looking at enclosed mounting products that would go flush into the floor, and found some by a company called Klus that looked nice (aluminum, some with frosted filters that may help create the illusion of a continuous line of light, and shallow so a groove wouldn't have to be too deep in the floor).
I'm also planning on having an alcove installed in the ceiling, and was thinking of running LED lighting strips up there as well. I'd probably just want to keep them blue for colour, and they'd just be to add ambiance and not provide a dominant room light. The LEDs would sit on the alcove and point towards the ceiling, so that they would not be visible. I don't know if I'd need another aluminum mounting brace with a frosted filter on them as well to create the illusion of a continuous line of light, or if I could just tape them on the alcove as bare strings.
So far as the actual LEDs themselves, I see Klus sells them too, but they don't mention the ability to integrate into any smart home system. I'm also planning on having a sound system and the thermostat all controlled by a smart home system, and was hoping to control the LED lights there too, or at least, the ones on the ceiling. I looked at the Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus LED lights, but wasn't sure if the bulbs were close enough to actually create a continuous line of light appearance, especially if mounted into the floor. I read that the Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus has 18 clusters of LEDs every meter, whereas the strips offered at Klus have 60 or 120 LEDs every meter. Plus I don't know if I can stick the Philips strips into an enclosed mounting brace and expect the same advertised LED life.
Another problem is I don't know if many light strips can bend at 90 degree angles to go around the room. I see the Philips can. Plus, it's a big room. The Philips ones say one system accommodates a maximum of 10 m. This particularly room is at least 10 m long, so I'd probably need at least 30 m of LED lights for each of the floor and the ceiling.
Other than that, I'm planning on running some LED lights in the kitchen as well, either under or above the cabinets. I haven't decided on colour for those, but again I'm looking to create the impression of a continuous line of light.
Well, if anyone has any experience with any of this, I'd appreciate any suggestions!
I'm purchasing an unfinished condo, and planning on having some LED lighting strips installed. I'm going to be asking the electrician to do it, but wanted some advice on what to ask for so that I get what I want.
In one room I'm planning on having LED light strips in the floor around the perimeter of the room (hardwood floor), and I'd like them to shine as a continuous line of light (instead of showing individual bulbs). I'd like it to be fairly bright (with ability to dim), but won't be using that as the main source of light in the room. Probably just solid white in terms of colour. I was looking at enclosed mounting products that would go flush into the floor, and found some by a company called Klus that looked nice (aluminum, some with frosted filters that may help create the illusion of a continuous line of light, and shallow so a groove wouldn't have to be too deep in the floor).
I'm also planning on having an alcove installed in the ceiling, and was thinking of running LED lighting strips up there as well. I'd probably just want to keep them blue for colour, and they'd just be to add ambiance and not provide a dominant room light. The LEDs would sit on the alcove and point towards the ceiling, so that they would not be visible. I don't know if I'd need another aluminum mounting brace with a frosted filter on them as well to create the illusion of a continuous line of light, or if I could just tape them on the alcove as bare strings.
So far as the actual LEDs themselves, I see Klus sells them too, but they don't mention the ability to integrate into any smart home system. I'm also planning on having a sound system and the thermostat all controlled by a smart home system, and was hoping to control the LED lights there too, or at least, the ones on the ceiling. I looked at the Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus LED lights, but wasn't sure if the bulbs were close enough to actually create a continuous line of light appearance, especially if mounted into the floor. I read that the Philips Hue Lightstrip Plus has 18 clusters of LEDs every meter, whereas the strips offered at Klus have 60 or 120 LEDs every meter. Plus I don't know if I can stick the Philips strips into an enclosed mounting brace and expect the same advertised LED life.
Another problem is I don't know if many light strips can bend at 90 degree angles to go around the room. I see the Philips can. Plus, it's a big room. The Philips ones say one system accommodates a maximum of 10 m. This particularly room is at least 10 m long, so I'd probably need at least 30 m of LED lights for each of the floor and the ceiling.
Other than that, I'm planning on running some LED lights in the kitchen as well, either under or above the cabinets. I haven't decided on colour for those, but again I'm looking to create the impression of a continuous line of light.
Well, if anyone has any experience with any of this, I'd appreciate any suggestions!