This type of lighting has long been used in various areas due to low power consumption, and not so long ago, extensive use in home lighting began.

There are main areas of application:

1. Backup or night lighting.
2. To illuminate signs and patterns on doors, walls, as well as the ceiling in the “starry sky” system.
3. For light and color zoning in space.
4. Stair lighting.
5. As designer furniture lighting which gives it a special fantastic look.
6. Illumination for various items(collections, books, and so on).

LEDs are very relevant for various backlighting, they have an almost imperceptible appearance and do not heat the surface. Plus, they are easily attached with glue and self-tapping screws both to new interior items and to old, well-established ones.

Advantages and disadvantages

Pros:

1. Low power consumption. LEDs consume 70% less electricity than conventional incandescent bulbs. For example, a 10 watt LED produces the same amount of light as a regular 100 watt incandescent bulb, and this is very profitable!
2. Very long service life. The best LEDs can last up to 100,000 hours, which is much longer than any other light bulb.
3. High resistance to mechanical influences. The LEDs are made of aluminum and plastic, which makes them very durable. Also, the absence of incandescent elements eliminates unsafe heating.
4. No flicker. Ordinary lamps run on AC and flicker at a frequency of more than 100 flickers per second, we, of course, do not notice this, but in the long term it is very harmful to the retina of our eyes. The LEDs run on direct current, which eliminates the possibility of flickering.
5. No ultraviolet. Incandescent lamps create ultraviolet radiation, which attracts all nearby insects at night (unpleasant, especially on a summer evening when you want to sit in the kitchen with an open window). LEDs provide pure light.
6. Work at different voltage. When the voltage drops, the LEDs work only slightly less brightly, and the operating range is from 80 to 230 volts.
7. Minimum heat generation. LEDs practically do not heat up and can operate at temperatures from minus 50 to plus 70 degrees.
8. No noise. Very handy for night lighting for kids room.
9. Very high light output with little energy consumption. Comparable to neon.
10. directional light. Because of this, there is no need to use reflectors.
11. Ease of use. Very easy to install, even for a person with no electrical skills.

Minuses:

1. At a great distance spotting of light and insufficiently powerful lighting is possible, can be eliminated by increasing the number of LEDs in the design.
2. LEDs- this is a semiconductor device and the quality of lighting depends on the resistance of the conductor, and because of this, the quality of lighting will change with temperature.
3. When one LED burns out, the whole network goes down.
4. Due to high competition, manufacturers put lamps in more and more harsh conditions, which has a bad effect on the duration of operation.
5. LED lights require frequent maintenance, especially outdoors. Requires cleaning from dust and checking fasteners.
6. There is a problem of uneven distribution of light, which leads to spotting and temporary blinding of people by light.
7. The main disadvantage of LEDs is a relatively high price.

Selection criteria for apartment lighting

Modern designers have a lot of options for using LEDs in interior design and beyond.

Let's consider everything in more detail:

1. Small spaces, rooms. As a rule, small lamps and LED strips are very appropriate here. This allows you to expand the space and beautifully emphasize the contours of the room. Large lamps will be out of place here.
2. Apartments and houses of medium size. Here we have much more liberties. It is very popular in our time to mount various plasterboard ceilings of the most interesting shapes, after which, with the help of LED strips, a frame is produced that creates a feeling of greater height. Another very popular idea is a mirrored ceiling with LEDs located along the contour, and the more bizarre its shape, the more interesting it looks.
3. Large-sized apartments and premises. A large space allows us to try to combine a variety of lamps, according to the color and brightness of the light. We can combine different ones in multi-level ceilings, the most diverse zoning is also possible. You can make air partitions very elegantly and decorate niches beautifully with the help of LED strips of different brightness. The design of various ceiling vaults with the help of white and blue light looks very elegant.

Lamp types

There are 3 main divisions:

1. By place of application
2. The type of LED used.
3. Looks like a plinth.

For ease of understanding, we will analyze in more detail.

By area of ​​application:

1. Street. As a rule, these are roads, public buildings, swimming pools and other structures. The main feature here is the anti-vandal design.
2. For home and office. Similar to the previous ones, they are often used to replace conventional light sources.
3. . For the use of LED lamps, special types of spotlights have been developed.
4. Industrial. The main characteristic is increased power, as well as a high degree of protection.
5. Lamps for flowers. A special type of light emission is selected, which has a beneficial effect on plant growth.
6. For cars. Both for interior lighting, and more recently, LEDs have been used for headlights.

Type of LEDs used:

1. SMD (Surface Mounted Device) the most common LED used for lighting. There are a huge number of varieties in terms of energy consumption and light output. Has a good service life.
2. Powerful and super powerful. Typically up to 10 watts. They are specially designed for lighting. Requires increased attention to cooling.
3. COB (Chip on Board). The most modern technology, has increased reliability and uniform light distribution.

Life time

It is generally accepted that LED lamps have a very long service life. This is only partly true. Only the LEDs themselves have a high service life (up to 100,000 hours) and subject to the use of external power sources.

If an internal power source (say a battery) is used, then the service life will be significantly lower than stated. As an internal power source, as a rule, a capacitor and an electrolyte are used.

The electrolyte begins to dry out over time, which in turn leads to poorer performance or even to the complete failure of the LED.

Most capacitors at a temperature of 105 degrees give a life of about 2,000 hours, and at a temperature of 20 degrees, they can last up to 20,000 hours. Also, there are special series of capacitors that work 2-3 times longer under the same conditions.

Calculation

Correct calculation is very important for harmonious lighting of premises and a long service life.

First of all, you need to calculate the power of the power supply. We know that LED strips are sold in rolls of 5 meters, each meter can contain up to 120 LEDs. If we do not need such a length, then we can cut the tape to the length we need. It should be cut in increments of 3 LEDs, usually manufacturers apply a stroke at a possible cut point.

The power supply is necessary for the reason that it cannot be connected directly to a 220 volt network. To choose a power supply, we need to know the total power of the entire tape, plus a small margin.

Suppose we need to illuminate an area of ​​​​3 meters. We buy SMD 3528 LED strip, in this strip there are 60 LEDs per 1 meter and power consumption is 4.8 watts per meter. It follows that our calculated power will be 14.4 watts.

For the high-quality work of our backlight, it is necessary to take a power reserve of 20%, which means 14.4 * 1.2 = 17.28 watts. Further, according to the catalog of power supplies, we select the necessary model with a value of at least 17.28 watts.

Next, we proceed to the calculation of the number of LED lamps. If we need a strictly accurate calculation, then we should use specialized reference books in which we will navigate according to the power of the LEDs and the total area, such as SNiP.

If we do not need such accuracy, then we can calculate the number of fixtures ourselves. To do this, we need to know the power of the luminous flux, it is measured in lumens, manufacturers indicate it on the packages, and the total area of ​​​​the illuminated room.

To illuminate 10 m 2, we need approximately 1300 lumens. 1 watt LED gives a minimum of 50 lumens, which means that to illuminate a room of 30 m 2 we need 80 watts of power. You just have to decide how many lamps, what power to divide this value.

Price and reviews

If we talk about domestic and Chinese manufacturers, such as, say, "Cosmos", then the simplest light bulbs cost from 90 rubles. Well, if we talk about the most expensive, then these are heavy-duty lamps with a power of more than 50 watts, prices can be more than 2,000 rubles for one LED lamp.

The average price is about 150 - 300 rubles, for the most popular copies.

Reviews:

Gregory:

“I have a three-room apartment, and somehow I decided to start a small redecoration. It should be noted that significant dividends are spent on lighting such an apartment per month. And then I got the idea to replace conventional incandescent bulbs with LED ones.

I heard a lot of good things about them that they are several times more economical than any other lamps. But here's the catch, they cost 10 times more than regular light bulbs. I decided to start by replacing 7 pieces, to test the real benefits. Picked up, as indicated on the package, equivalent to the light bulbs that I had.

Instead of 100 watt incandescent bulbs, I took 12 watt LEDs. Turned it on and didn't notice much of a difference. Decided to measure power consumption. First, I measured the operation of conventional lamps, and then screwed in LED ones instead and got a difference of about 7-8 times. I calculated and received that they will pay off in 2 years, moreover, they should serve for 30 years. I am very pleased with the purchase.”

Alexei:

“I decided to somehow change incandescent bulbs in my apartment, to energy-saving, LED ones. But I wanted to save money and ordered 10 pieces in China via the Internet. 3 weeks later I received my order.

All bulbs are in separate boxes, but very simple ones. Plugged it in to check. I was unpleasantly surprised, all the lamps burned differently, and this already indicates poor assembly. I had to buy normal ones in the store. It’s hard to judge from one case, but it’s better to buy branded LED lamps with a guarantee.”