|
|
How To Benefit From LED Lighting In Your Kitchen
Really good kitchen lighting designs characteristically use a great deal of lighting - and we're not talking about putting a few extra roses on the ceiling Kitchen lighting requires all manner of different types of light to handle the requirements of many different zones. Just about the worst lighting solution for a kitchen is the use of bright fluorescent strip lights on the ceiling. Sure, they're unquestionably very bright - but cold, flat and likely to induce a headache in less time than it takes to soft boil an egg.
The most obvious issue with having central ceiling-rose fittings in a kitchen is that they produce dark spots, most noticeably where you cast your own shadow onto work surfaces. A solution seen in many kitchens involves fitting halogen down lamps in a uniform pattern across the ceiling then adding task-specific lighting for workareas, hobs and so on.
This solution works reasonably well, but does have its own downsides: halogen lamps operate at extremely high temperatures, don't last very long, and are without rival as the most expensive means of lighting a kitchen. Some 90% of the cost of incandescent lighting (of which halogen is an extreme example) is the electricity they use.
This one fact helps explain the growing popularity of cool, super energy efficient LED kitchen lights. For mains powered lighting you simply replace all existing GU10 halogen lamps with equivalent GU10 LED lights. For low voltage systems, you first replace existing 12 volt transformers with a smaller number of constant voltage 12 volt LED drivers (each can power a number of light fittings) then replace MR16 halogens with LED light bulbs.
The three main aspects to consider when installing LED spotlights are: luminosity (brightness); colour temperature (how cool/blue or warm/yellow); and beam angle. Try to match these as close as possible to the characteristics of the halogen lamps you might otherwise have considered using.
We have become accustomed to rating brightness by wattage, but the rated wattage for an LED light bulb should be about 10% that of the equivalent normal incandescent or halogen bulb. So expect to replace a 35w halogen lamp with an LED rated 3w or greater, 50w requires a 5w LED and so on.
Color temperature describes how cool or warm a light appears. LED lights are available in a variety of white color temperatures (and also, colors) but since it has always been easier to manufacture blue LEDs, many cheap LEDs tend to have a cold/bluish tinge. Go for warm white (color temperatures below 3500K) for a reasonable approximation to the kind of white light normally associated with halogen lamps.
The narrower the beam angle (45 degrees for example) the tighter and more spot-like any light will appear, while 120 degrees gives an even spread of light and eliminates hot-spots and glare. Arguably the best LED spotlight presently on the market as a direct replacement for halogen spots is the Zenigata LED from Sharp.
A critical component that determines how artificial light actually appears is not the light itself but the surface on which it is shining. To create a warm feel simply direct spot lights at warmly coloured areas (clay tiles, wood or just a wall painted in warm colours). If a dramatic effect is what you're after, try shining blue LEDs at either dark or reflective surfaces - blue LED light bounced off granite or steel can appear stunning.
Combine LED lights of varying characteristics with different textures and colours to produce a range of effects suited to individual zones in your kitchen. The are almost boundless possibilities, even before you get to playing with LED strip lighting to accent plinths, worktops, coving and more or less anything else that takes your fancy. As ever though, the best designs often emerge by limiting things to a handful or less of the most appealing ideas - but don't be surprised how stunning even small amount of LED kitchen lighting looks.
About the Author For further ideas and to find out more about kitchen lighting design, Abigail Monot highly recommends this article about LED Kitchen Lights.
|
 |
Please Rate: |
|
Rating: |
 Processing ... |
(Average: Not rated) |
| Views: | 30 | |
|
| More Articles from Web Design | | |
| Top Articles in Web Design | | |
|
