ᐅ Is main lighting with LED strips practical?

Light benefits from a combination of different fixtures: direct, indirect, and accent lighting. In every room, I have a light cove along one wall connected to the standard ceiling outlet. In the living room, this is combined with the dining area. This was almost the only solution since we purchased the apartment while it was still under construction. The only thing that still bothers me is that, due to the fixed segment lengths of the LED strip in the living room, it stops earlier on the right side than on the left.

If you still have freedom of choice, use all aspects of lighting, but never cover everything with spotlights on just one side.

Also, be sure to account for the light loss caused by the diffuser on LED strips (30%) and the reflectance of the ceiling when planning indirect lighting.

JürgenJosef schrieb:

Has anyone ever used LED strips as the main lighting in a house or apartment?
Possibly installed in drywall ceilings and walls?

I built a light fixture with strips for our guest bathroom; it’s a bit too bright, and I can no longer easily reach the dimmers. My own fault, didn’t think it through enough. The strips are covered by a stretch ceiling with a photo. This way, I have an almost ceiling-wide evenly lit image except for one strip (tension area). (see below)

JürgenJosef schrieb:

Or is that too prone to problems?

No, they are very reliable if you don’t use the cheapest ones. Still, make sure they can be replaced.
The adhesive bond to the substrate can be problematic; many strips don’t stick well when installed upside down.

JürgenJosef schrieb:

What must definitely be considered during planning?

• Avoid glare from “bright points” (especially important)
• Use drivers with higher voltage for longer lengths (otherwise, the light dims towards the end of the strip)
• Light quantity and intensity
• Distribution and accentuation
• Light color and Color Rendering Index (CRI) (no RGB for main lighting)
• Optional light control systems

JürgenJosef schrieb:

The apartment consists of a bedroom, bathroom, 2 children’s rooms, hallway, storage room, guest toilet, and an open plan living, dining, and kitchen area, plus a balcony with 106m² (1141 sq ft) of living space.

Overall, a reasonably functional LED strip lighting solution for the entire apartment will be significantly more expensive than conventional fixtures or daylight panels. I would generally advise against it. Better to use them here and there as accent lighting.

By coincidence, I was just looking at LED strips today. Summary – regardless of their practical usefulness: the luminous intensity is really impressive, reaching just under 5000 lumens per meter. However, this also requires a well-designed electrical system, including multiple power feeds for a single strip and probably several decentralized, properly rated power supplies and drivers if you don’t want to operate at maximum brightness all the time. Last but not least, it’s important to remember that they produce not only light but also heat, which must not damage the components, so appropriate cooling is necessary. For all these reasons, we will only use strips very sparingly.

I can’t share personal experience, but an acquaintance uses them as main lighting and it works great.

We will also install LED strips in coves in several rooms (living room, bedroom, bathroom) in our new build.

I roughly planned where and how I want the strips and which other lights they will be combined with in each room.

For sizing the power supplies, you need to determine the length and select the appropriate light sources. There is a good online supplier who often conducts LED studies ;-) If you already have a plan (where and how lighting should be arranged), they will select the light sources for you free of charge and provide recommendations for installation and sizing of the power supplies.

Usually, the entire planning service is available for a small fee if you already have rough ideas. I received an offer around €2-3 per square meter (about $2-3 per square meter). I would definitely recommend this if you don’t have expertise in properly sizing and highlighting the lighting system... as has been mentioned several times already.

My wife doesn't like these coves.
So then there will just be traditional heat marks...

bowbow91 schrieb:


To size the power supplies, you need to determine the length and select the appropriate light fixtures. There is a good online supplier who often conducts studies on LEDs ;-) If you already have a plan (where and how the lighting should be installed), they will select the light fixtures for you free of charge and provide recommendations for installation and power supply design.

How can I find this supplier? I’m interested in that too!