mcisar Posted September 5, 2020 Posted September 5, 2020 Looking for recommendations for a few of lighting items. There are so many options out there... what's good, and what to stay clear of. I have an ISY994i with Z-Wave and Insteon, and should by the end of the weekend have Polyglot installed, also have Google Home and Alexa floating around... so anything that the ISY can talk to through any of that gear is fine. They all need to be full color changeable, the white variant should be either adjustable or warm-white, should also be dimmable. 60W or 100W equivalent output. They are probably primarily going to be used in warm-white mode, and dimmed red for night-light use. - Good old A19 style for those table lamps she just won't part with. - Surface mount or recessed flat-face "puck style", these'll go in a couple of hallways. - Stair lighting... looks nice to have them under the lip of each step, but thats a lot of work. Has anybody run a LED strip down the length of the molding at the side of the stairs, how does that look? - Finally I need something to use more as a tabletop and bedside indicator than a lighting source per-se. I'm picturing something coke-can sized and shaped or thereabouts, with a frosted white lens. Needs to be bright enough that the color could be seen in bright daylight in a room, but it doesn't have to be bright enough to actually light up the room itself in any manner. These ones will only be used for color indications (red, something I really need to deal with, potential meteor impact, lava in the back yard, nap time... yellow something that needs checking, garage door open, etc) so their white representation is irrelevant. Thanks in advance for your input!
Ajax Posted September 8, 2020 Posted September 8, 2020 I am in the process of installing LED strips under each stair tread but it is new construction so that does help. I really like the look of having it under the hand rail. Just make sure to use a channel that as a diffuser in to help. 2
larryllix Posted September 8, 2020 Posted September 8, 2020 (edited) Search the threads for Magic Home and other strip lighting. You would likely want the fully sealed IP-67? or higher with the sealed silicone tubing around it for later cleaning. I use it on the tops of all my kitchen and dining room cabinets. I love the effect and colours when requested during occasions. If you change lighting while people are walking up/down the steps it will change their concentration and likely cause a fall on the steps. If the lighting can be seen directly by the person it makes it hard to see and causes conscious focus on the person's stepping and can cause confusion, resulting in falling also. Walking up/down steps becomes a subconscious effort in humans and changing it to a conscious effort while in process can result in falls or foot pattern confusion. You may want to provide some general background ambient lighting in addition, in case it fails or blinks during human travel. I like the under railing effect but does it interfere with the hand-railing garb technique? The thicker handrailing have a grab trough on each side but a strip on the bottom may interfere with children's grip on it. In Mexico, one theater we attended daily had strips in the top of each step just inside the nosing trim. I had to assist many people attempting to walk down them. Wrong thing to do when you can see the strip. The nosing edge became hard to see and although you could walk down the stairs blindfolded changing the focus to humans was a nasty effect. A second row of trim just above the edging trim on the staircase to provide shielded lighting of the steps from both sides may work very nicely to. Edited September 8, 2020 by larryllix
Recommended Posts