Cabinet lighting: the most important conditions

In an apartment, a situation may arise that in a large wardrobe, in a wardrobe, even with the doors open, it is dark and nothing can be seen. And if at the same time it is generally dark in the room, it happens in the evening or early in the morning, and the light cannot be turned on, then only a flashlight can save. Or, in order to avoid such situations, you will have to make local lighting in the closet. For a skilled person familiar with the rules of electrical installation, arranging lighting in a cabinet is not difficult. It is necessary to highlight the most important conditions and fulfill them.

Luminaire placement options

The luminaires in the cabinet should provide light to every corner of the cabinet. This is the ideal. In practice, this will not work, there will be darkened areas. But you have to try. Then you get the best option: a combination of the desired and the possible.

PHOTO: catalogfurniture54.rf

A closet with things is a serious object, so you need to make a normal project of the lighting system in the closet. The project will include a general layout of light sources, their total power, illumination indicators in different zones of the cabinet, power sources in these zones, the type of light sources, methods of their fastening in the cabinet, circuit and wiring diagrams of the cabinet lighting system. It is necessary to think over and decide on how the light will turn on - at the command of the owner with a conventional switch or automatically when the cabinet door is opened. All this must be done so that it is really light in the closet at the right time, the owner does not get an electric shock, and there is no fire in the closed closet.

Light source selection

The choice of the type of source is one of the most important tasks in this event. There is something to choose from - incandescent, halogen, LED. Each of these options has its own advantages and disadvantages. Incandescent lamps are the most common light sources for the vast majority of people. All work with them is to buy the required number of cartridges, the same number of bulbs of the corresponding power, connect all this economy in series or in parallel with a wire with a plug at the end and hang in closet.

This is where the questions begin. And what power should the bulbs be? And what size? If the bulbs are low-power, then they will give little light in the cabinet.

If they are powerful, with a good luminous flux, they will generate a lot of heat and heat things in the closet. Although not for long.

If all the light bulbs are turned on in parallel, then the total power consumed by them, and therefore, released in the form of heat in the cabinet, will be equal to the product of the power of one light bulb by their number. It will be light in the closet, but very hot.

If you connect them in series, then the power consumption will be low, but each of them will shine dimly. You still have to take bulbs of higher power. It is necessary to reach a compromise between power and illumination. In addition, traditional glass incandescent lamps will burn hands, set things on fire, and even break with an accidental impact. Conclusion: incandescent lamps are not the best option.

Low voltage halogen lamps are a more modern, ergonomic and safer solution. And, by the way, more economical. Without going deeply into physics and electrical engineering, it should be said that their service life is much longer than that of conventional incandescent lamps, the glow brightness is higher, and the power consumption is lower. The disadvantages include the need to complete the system with a step-down transformer, which should be selected correctly.

PHOTO: sovet-ingenera.com

Fluorescent lamps can advantageously replace halogen lamps. According to the principle of operation, they are gas-discharge, they emit little heat, which increases their safety. They have replaced ineffective incandescent lamps: they consume less electricity, but they create the same flow of light and last 70 times longer.

The most effective solution from all points of view for building a lighting system in a cabinet can be LED lamps. LEDs are very economical energy consumers. It is economically profitable and technically simple to build a distributed lighting system for the interior space of the cabinet from several small-sized subsystems, each powered by its own battery. Considering that the switching-ons will be relatively short-term, it will be necessary to recharge or replace the batteries very rarely, once every two to three months.

PHOTO: catalogfurniture54.rf

Branded lamps in seconds put on the hinges of the cabinet door, fit into the drawers of the bedside table. They turn on automatically when you touch the cabinet door handle. The light sources themselves are small in size, and it is convenient to distribute them throughout the cabinet space in any combination. Professional LED backlights are now widely offered by furniture companies.

Conclusion

Do it yourself or order it for professionals - it is up to the owner of the furniture. It is interesting to do it yourself, but you need to be able to do it. Buying a ready-made one is less troublesome, but you should not mind spending a good amount.