Installation of hidden lighting

Nothing will make your ceiling more original and attractive than its hidden lighting. In addition, it will add coziness and intimacy to your room if you turn off the main lighting. By the way, you should not limit yourself to creating hidden lighting without performing the main lighting of the room, since it performs a more decorative function, complementing the interior design, and not the main one – room lighting.

Therefore, when installing suspended ceilings (plasterboard structures or stretchable ones made of polymer film), install both types of lighting: decorative (hidden lighting) and basic (chandelier, various spotlights, etc.).

If you have minimal repair skills, then arranging a hidden suspension with your own hands will not be an insurmountable obstacle for you. After reading this article, you will not only be able to decide on the type of decorative lighting that will suit you best, but also make sure that you can mount it yourself.

There are two ways to arrange decorative type lighting:

1. In a plasterboard box. Let’s say right away that this method is the most expensive not only financially, but also in terms of time.
2. In the roof eaves. This method is less expensive, but also less reliable.

Below we will dwell on each of these methods in more detail. But first, let’s talk about what lighting devices can be used when installing hidden lighting.

Types of lighting devices: advantages and disadvantages

Currently, manufacturers produce a wide variety of lighting devices that you can use to create decorative ceiling lighting. But are they all equally good?

Let’s look at them in more detail:

1.     Incandescent lamps, the bulbs of which are filled with xenon.

Xenon is a gas whose glow temperature almost coincides with the temperature of daylight, which is recognized as optimal for human eyes. In addition, xenon significantly increases the service life of incandescent lamps (up to 20,000 hours of continuous light). This is an undeniable advantage of incandescent lamps. In addition, they operate from a low-voltage power source (a step-down transformer is used), which allows them to consume little electrical energy.

However, such lighting devices also have significant disadvantages:

• they are very expensive;
• incandescent lamps are characterized by low efficiency (possess low efficiency), since the main part of the consumed energy is spent on the release of thermal energy and only a small part of it – on light. It is for this reason that these lamps cannot be used when hidden lighting of the stretch ceiling is performed

2.    Neon lamps.

The advantages of these lighting devices include the fact that they:

• create an evenly distributed light flow around the entire perimeter
• can be made in any configuration, which allows them to repeat all the curves of the ceiling perimeter;
• the range of colors of light emitted from neon lamps includes about 60 shades of different colors;
• have a very high efficiency, as they practically do not spend energy on heating. Practically all the consumed energy is transformed by them into light;
• they have a fairly large service life (up to 10,000 hours of continuous light), although not as high as xenon incandescent lamps.

Neon lamps also have their drawbacks:

• they are very expensive, since glass flasks are made in an artisanal way – glass blowing by a master;
• to start gas-discharge lamps filled with neon, a high voltage is required, which is obtained by installing a high-voltage transformer (from 2 kV to 10 kV), which works noisily (buzzing);
• lamps emit flickering light, which leads to rapid fatigue of human eyes.

3.     LED strips and modules.

Advantages of LEDs:

• they have the longest service life (up to 50,000 hours of continuous light);
• powered by a low-voltage power source (12V or 24V DC transformer);
• consume a small amount of energy (from 5W/m to 10W/m), which is completely transformed into light;
• the LED strip has excellent flexibility, which allows it to repeat all the curves of the ceiling perimeter.

There are only two disadvantages of LEDs:

• They are quite expensive.
• A transformer must be installed to power them.

• As you can see, LED devices (strips or modules) are the best choice when hiddenceiling lighting is installed. In addition, this is the only possible option of lighting devices that can be used when arranging decorative lighting of a stretch ceiling, but we will talk about this a little later.
• Thus, a ceiling with hidden lighting is not a cheap pleasure. That’s why we offer to slightly reduce its cost due to the installation done with your own hands. Let’s consider both methods of installing hidden lightingin more detail.

·         Installation of hidden lighting in a plasterboard box

• This method, although it is the most expensive in terms of finances and time, but it will allow, if desired, not only to use various types of lighting devices, but also to securely fix them on the metal frame of the box, as well as to lay various communications in its tunnel, making them invisible and at the same time available for various manipulations.
• Let’s say right away that this method can be used when creating hidden ceiling lighting from plasterboard or the main concrete ceiling. But it will not be suitable for a stretch ceiling, since you will not be able to create a frame from metal profiles for a plasterboard box. For this type of ceiling, only a cornice for hidden lighting can be used.

The procedure for installing decorative lighting in a plasterboard box with your own hands is as follows:

1. Using a measuring ruler and a marker, mark points along the entire perimeter of the ceiling and on the walls along the entire perimeter of the room, through which then draw solid lines. These lines will serve as a border along which you will install the UD profile on the walls and ceiling. If you want to install hidden lighting for the main concrete ceiling, then the horizon of the lines must be controlled using a building level. You can choose the width and depth of the box arbitrarily. The main thing is that the resulting niche fits harmoniously into the interior of the room.
2. Along the entire length of the lines, with the help of an electric perforator and a concrete drill, make holes in the ceiling and on the walls with a step of 40 cm-50 cm, where then insert plastic dowels.
3. Using self-tapping screws, fasten UD profiles to plastic dowels around the entire perimeter of the room on the walls and ceiling.
4. Take the CD-profiles and cut them into pieces of the required length, which will play the role of racks and crossbars of the frame.
5. Fasten these segments to the UD-profiles using self-tapping screws (bugs). To make the task easier, we recommend using a cordless screwdriver instead of a regular screwdriver. Thus, the frame for making a plasterboard box is ready.
6. Sew around the entire perimeter of the room the lower part of the box with strips of plasterboard, which are attached to the frame profiles with the same self-tapping screws (bugs).
7. Put all the wiring of the hidden lighting (or the lighting itself in the form of LED strips) and communications that need to be hidden in the tunnels of the box.
8. Install the transformer in the box, fixing it on the metal profile of the frame and connect the lighting wiring to it.
9. If the hidden lighting is not made from LED strips, then fasten the lighting devices to the profiles of the box frame.
10. Sew up the end part of the box with strips of plasterboard, fixing them on the frame profiles using metal screws, so that there is enough space between the side of the box and the ceiling, sufficient not only for the penetration of light to the outside, but also for free access to elements of decorative lighting and communications , hidden in a plasterboard box.
11. Prepare a plasterboard box for painting.
12. Paint the box with water-based paint.

Everything, the hidden lighting of the plasterboard ceiling (or the main concrete ceiling) is ready! Now let’s talk about how the hidden lighting of the stretch ceiling is performed.

Installation of hidden lighting using a ceiling plinth (eaves)

As mentioned earlier, hidden lighting of a stretch ceiling made of polymer film can be performed exclusively with the help of LED strips (modules), since they are light and do not heat up, which fit into the ceiling cornice glued to the wall. Due to the way the cornice is attached, this method is considered unreliable.

A ceiling plinth (gaptel) made of polystyrene foam will be used as a cornice. You should not choose a very wide plinth, as such a plinth will visually reduce the volume of the room.

The order of work will be as follows:

1. Using a measuring ruler and a marker, mark the perimeter of the room (on the walls) with points at a distance of 10 cm from the ceiling level.
2. Draw a line through these points, which will be the lower border of the ceiling skirting board.
3. Prepare the ceiling plinth for gluing by cutting all the necessary corners (both internal and external) using a miter saw.
4. Glue the cornice for hidden lighting with liquid nails around the entire perimeter of the room. To provide additional rigidity of the ceiling cornice, it is necessary not only to grease all the joints between individual hooks, but also to use in these places the installation of nails, which can be used by ordinary matches.
5. Allow the glue to dry completely, and then you can place the LED strips inside the cornice. In this case, you cannot install a DC step-down transformer directly behind the plinth, because this heavy device will break the hook. It is best to install the transformer somewhere in an inconspicuous place near the cornice, for example, on a wall that will be covered by a curtain.
6. Connect the LED strips to the transformer, strictly observing the polarity. At the same time, keep in mind that if the length of one LED strip is more than 5 m, all the strips are connected to the transformer in parallel, since the serial connection of expensive strips of this length will lead to their failure due to burnout of the tracks.
7. Seal all gaps between the eaves and the walls with acrylic sealant.
8. After the sealant has completely dried, sand the ceiling plinth and paint it with pressed paint. Apply several layers of paint with a paint brush so that you get an even, beautiful color. At the same time, each subsequent layer of paint is applied only after the previous layer has completely dried.

As you can see, hidden lighting is an expensive element of ceiling decoration. But its manufacture is so simple that you can do the entire installation yourself, saving on paying for someone else’s labor. In addition, you will create such a ceiling with hidden lighting, which completely fits into the overall interior design of the room, developed by best electrician in Sacramento!