norfbech
Established Member
Hi all,
Was hoping for a bit of advice tips on a relatively straightforward lighting design/plan I have for my ground floor (upstairs will be a seperate project).
I've had a good ol browse through these forums and picked up some fantastic tips and, of course, inspiration.
I have a friend who's a pro sparky, and he's helped devise most of this plan, but I have veered off slightly as I was to be adding a bit of LED strip/tape mood lighting.
Due to budget constraints, I'm probably have to look at setting up something I can upgrade in the future, although it's important I plan the wiring for this...once the plastering and ceilings go up, I don't ever want to see them down again!
I'll quickly describe my plan, then drop a couple of sketches (forgive the quality...didn't have time to do them properly on t'computer).
Ok - three rooms - I'm wiring each of them to a grid switch on a seperate circuit which will include a CAT5/6 cable (this is what the aforementioned friend of mine is doing). When the time (and next set of funds released!) I'll look at something like Lutron or Rako (obviously having the Cat cable already fed, I'd have to consider something which doesn't have it's own proprietary cabling - my mate has Cat in his, so I'll go with that) - and link that back to the switch at my node point:
* Hall - Spotlights, LED stairlights, dropped ceiling perimeter LED strip/tape and outdoor lights. 4 way grid switch.
* Living room - set of recessed spots, two wall lights, tape/strip around the back of the TV, tape/strip to the left and right of the TV above cabinets. I may also add a couple of table lamps and fit them with 5v sockets and then back to a wall switch...not sure yet.
I may as well connect the tape/strip 'as one' (bridge them?) so the TV backlight and above cabinet are connected to one switch.
The spots may either be split (5 and two - with the two being in the bay window area) or just a set of 7.
4-6 way grid switch.
* Dining room - recessed spots (five probably), 3x pendents set below a small section of dropped ceiling, tape/strip in and around the drop ceiling, tape/strip around the TV and 2 x wall lights. Outdoor lights pair.
Most of this is fairly straightforward for me (given that it's pretty much the same system as my friend has installed) but I'm aware there are a few considerations when it comes to the tape/strip LEDs. I've only used them in the past when plugged direct into the mains (the pre plugged variety you get from ikea). Colour changing is not essential, so may not require the RGB drivers, at least not in all rooms, but obviously all being Low Volt I'll need the appropriate transformers. Also, these are only for mood lighting/background but it's possible for the drop ceiling lights I may have to 'double up' to get anything approaching a decent glow. If it came to colour changing, then I'd be more than happy with a small selection of colours (and a manual switch would suffice) rather than the two million odd colours some of these set ups provide! I do rather like the idea of a 'bit of blue' on occasion...with deep winter approaching, a bit of summertime Miami would do wonders for the pysche!
btw - this is the 'drop ceiling section' I'm planning to build - the glow can be as subtle as this:
So, if anyone could add anything/help I'd be most grateful. Probably looking at 5-10 metres of the 5050 per room (bearing in mind if I have to double up in places?) and budget is so very tight - hence the colour variety may have to wait for an upgrade (I presume once you're 1.5mm circuit is in place, then in the future it would be a case of just fitting a new system onto this...I'm hoping!).
Many thanks.
Was hoping for a bit of advice tips on a relatively straightforward lighting design/plan I have for my ground floor (upstairs will be a seperate project).
I've had a good ol browse through these forums and picked up some fantastic tips and, of course, inspiration.
I have a friend who's a pro sparky, and he's helped devise most of this plan, but I have veered off slightly as I was to be adding a bit of LED strip/tape mood lighting.
Due to budget constraints, I'm probably have to look at setting up something I can upgrade in the future, although it's important I plan the wiring for this...once the plastering and ceilings go up, I don't ever want to see them down again!
I'll quickly describe my plan, then drop a couple of sketches (forgive the quality...didn't have time to do them properly on t'computer).
Ok - three rooms - I'm wiring each of them to a grid switch on a seperate circuit which will include a CAT5/6 cable (this is what the aforementioned friend of mine is doing). When the time (and next set of funds released!) I'll look at something like Lutron or Rako (obviously having the Cat cable already fed, I'd have to consider something which doesn't have it's own proprietary cabling - my mate has Cat in his, so I'll go with that) - and link that back to the switch at my node point:
* Hall - Spotlights, LED stairlights, dropped ceiling perimeter LED strip/tape and outdoor lights. 4 way grid switch.
* Living room - set of recessed spots, two wall lights, tape/strip around the back of the TV, tape/strip to the left and right of the TV above cabinets. I may also add a couple of table lamps and fit them with 5v sockets and then back to a wall switch...not sure yet.
I may as well connect the tape/strip 'as one' (bridge them?) so the TV backlight and above cabinet are connected to one switch.
The spots may either be split (5 and two - with the two being in the bay window area) or just a set of 7.
4-6 way grid switch.
* Dining room - recessed spots (five probably), 3x pendents set below a small section of dropped ceiling, tape/strip in and around the drop ceiling, tape/strip around the TV and 2 x wall lights. Outdoor lights pair.
Most of this is fairly straightforward for me (given that it's pretty much the same system as my friend has installed) but I'm aware there are a few considerations when it comes to the tape/strip LEDs. I've only used them in the past when plugged direct into the mains (the pre plugged variety you get from ikea). Colour changing is not essential, so may not require the RGB drivers, at least not in all rooms, but obviously all being Low Volt I'll need the appropriate transformers. Also, these are only for mood lighting/background but it's possible for the drop ceiling lights I may have to 'double up' to get anything approaching a decent glow. If it came to colour changing, then I'd be more than happy with a small selection of colours (and a manual switch would suffice) rather than the two million odd colours some of these set ups provide! I do rather like the idea of a 'bit of blue' on occasion...with deep winter approaching, a bit of summertime Miami would do wonders for the pysche!
btw - this is the 'drop ceiling section' I'm planning to build - the glow can be as subtle as this:
So, if anyone could add anything/help I'd be most grateful. Probably looking at 5-10 metres of the 5050 per room (bearing in mind if I have to double up in places?) and budget is so very tight - hence the colour variety may have to wait for an upgrade (I presume once you're 1.5mm circuit is in place, then in the future it would be a case of just fitting a new system onto this...I'm hoping!).
Many thanks.
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