Stair tread lights

[cdbe]

I (or rather my wife) wants stair tread lights so I'm looking for a bit of advice. Currently it's all open and stripped for first fix, I think I want them on the stairs circuit so at this stage is it just a case of looping a cable up to the rose and down under the stairs?

After that is seems to be LEDs in the strings or strips under the nosing but I haven't really investigated - are they some kind of kit with a transformer?

Any advice appreciated. Obviously looking for a professional product not some tat glued on.

 

[blup]

I'd plug them into a socket if that was easier. Like the idea of lighting just from safety perspective.

Blup

 

[mattylad]

Look into smart lights, that way you can switch them on/off from anywhere, on their own and change the colour depending upon her mood

 

[cdbe]

Has to be tread lights - that's what her friend has got! We are going for smart lights in the main (50 m² open plan) extension - mainly as I haven't a clue about lighting design so I think plenty of them interspersed with a grid of down lighters on a few separate circuits will give plenty of flexibility.

 

[mattylad]

Yes but you can get smart ones.
They can even have a sensor that turns them on as you walk up them etc.

 

[cdbe]

Sorry, misunderstood!, I have now seen the motion sensor ones but I'm not sure I fancy the "Michael Jackson" effect.

 

[robinbanks]

that's what her friend has got

Then get whatever her friend has got; makes your life easy because your setup isn't then in competition with theirs?

I'd use the RGBW self adhesive led tapes you can snip length off and some decent RGBW controller. Most of my home automation gear is fibaro so I'd use theirs to have it integrate, probably with one of their presence sensors so the stairs would glow on and off when someone walks near..

They can even have a sensor that turns them on as you walk up them etc.

Want this for mine, but it's waaaay down the priority list

is it just a case of looping a cable up to the rose and down under the stairs?

Yep, connect it to the same terminals as the bulb is

grid of down lighters

Caution; down lighters are easy to get wrong. Take a look at some "good lighting design ideas" type articles and note how few times you'll see downlighters recommended for creating a pleasantly lit space. Add in LED lighting, which is less diffuse/casts sharp shadows and generally less warm, and downlighters can make a lighting set up pretty horrible overall

The pic you've posted highlights this - no offence intended but the lighting looks awful as far as your camera can see, with what looks like a cool white single pendant down light just blasting a stark illumination on everything. Consider how it would change if there were warm white up-down lighters on the walls, picking up the features of the brick and creating warmth and a mix of shadow and light.. I'd also consider swapping the balustrade panels for spindles and ditching the white paint

 

[ebee]

I once did a cottage type 3 floor house with two stairways.
They wanted LED lighting on the "strings " of the stairs.
They loved them.
Actually they were quite effective.
The main lights were pendants .
So I ensured that in each staircase the pendants were on one circuiit and the step lights were on another.
Meant that if one lighting circuit was de-energised for any reason that there was illumination from the other circuit and that might be important for safety sometime, easy to arrange on that particular job.

Don`t put all your Basques in one Exit, as they says.

 

[opps]

I (or rather my wife) wants stair tread lights so I'm looking for a bit of advice. Currently it's all open and stripped for first fix, I think I want them on the stairs circuit so at this stage is it just a case of looping a cable up to the rose and down under the stairs?

After that is seems to be LEDs in the strings or strips under the nosing but I haven't really investigated - are they some kind of kit with a transformer?

Any advice appreciated. Obviously looking for a professional product not some tat glued on.

View attachment 323822

As an aside. Stock up on more Kronenbourg before it is too late.

They, Carlsberg, are going to rejig the formulation and drop the alcohol content to 4.6%. B'stards...

The landlord of my local gave me the bad news a few weeks ago. They (Carlsberg) are obviously still selling the existing stock, so I have no idea when the new stuff will hit the pumps.

 

[cdbe]

The area is stripped for rewire, replastering and staircase refurbishment - the bare brick isn't a feature and the horrible pendant belong to the old lady! I'm fully on board with the idea of lighting design but clueless as to how to achieve it - hence a grid/pepperpot approach for the main extension where at least we can swap temperatures and wattages of bulbs/replace spots with pendants/smart bulbs/plug in floor lamps etc when it's decorated and furnished (no access from above so once plastered that's it). I'll certainly check out the article.

It all seems to be getting weaker (the lager) - I don't like much less than 5%, the Kronenbourg was 4 for £30 at Asda and my wife has some kind of card to get money back so not too bad - I'll get some more in!

 

[robinbanks]

I'll certainly check out the article.

It was more a recommendation to read multiple articles- I just picked on the first one to demo the point that downlighters aren't commonly used in well designed lighting scenarios and personally I feel they are often just flung in en masse because they're cheap and people have come to expect it, rather than because they're good. I'm guilty of it too, so much going I. When I was building the place I couldn't be bothered doing the research into yet another aspect that needed designing so I just put downlighters everywhere rather than thinking about it - getting on for a hundred downlighters in my house with £7-a-pop megaman "dim to warm" leds that change colour temperature as they dim, just to try and make it nicer light because regular dimmable LEDs are that awful.. and still predominantly in the rooms that have them we use the fewer uplighting wall lights with halogen bulbs because the light they create is so much more pleasant