Neon lighting is used today for indoor and outdoor lighting. Such lamps are highly efficient, reliable and have a long service life. Using neon lamps, you can create a festive atmosphere in the house, decorate the territory of a country house.
Advantages and disadvantages
Neon lamps are glass tubes that are filled with gas under high pressure. These devices have a fairly wide scope. The demand for neon lights is not at all random, because they have many advantages. These lamps give a bright light, do not heat up, are fireproof, have a long life, operate completely silently. A wide variety of lamp designs and lighting options allows you to choose them for any interior style of the room. The design of the device provides for controlling the brightness of the light flux, this is very important when installing them in a residential building.
Today, neon lighting is used quite often. However, it has some disadvantages. For the full equipment of such illumination, a high voltage in the mains is required, it is also necessary to purchase an additional high-voltage transformer. Another disadvantage is the fact that devices with such a light are still of high cost.
Where are neon lights used?
Inert gas luminaires and tapes have found application in many fields today. They are used to illuminate building facades, advertising structures, architectural objects and monuments, to illuminate the runway at the airport. With the help of neon lamps, hidden illumination is created in the interior of a living room, in shopping centers, museums, concert halls. Often they are used in landscape design.
Neon apartment lighting
Such illumination can become a true decoration of the room, if properly combined with the interior style. Neon devices are used in the following cases:
- for stretch and multi-level ceilings;
- for the design of niches and any partitions;
- for lighting floors, stairs and podiums;
- for additional illumination of the working area, countertops, kitchen sets;
- as a decor for wall panels and cornices.
Ceiling
The neon lighting of the false ceiling looks very impressive. It allows you to emphasize all structural elements: levels, protrusions, transitions. With the slit method of equipment (when the lamp is not visible, but there is light), all geometric shapes and structural elements are illuminated. This visually expands the space and looks very stylish. This option is especially recommended for small rooms.
As the main lighting, neon lights are placed in the center of the room, choosing the color to suit the situation in the room. Additional lighting is equipped around the perimeter of the room. This option is only possible if there are no construction defects.
Most often, neon lighting is mounted in the living room, for the bedroom it is important that the light is not very bright. It is necessary to choose calm light blue or lilac shades.
Floor
With the help of floor lighting, you can zone the room, create various geometric light shapes. In this case, it is important that it harmonizes with the ceiling lighting.
When installing neon lights on the floor, safety precautions must be observed. Here, the lamps can be subjected to mechanical stress and suffer from moisture, so for the floor you need to buy appliances with a high degree of protection.
The brightness of the lamps should be moderate, because such a backlight often serves as a guide when the lights are off. In this case, it should not interfere with and irritate vision.
In the bathroom, neon lights are not mounted on the floor, since there is a high probability of their contact with water. For the bedroom, floor lighting is also not the best option, it is better to use ceiling and curtain lights.
In the kitchen, floor lighting is done next to the furniture. The most spectacular and even necessary option for lighting is the equipment of neon lamps on the stairs in private homes. In this case, it is important to ensure the safe movement of all households along the steps.
Cornices
Here, neon lamps provide additional lighting. In combination with the main source, complete lighting is obtained, which can be used in a spacious living room, where the whole family spends time or meets guests.
In the bedroom, such a combination is used alternately. During reading, when working with documents or at a computer, good light is needed, and cornice lighting will be enough to watch TV or when preparing for bed.
A festive atmosphere can be created by light from a neon ribbon mounted around the perimeter of the cornice. It is combined with many interior styles.
Other ideas for using neon lights
For the home, there are several more applications for this lighting. For example, on photowall-paper from the whole picture only one element can stand out. Also, the backlight is mounted in furniture with the main light turned off. Additional light can decorate a cupboard, kitchen, table, sofa. Neon lights can decorate a mirror, mosaic panels, photographs in frames, indoor plants.
DIY installation
Not everyone knows how to make neon lighting in a room, and they think that only professionals can do it. However, the installation of such lamps is very simple. In the selected place, you must install the lamp holders, and then screw the bulbs into them.
They are connected through a resistor, which serves as a current limiter. As a rule, these resistors are already built into the base during the manufacturing process of the lamps, so they are immediately connected to the network. It is because of the ease of installation that these lamps are very popular.
There is one important requirement that must be observed when installing neon lights. It is strictly forbidden to install them on a metal surface. In this case, use a special plastic gasket with a thickness of at least 1 cm, it is placed between the lamp and the surface where it is installed.
When installing a neon ribbon, remote holders are used that provide the necessary distance from the metal surface (at least 3 cm). They can be purchased at any hardware store.
When installing the lamp on the street or in the country house, it is necessary to equip the cable protection with plastic corrugated hoses. For the arrangement of space near the house, professionals recommend the use of neon ribbons, rather than lamps. The tape will not only provide bright and beautiful lighting, but will also last for many years without any special care and maintenance.