Backlight for the cabinet - how to do it

Often when buying a new closet people do not think about the need to organize indoor lighting. But after all, lighting is very useful, as often all cabinets( classic or wardrobes) occupy the most lighted place in the room. To find the right thing in the closet, you have to come close to the shelves, shift the contents or turn on additional lighting. This problem can easily be solved by setting the backlight for the cabinet.

You can resort to the classic lighting scheme and connect the lamps to the switch. In this case, every time you need to open the cabinet and find the right thing, you have to be distracted and turn on the light manually, and then do not forget to turn it off. These actions cause a lot of inconvenience and take away precious time.

The best option for lighting a built-in cabinet is automatic lighting. Visually, the lighting looks like this: when you open the cabinet door, the light turns on automatically, and when the door closes - turns off. Depending on the choice of the backlight, you can get an additional light source in the right place.

How to choose the lighting

In modern wardrobes, presented in the furniture market in Russia, install halogen lamps( made in Italy, Poland, Germany and China).

When lighting the cabinet with halogen lamps, you should pay attention to such moments:

• the temperature of the bulb can reach five hundred degrees Celsius, so you should adhere to the rules of fire safety;
• halogen lamps are very whimsical, and it is better not to touch them with your bare hands. Otherwise, grease stains can form on the surface, which will subsequently lead to a reflow of the glass;
• lamps are very sensitive to voltage drops, therefore they are recommended to be switched on via a stabilizer, and some types of halogen lamps can only work through a step-down transformer;
• if the lamps will work continuously, then they quickly fail. In addition, the continuous operation of lighting devices in the light-dynamic mode leads to a shortening of their service life.

An alternative to halogen lamps can be LED lighting( Led), which not only refreshes and diversifies the interior of the room, but also illuminates the interior of the cabinet. Often it is used to illuminate walls, cabinets and other furniture - beds, bedside tables, shelves, kitchen cabinets.

The photo shows the lighting of the cabinet with an LED ribbon:

There is a LED light from several elements combined by a loop. This type of lighting will provide the necessary dynamics of light( change the color and intensity of the glow).

If we compare two versions of the lighting for furniture - LED and halogen lamps, then the LED system is much more expensive. But even high cost does not stop buyers, because this lighting will justify itself in the course of operation, and will also save energy.

Advantages of LED backlight:

• low power consumption;
• will serve more than sixty thousand hours;
• resistance to multiple on and off;
• high strength to shock and vibration;
• is compact;
• the ability to adjust the intensity of lighting;
• low operating voltage;
• does not heat up and meets the fire safety rules;
• is environmentally friendly, as the materials do not contain mercury;
• has a low operating voltage;

Using modern LEDs will provide coverage for seven years of continuous operation.

How to make the light in the cabinet

For the internal lighting of the cabinet, the Steinel fixtures are designed with a built-in motion sensor. Choose models equipped with an ultrasonic sensor that switches on the lighting when the door is opened, and not when the person is near.

Specialists advise you to determine the layout of the lighting when you connect the lighting yourself. It is possible to connect the cable under voltage - in this case the motion sensor will simultaneously act as a switch. But in most cases, when it is necessary to make lighting in the cabinet, the power cable is not output in advance, and there is no possibility to install the lamp in the right place. This problem is often faced by the owners of cabinets.

You can conduct the electrical cable in two ways:

1. Open - on the ceiling and the wall.
2. Closed - using a special cable-channel.

How to install the lighting in a closet in a closed way:

• measure and cut the cable channel of the required length;
• fix with screws its base in the ceiling.

• lay the cable in the lid and close it;
• connect the lighting of the cabinet to the electrical cable by performing a serial connection of the white wire( phase) and blue( zero).Work should be performed with the power off;

• further in the lamp it is necessary to install the lamps and turn on the current supply to check it in operation;
• if the backlight is connected properly, then you can install a light diffusing cover.

How to install halogen bulbs

Halogen lighting is often used to illuminate shelves in a cabinet. The stores sell ready-made kits consisting of three or five lamps. Pick a set of suitable size for lighting cabinet shelves.

The standard backlight kit includes:

• transformer;
• halogen lights;
• wire;
• connector;
• switch.

Before installing halogen lamps, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the diagram:

When choosing a step-down transformer, you should consider the following parameters:

• input voltage;
• power( the total amount of power luminaires connected to the transformer).

In addition, study such lighting setting rules:

1. The power of the transformer should be higher by five percent than the sum of the power of the halogen lamps.
2. At the output, the transformers must provide twelve volts. For example, if you need to connect five luminaires( the power of each lamp is twenty watts), voltage of twelve volts, then you need to multiply the number of luminaires by the power and add to the obtained figure five percent. Accordingly, the power of the transformer will be 105 watts.
3. Observe the operating voltage of the connected luminaires.
4. The length of the wire for connecting the lamps to the transformer must not exceed two to three meters. If you take a longer wire, then power delivery over long distances may decrease.
5. It must be taken into account that during operation of the transformer it will heat up, so it should be located at a distance of twenty centimeters from heat sources( heater, battery).

Step-by-step works on connecting luminaires:

1. To prepare a place for halogen lamps, it is necessary to use an electric drill and put on a milling cutter( crown).
2. Drill a hole five to ten millimeters deep, and then flip the cutter and drill a hole. Without this method, a piece of chipboard can be pulled out of the cabinet wall.
3. On a flat surface, connect the backlight elements into a single chain.
4. To connect the lamps you need to connect the lamps together and connect them to the transformer.
5. In order to perform a parallel connection, it is necessary to use pads or terminals.

Lighting in the closet with your own hands will be easier if you look at the connection process in the photo:

Backlighting with LED strip

The tape is sold in the electrical shop in coils of five meters or a meter. To illuminate the kitchen cabinets, it is enough to buy one coil of LED tape( the density of the LEDs is thirty pieces per meter), the required number of terminal blocks for connecting the wires, the connector and the controller on the control panel. To power the tape, do not forget to buy an electric cord with a plug.

Explore the ribbon mounting scheme presented in this photo:

How to install the LED strip:

1. Connect the power supply to the power cord in series, and then the power supply to the controller. Note that two short and thin wiring are suitable for the controller. Connect them securely to the power supply unit in this way: strip the insulation of the wiring by ten millimeters and apply solder. Now you can not worry about the reliability of the contact.
2. On the controller you see four wires of different colors. You should connect the wiring of the same color controller to the ribbon. For connection, you can use a soldering iron, but the terminal blocks will best cope with this task.

1. At this stage of the assembly, you need to check the operation of the LEDs.
2. Now it is left to glue the LED tape inside the cabinet and connect it to the wiring.

Cabinets with illumination photo: