Design advice for wall-to-wall built-ins? Lighting?

Henry W

Henry
Corporate Member
Anyone have experience or recommendations with lighting shelves for a bookcase style built in?
I know LED lighting has opened up design space considerably, but there are so many options and considerations. Overall design is three vertical units, with 18" depth cabinets (doors) lower units and 12" depth open-shelving upper units. Many other aspects are TBD.

1. What type of LED should I be considering? This is primarily display style shelving, with some book shelves. Anyone have good experience with rope lighting?
2. Want at least one fixed shelf because there will be a shelf ladder. Other shelves are to be movable. Are there lighting options for movable shelves?
3. Any suggestions design guidelines for the overall unit. This is about 11'8" wide, 9' ceilings. Units will be wall to wall overall, with 3 units.

Haven't searched here or elsewhere yet on these questions - just wanted to start with the true font of info that NCWW is.

Thanks
 

Tim Sherwood

Tim
Corporate Member
I used led adhesive tape lights for my kitchen cabinets. I bought them through HD. They don't carry much on the shelf though. Their supplier Armacost, was very helpful in recommending the right set up. You can contact them directly.
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
My experience with this kind of lighting, it depends on what you are desiring. If you are looking for focal or spots then you are going any of the many recessed lighting types. That said, my experience with the LED's is the lower the profile of the fixture it seems to be more expensive. If you go the way of rope or thin LED type lights they provide good lighting but it is a continuous look. Just depends on what you are looking for. Also, If you want a really strong double face type adhesives, look at the automotive stuff sold at autobody supplies.That kind of tape has an adhesive that sticks and really holds, but not cheap.

Hope that helps some.
 

Phil S

Phil Soper
Staff member
Corporate Member
The LED strips with adhesive back work great. They can be easily installed under each shelf or you can run them vertically up each front corner. There are many aluminum extrusions that fit the strips and optional lens but I find that to be overkill. You can get really fancy with RGBW strips (red, green, blue,and white) but they require a 4 channel controller. Most folks just want white - the problem there is which white, should it be yellow tone like a tungsten filament light or bright white like daylight. The yellow tone, warm white is 2700 and the bright white is 6000 and you can order almost any number in that range - I prefer 3500.
Now they have a flexible strip that is tunable, both warm white and bright white leds. If you want a warm tone you only turn on the warm leds, If you want bright white you turn on the bright leds. If you turn on the warm to 100% and the bright to 50% you get a nice 3500. In reality you just buy a two channel controller.
Additionally you will need a led driver. Most drivers are matched to power one "string" of lights almost always 16.5 feet long. A single color string will use a very common 96 watt driver, the new tunable white strings will need more like 150 watts.
I probably made this complicated. It really is not, just buy the system. Please use Smile when you get these from Amazon
 

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