Friday, December 23, 2016

More options for LED layout lighting

Within the few years that I have been experimenting with lighting my layout with LED's, many more products have become available and prices have been falling.  A19 or medium base screw in bulbs are now available in a full range of wattage equivalents and color temperatures.

I recently purchased these A19 or medium base, 40 watt equivalent, warm bright bulbs on amazon for about $3.00 each along with some sockets that have a mounting bracket for another $3.00 each.

As I have been building the layout I have realized that in many areas I do not need as much vertical clearance as I had thought and can allow for a taller lighting valance.

Here is how I am mounting these lights above the layout under the cabinets.  After some experimentation I came up with a spacing of 16 inches for an even level of lighting.   Strips of 2 inch wide plywood were mounted under the cabinets that have plywood brackets mounted every 16 inches.

So far I have put up 11 bulbs under the cabinets along the longest wall.  Shown in this photo is the area above the work bench.  A valance made from tempered hard board (Masonite) can be mounted to the same plywood brackets that the light sockets are mounted to.

3 comments:

  1. Very nice. This country banned ordinary light globes a few years ago. It is very hard to find one now that we are going LED. Thankfully prices have started to drop as the LED's were very expensive here also.
    Merry Christmas to you and your family Brad.PS the backdrop looks good from the angle in the pic.

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    1. Thanks Rod, Here in the US we can still buy the old ones but the wattage is reduced, for example a 60 watt bulb is only 57 watts.

      Been hearing about all the flooding going on in Queensland and NSW, hope your place is OK. Happy Holidays

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  2. Hi Brad.
    Thanks we live a long way from the flooding although we have visited the area on several occasions. We did need to pass through the badly flooded areas at the lower end of NSW as we drove home from our daughters wedding in November. Wow water everywhere for miles.
    Have a great New Year Brad.

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