Most of all, the LED strip is suitable for stretch and plasterboard ceilings.

What is LED strip

An LED strip, or, as it is also called, duralight, has the form of a flexible conductive board with LEDs and resistors placed on it, which are responsible for the resistance.

Such a tape has a width of 8 to 10 mm and a thickness of 2 to 3 mm. If we are talking about a multi-color tape (RGB), then a controller is also attached to it, which will allow you to adjust the intensity of the glow and switch the lights, creating an atmosphere in the room that suits the mood.

How to make LED lighting with your own hands

When installing an LED strip, in addition to the strip itself, you will also need a power supply and connectors to connect the strip.

When choosing a power supply, you need to focus on its power. To do this, you need to make the appropriate calculations using the data given in this table:

To calculate the required power, it is necessary to multiply the power of one meter of the LED strip by its total length:

W/m x L tape = W

After the calculation, it is necessary to add another 20% to the result, because the “end-to-end” power supply will not be enough for the power supply and some margin is needed for its full and safe operation.

And now a little about connectors. As mentioned above, they will be needed to connect the tape to the power supply, as well as to other tapes, since many users are not limited to the standard tape size of 5 meters and add the same or even several tapes to it.

To connect with the connector, you do not need to resort to any tricks, you just need to move the clip, putting the connector on the edge of the tape and returning the clip to the opposite position. After that, you just need to correctly connect the wire from the connector to the power supply.

In some cases, a soldering connection method can be used, which, by the way, is much cheaper than buying connectors. The connection is very reliable and durable.

Important! When soldering contacts, it is very important to heat the soldering iron to a maximum of 250 degrees and solder no more than 10 seconds.

Connecting the LED strip

There are two types of LED strips:

Single color ribbon

Multicolor (RGB)

The principle of their connection is somewhat different, so it makes sense to consider their installation separately.

How to connect a single color LED strip

To connect a regular tape 5 meters long, you need to connect the wires of the power supply to the wires of the tape. There is a standard wire marking, indicating “+” in red and “-” in black. If there is no marking, you can measure the polarity with a multimeter, however, even if the polarity is not observed, nothing will happen to the tape, it simply will not glow.

If you need to connect more than one tape, then you need to place them not in series, but in parallel, because when connected in series, the tape can overheat and burn out.

This is how the connection diagram of one LED strip looks like:

This view has a parallel connection of two tapes:

You can also use two power supplies and connect two tapes:

In some cases, when there is a need to connect a small piece of tape, it can also be connected in series. But it is necessary to check whether the voltage drops or not, if the readings remain unchanged, then such a connection will be safe.

The cutting of the tape is carried out in places specially designated for this, where scissors or something else is drawn.

Info! The tape is cut every 3 LEDs; if it is cut incorrectly, not one LED is disabled, but the whole section of the tape at once.

Attaching a piece of tape is done using connectors or soldering.

How to connect LED multicolor RGB strip

A multi-color LED strip differs from a single-color one in that it needs a controller, which becomes another link in connecting the RGB strip - controller - power supply.

Connecting the controller to the power supply is similar to connecting a single-color tape: the wires are connected in accordance with the polarity. But connecting the tape to the controller is somewhat more complicated, since not 2, but as many as 4 wires are involved in the connection, 3 of which control the color intensity, and the 4th is responsible for supplying power:

B - blue

R - red

G - green

V+ - common

The general picture of the connection looks like this:

As with the connection of a single color ribbon, when using several ribbons, a parallel connection is necessary. However, since RGB tapes consume more current, you need to use an RGB signal amplifier in addition to the controller and power supply. This device allows you to regulate the intensity and uniformity of the glow of the LEDs.

A second tape is connected to the RGB amplifier, and the amplifier, in turn, is connected to the power supply. It is advisable to use a separate power supply unit for the amplifier, because if there is one, then its power supplying both the amplifier and the controller should be higher.

The ideal connection diagram for 2 RGB strips looks like this:

And this is what it looks like in practice:

Advice! Having dealt with the diagrams and the principle of connection, it is necessary to assemble the tape on the floor and plug it into the network to check its performance. If everything is in order, then you can proceed with its installation on the ceiling.

Do-it-yourself LED lighting installation

Most often, for a duralight device, a special drywall niche is erected on the ceiling, which will hide the LED strip itself, and then the light from it will not enter the room directly, but will be reflected from the ceiling. It is because of this soft glow that LED strips are so successful.

Plasterboard niche installation

The plasterboard niche looks like a cornice that runs around the entire perimeter of the room or along the edge of a multi-level ceiling. This cornice, consisting of plasterboard sheets, is attached to a crate of metal profiles.

Before installing the crate, you need to make the correct markup: first you need to step back from the ceiling along the wall down 70-100 mm and draw a flat horizontal line. To do this, you need to use the level. Then you need to attach the profile along the drawn line.

To mount the second profile, you need to step back from the wall about 20 cm and also draw a line on the ceiling parallel to the first. A profile is attached along it and, thus, an internal perimeter is formed.

Then, retreating from the starting profile by 40 or 50 cm, you need to start installing profile segments that form the crate. The length of such segments must correspond to the distance between the base profile and the profile lying at the base of the ceiling.

It looks like this:

The main profile is connected to the starting one with the help of small segments (up to 300 mm), and the bearing cornice will lie on the ledges that are visible in the photo.

Plasterboard sheathing

After the profile is ready, it is sheathed with drywall sheets: first, its vertical part, which allows you to hide the wiring. After that, the lower part is also closed, and the following construction is obtained:

Installing a cornice is a rather laborious process, so you can choose an easier way and install a plinth (fillet) on the ceiling for LED lighting.

It looks like this:

Here you can see that it does not completely cover the space between the wall and the ceiling, this is necessary so that the light from the backlight is visible.

And here is the layout of it:

The plinth is fastened very simply, sometimes even with putty or glue. It all depends on the surface to which it will be attached.

Attaching the Tape

When absolutely everything is ready, you can begin to attach the tape. To do this, be sure to clean the surface with alcohol and stick the tape. Usually, it is enough to peel off a special strip with reverse side duralight and carefully press it against the wall.

Important! If the tape will cover the entire perimeter of the room, then it should not be strongly bent (no more than 2 cm).

To mount the controller, amplifier and power supply, special niches must be provided in advance.

Do-it-yourself LED backlight installation requires responsibility and some knowledge, which can be easily gained by watching a few videos and carefully reading all the instructions regarding the duralight installation process. It does not take much effort to decorate your home with one of the best design ideas.

Video description of the LED strip device and the principles of its control:

Installing a drywall niche to illuminate the ceiling with LED strip:

Correct connection of the LED strip:

In this article, we will look at examples of making homemade LED lamps for various needs.

1. The simplest lamp for domestic needs.

To begin with, it is worth deciding which LEDs are best to use. If you choose between powerful and low-power - the first is better in terms of labor intensity. To replace one powerful 1W LED, you need 15-20 low power 5mm or smd LEDs. Accordingly, soldering with low-power is much larger. Let's focus on the powerful ones. Usually they are divided into two types - output and surface mount. To make life easier, it is better to use output. The power of the LED is better to choose no more than 1 watt.

We also need a current driver so that the LEDs receive the necessary voltage and serve for a long time.
In addition, a heatsink is needed for long-term operation of the LED (especially for a powerful one). Aluminum is best suited for its manufacture. For each one-watt LED, you need a piece of aluminum 50x50 mm, about 1 mm thick. The piece may be smaller if bent. If you take a piece of 25x25 mm and 5 mm thick, you will not get the desired effect. To dissipate heat, you need area, not thickness.

Consider the model of the simplest lamp. We will need: three 1 W LEDs, a 3x1 W driver, double-sided thermally conductive tape, a radiator (for example, a piece of a U-shaped profile 1 mm thick and 6-8 cm long).

Thermally conductive tape can conduct heat. Therefore, the usual double-sided tape from will not work. Cut off a strip of adhesive tape 6-7 mm wide.

We degrease the radiator and the bottoms of the LEDs. It is undesirable to use acetone for this - the plastic lens of the LED may become cloudy.

Stick tape on the radiator. Then we mark the radiator to install the LEDs evenly.

We install the LEDs on the adhesive tape. At the same time, we observe the polarity - all LEDs must be deployed in the same way so that the "plus" of one LED looks at the "minus" of the neighboring one. Lightly press them for better contact. After that, we apply tin to the leads of the LEDs to facilitate further soldering. If you have a fear that the adhesive tape may burn out, just lift the LED leads so that they do not touch the adhesive tape. In this case, the LED housing must be held with a finger so that it does not come off the adhesive tape. However, you can bend the conclusions in advance.

We connect the LEDs together. For this, a vein from any stranded wire is quite enough.

Solder the driver.

The simplest lamp model is ready. Now you can insert it into any suitable case. Of course, you can make a more powerful lamp, only you need more diodes and a more powerful driver, but the principle remains the same. This technique is suitable both for the manufacture of a single lamp, and for small-scale production.

2. Chandelier based on LEDs.

We will need:
1. Base from a burned-out energy-saving lamp.
2. Two grips (to connect to the LED);
3. Powerful ten-watt LED, color of your choice;
4. Two small screws;
5. One ten watt LED driver;
6. Thermal paste;
7. Radiator;
8. Heat shrink tube (or insulating tape);
9. wires with a cross section of 2 mm.

First you need to disassemble the old or burned out energy-saving lamp. It is important to be careful not to damage the glass bulb. Otherwise, mercury gas, which is very harmful to health, will come out of it.

We only need a part of the body with a plinth. We cut off the leads from the board going to the base and solder our own leads from the LED driver, insulating them with heat shrink tubes.

With a soldering iron, we will make a couple of holes for the wire, which will hold the entire structure.

Next, use the terminals, crimp, connect to the LED, observing the polarity. We check. It is not recommended to look at the on LED. The intensity of the light is very strong and can harm your eyes. If everything works, we assemble the lamp into a single whole.

The LED is very bright and casts harsh shadows. You can make the light smoother and softer by using a DIY diffuser. Many different materials can be used as a diffuser. The simplest - cut from a two-liter plastic bottle bottom, sandpaper from all sides to give full opacity to direct light. We make four holes and attach it to the radiator with wire.

3. Home LED lamp.

We use Cree MX6 Q5 LEDs with a power of 3 W and a light output of 278 lm as a light source. The LED will be placed on a 5x5 cm heatsink removed from the processor of an old motherboard.

For simplicity, we will use pulse source along with an electronic adapter that will provide the necessary voltage and current to power the LEDs. For this purpose, in our case, a non-working charger was chosen. mobile phone having, according to the manufacturer, an output voltage of 5 V and a current of 420 mA.

To protect against external influences, the entire electronic part will be placed in a socket from an old lamp.

According to the manufacturer's instructions, the Cree MX6 Q5 LEDs can operate at a maximum current of 1A at a voltage of 4.1V. Logically, for normal operation, we need a 1 ohm resistor to reduce the voltage by about one volt of the five that the charger gives to get the desired 4.1 V, and this is only if the charging produces a maximum current of 1 A. However, as it turned out later, a charger with a design current limit of 0.6 A works without problems. Testing in the same way charging for other mobile phones, it was found that they all have a current supply limit that is 20-50% higher than that indicated by the manufacturer. The meaning of this is that any manufacturer will strive to develop a power supply so that it does not overheat even if the powered device is damaged or a short circuit occurs, and the easiest way in this case is to limit the current.

Thus, we have a direct current source limited to 0.6 A, powered by alternating current 230 V, made by a factory method and having a small size. At the same time, during operation, it only slightly heats up.

Let's move on to assembly. First you need to open the power supply in order to remove the parts that will be inserted into the body of the new lamp. Since most power supplies are connected by soldering, we open the unit with a hacksaw.

In order to fix the board in the lamp housing, in our case, sanitary silicone was used. Silicone was chosen for its resistance to high temperatures.

Before closing the lamp, we fasten the radiator to the cover (using bolts), to which the LED was attached.

The lamp is ready. The power consumption is just under 2.5 W and the luminous flux is 190 lm, which is ideal for an economical, durable and strong table lamp.

4. Lamp in the corridor.

To illuminate the hallway with LED lights, we used two Cree MX6 Q5 LEDs, each of which has a power of 3 W and a light output of 278 lm and is powered by an old mobile power supply. Samsung phone. And although the manufacturer in the specification indicates a current strength of 0.7 A, after measurements it was found that it is limited to 0.75 A.

The scheme for manufacturing the base of the lamp is similar to the previous version. The entire external structure is assembled using textile Velcro, glue and plastic washers from motherboards.

The total consumption of this design is about 6 W with a luminous flux of 460 lm.

5. Light fixture in the bathroom.

For the bathroom, I used a Cree XM-L T6 LED powered by two LG phone chargers.

Each of chargers can deliver 0.9 A according to the manufacturer, but I found that the actual current is 1 A. Both power supplies are connected in parallel to obtain a current of 2 A.

With such indicators, the LED lamp will produce a luminous flux of 700 lm with a power consumption of 6 watts.

6. Lamp for the kitchen.
If for the hallway and bathroom there was no need to provide a certain minimum of illumination, then in the kitchen this is not the case. Therefore, it was decided to use for the kitchen not one, but two series-connected Cree XM-L T6 LEDs, each of which has a maximum power consumption of 9 W and a maximum luminous flux of 910 lumens.

For effective cooling, in our case, we used a heatsink removed from Slot 1 of the Pentium 3 processor, to which both LEDs were attached using ArcticAlumina hot melt adhesive. Although Cree XM-L T6 LEDs can draw up to 3 A, the manufacturer recommends using 2 A for reliability, at which they produce a luminous flux of about 700 lm. A generating 12V at a current of 1.5A was used as a power source. After testing it with resistors, it was found that the current was limited to a value of 1.8 A, which is very close to the desired value of 2 A.

To protect the heatsink and two LEDs, we used two plastic washers from the motherboard and two neodymium magnets removed from a damaged DVD drive, securing them with superglue and textile Velcro.

I expected this LED fixture to deliver 1200 lumens, which is comparable to the lumen output of a replacement 23W fluorescent lamp, but it was found that the actual light emitted is even more intense, with a power consumption of around 12W - almost half the amount of the old light bulb. .

7. Office lamp
We will need:

1. LED rulers 4 pcs (on powerful American CREE diodes)
2. Suitable driver (power supply) 1pc
3. The metal case of the future lamp.
4. Wiring, soldering iron, hand tools and fasteners.th lamp.

Can be used to make the body of an old lamp

Or use a special aluminum profile with glass. In this case, the driver is installed inside the profile.

We install diode lines 4 pcs.

We make a ceiling mount (on cables) + put frosted glass.

Version of the LED lamp in the housing (from fluorescent 2x36W)

with glass

Or you can put everything in an office lamp 600x600 mm.

Well, as a bonus, consider a few examples of decorative lamps based on LEDs.

For a decorative lamp we need:
- 4 wooden planks of the same size;
- drill with a drill 15 mm;
- glue for wood;
- wood stain;
- a brush with a pencil;
- sandpaper;
- LED candles.
First of all, it is necessary to make several holes in each plank with a drill, having previously made markings with a pencil - this is how we get a kind of pattern from circles.

We put stain on the tree.

Using glue, we connect 4 planks into a lamp.

We pass sandpaper over the lamp to give it a vintage look.

We put LED candles inside the lamp.

The nightlight is ready.

9. Lamp in oriental style.
As ceiling lamps for lamps, we use cans of pva glue.

We will need:
- 2-3 cans of PVA glue
- cartridges, wire
- scissors, sharp knife
- hot glue gun
- bamboo placemats or straw ceiling tiles

First you need to cut the napkins into pieces of the desired size.

On the base of the can, circle the cartridge with a 1-watt LED with a marker and cut out a circle with a knife.

Then, using a hot glue gun, glue the napkins to the jars.

We glue the braid to the empty places.

At this stage, you can already see how it will glow.

It remains to decorate the braid with wooden beads at the joints.

For safety reasons, holes must be drilled for ventilation. Maybe more, they still won't be visible.

That's all, the lamp is ready.

10. Unusual decorative lamp.

Making a lamp with your own hands began with drawing preliminary sketches on paper. There was a desire that the lamp not only be curved in a plane, but also in space, and have a bizarre 3d wave shape.

After the sketch on paper is ready, we proceed to the manufacture of the lamp. Each pipe in the figure was measured and the pipes were cut to those dimensions. To get the necessary angles, templates were cut out of paper and fastened with tape on the pipe.

All tubes have been laid out on the table and adjustments have been made to the waveform.

The cuts were made on a stationary circular saw. Thus, smooth cuts without burrs with a width of 2 mm are obtained.

Now you need to connect all the pipes into one. The main task is to make smooth bends, for this it does not hurt to apply a template (fiberboard sheet) on the table.

Since the pipes are cardboard, they can be connected accordingly with PVA glue, but I would recommend using adhesives that are stronger and harden faster (moment, superglue).

On the reverse side, wooden planks were screwed onto the screws so that the homemade lamp could be hung on the wall. And holes were drilled in each pipe for the output of wires from the LED strips.

The pipes were painted with ordinary paint in a spray can. Red was used, since the wall on which the lamp should be located was white, I wanted to get some contrast.

The paint dries very quickly, so you can proceed with the installation of LEDs. The main thing to remember is that you can cut the LED strip only in specially marked places. The tape must be marked in advance so that it is enough for all 12 pipes.

We solder red wires to the “+” contact, and black wires to the “-” contact, so as not to confuse the polarity later.

We place the LED strips inside the pipes and fix them with the adhesive side to the pipe wall, and we bring the wires out through the holes made in advance. It remains only to connect all the wires in parallel (connect red to red, and black to black) and connect to the power supply.

Now it's time to hang the homemade lamp on the wall.
The lamp is ready.

In light of the rising cost of electricity and the deterioration of the environment in modern world Economical lighting devices are in increasing demand. Incandescent lamps gradually leave their positions and become a thing of the past. To provide your home with a cheap, environmentally friendly and economical lighting device, an LED lamp will come in handy - it is quite possible to make it yourself.

So, the global crisis dictates its own rules to consumers, and they have to adapt to economic trends. But not only the crisis is forcing businesses and ordinary residents to switch to the use of environmentally friendly and economical lighting fixtures. Environmental standards and requirements change over time, and the planet itself needs to use its resources frugally.

Therefore, everyone can contribute to saving the environment by making a homemade LED lamp. These lamps use led lights, invented in 1907 in Britain, but patented only in 1961.

But there are savings reserves, and this is clearly demonstrated by Oleg Mikhailov, who replaced all the previous light sources in the apartment with LED ones. Electricity bills have since dropped noticeably.

What is the cost of lighting a house and an apartment?

Let's take typical apartment with an area of ​​85 m 2 - three rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a toilet, an entrance hall and a loggia (balcony). According to the norms for lighting 10 mg, 700-1500 lm is enough (we take the average value). This means that the entire apartment requires about 10,000 lm (or, if converted to watts, a dozen and a half lamps with a power of 75-100 W). Somewhere you need more light (for example, 8 living rooms), somewhere less. For this, local illumination sources are usually used.

Let's roughly estimate how much kWh we will get. spent only on lighting, assuming an average use time of 5 hours per day. It turns out a figure that is not at all pleasing to the eye - 200-250 kWh per month. This is at current prices 800-1000 rubles per month! A year runs 12,000 rubles. And that's just for the light! Let's take into account that the service life of an incandescent lamp (I emphasize, not Chinese) is at most 1500 hours. Conclusion: it is necessary to use more economical light sources.

Incandescent lamps

A traditional incandescent light bulb has a coefficient of performance (COP) of 5-8%, the rest of the energy is converted into heat. It turns out that the use of incandescent lamps is an unforgivable luxury to the detriment of both our pocket and the quality of lighting.

Halogen lamps

A halogen lamp is a sealed quartz flask, inside of which there is a spiral in halogen vapor (most often iodine). At a high temperature, iodine drags the evaporated tungsten atoms back onto the spiral and restores it, which allows the lamp to work for quite a long time (3,000-5,000 hours for the best specimens). With the advent of halogen lamps on the market, which have an efficiency of about 15-20% (that is, three times more than incandescent lamps), apartment lighting has changed significantly. They began to pay more attention to local light (especially since halogen lamps are point). Until recently, just such lamps with a power of 35-50 watts were used in my apartment.

Fluorescent lamps

Progress did not stand still - energy-saving compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) appeared, which can be screwed in instead of a conventional incandescent lamp. They have an efficiency of 20-25%. sufficient luminous flux, but they have a significant drawback - the lamp bulb contains mercury vapor (it is not safe to break such a lamp). A burnt-out lamp cannot simply be thrown away, it must be disposed of.

In such a lamp, a phosphor applied to the inside of the bulb glows. Over time, it burns out, and the lamp becomes unusable. The service life of these lamps is 10,000-15,000 hours (again, the best specimens). Compared to incandescent lamps, CFLs are quite expensive. Among the shortcomings of these lamps, it is worth noting the reluctance to turn on at full power in a cold place. I encountered this when I used the CFL on the balcony, the lamp warmed up for 20 minutes ”before turning on. I also noticed that CFL manufacturers incorrectly indicate the power of their devices - for example, on a 24 W lamp (respected by OSRAM), the current was measured, which amounted to 170 hPa, which corresponds to 37 W (a trifle, but unpleasant). But the savings were significant - all the lighting in the apartment, equipped fluorescent lamps"Fired" 150-160 kW. h/month.

LED lamps - a bit of theory

Well, we got close to the LED lamps. An LED is a device that passes current in one direction and glows at the same time. The efficiency of the glow of a super-bright LED is 160 lm / W! For comparison: the best incandescent lamps give 16 lm / W, CFL - 64 lm / W, fluorescent tubes - 80 lm / W. For the LED, the given number is not the limit, the values ​​really achievable in the coming years are 200-215 lm / W!

The efficiency of the best examples of LEDs reaches 50%, that is, approximately 1 W of heat is released per 1 W of light. At the moment, there is no more perfect light source. The service life of LEDs reaches 50,000-80,000 hours, that is, when working 5 hours a day, the LED will work for more than 30 years. It will not burn out like an incandescent lamp, it will simply have a decrease in radiation intensity, that is, degradation in the luminous flux will occur.

A feature of the LED is directional radiation, which is characterized by the so-called double angle of half brightness. This parameter is almost the main one for powerful lighting LEDs.

Another characteristic of an LED is its power, which is determined by the size of the crystal (chip) and its emissivity. To evaluate it, units such as mil (1 mil -1/1000 inch) and the amount of current flowing through the crystal are used. Naturally, the larger the crystal and the current flowing through it, the more powerful the LED. Powerful sources containing several chips are called matrices.

If the current through the LED is not limited, it will eventually burn out. Therefore, to power the LEDs, stabilized current sources are used - the so-called drivers. They represent a small electronic circuit, which implements the principle of PWM (pulse width modulation). By the way, the CFL power circuit is much more complicated.

LED lamps - from theory to practice

Let's move on to the practice of switching to LED lighting. If we simply change halogen or energy-saving lamps to LEDs, then this will not give us much savings. Why?

Firstly, not all LED lamps will be able to withstand the conditions in which conventional incandescent lamps operate. For example, a lamp in a limited space should be well cooled - remember that notorious watt of heat from each useful watt of lighting, which must be diverted somewhere. If there is no such cooling, the crystal will overheat and, as a result, the lamp will fail.

Lamps assembled on low-power LEDs can be used, but only as a backlight, and not for main lighting. In my apartment, passage arches, a corridor and niches in the living room by the window have such lighting. There used to be 35W GU10 halogen bulbs. The price of such LED lamps is relatively low: Gauss LED GU10 with a power of 2-2.5 W - 110-130 rubles, that is, comparable to energy-saving ones. That's why making them by hand doesn't make sense. But let's calculate the savings: before - 35 W x 12 = 420 W; now -2.5 W x 12 pieces - 30 W!

Not every lamp can be converted to LED without much work and expense. For example, if you want to keep it appearance. Or the operating conditions dictate their own rules, for example, ceiling lights in the bathroom must be airtight. Here, willy-nilly, you will have to buy expensive LED lamps for 300-450 rubles each (but high-quality lamps will last a long time). Let's calculate the energy savings: before replacement, the consumption is 50 W x 12 pcs. \u003d 600 W, and after -6 W x 12 pcs. = 72 W. But you will feel the savings in a year, as you will spend a fairly large amount on LED lamps. But even here the game is worth the candle!

Making LED lamps with your own hands

So we come to the most interesting and necessary - the manufacture of LED lamps with our own hands. Firstly, home-made LED lamps turn out to be an order of magnitude cheaper than purchased ones, secondly, their characteristics are obviously better, since you choose the details yourself, and thirdly, no one limits your imagination.

It is profitable to buy components for lamps on domestic specialized sites. On www.eBay.com it is really (!) to buy wholesale LEDs with a power of 1-3 W of the emitter type no 8-15 rubles / piece, drivers for 40-60 rubles / piece. (at the time of this writing), cheap heatsinks for LEDs and much more. I recommend!

I started translating to Led from the kitchen

The first alteration in my apartment 8 was the replacement of built-in lamps in the canopy above the kitchen table - there were 5 halogen lamps with a power of 20 W each, which I replaced with three-watt LEDs, then inserting other radiators into the slots. And instead of 100 watts of consumption, I received 15 watts. I changed two 13W T5 energy-saving lamps above the desktops (burned out once a year) to LED strips containing 14 0.5W Samsung 5060 LEDs (saving 7W). As a result, I got a well-lit work surface.

Then I converted the lamp hanging directly above the dining table to an LED counterpart. As a result, instead of 24 W of consumption, I received 7 W without loss of illumination.

For a showcase with a collection in the corner of the kitchen (3) made LED backlight, which can switch from demo mode (6W) to backlight mode (3W).

All lights in the kitchen are controlled independently and rarely work together. In total, we saved 250 - 49 - 201 W on kitchen lighting!

A loggia adjoins the kitchen, on which I redid a ceiling lamp with two 15-watt CFLs. These lamps at a negative temperature warmed up for a long time before turning on. I'm pretty tired of it, and I put 12 one-watt LEDs.

living room leds

The lighting of the living room 8 was divided into three groups: colored lighting in the center of the ceiling (10 pieces of T4 tubes), niche lighting (GU10 2 × 35 W) and plants on the window (minions 2 x 40 W) and the main light. It accounted for 620 W (10 pieces of GU10 50 W halogen lamps and three 40 W minions). For a room with an area of ​​​​21m2, it is unforgivably too much. Lamps based on three-watt LEDs were made for rotary spots with minions, and ten three-watt modules based on one-watt LEDs were made for the main light. Illumination in niches was replaced with purchased lamps GAUSS LED 2.5 W. So, 850 watts turned into 130 watts, and the main light accounts for only 39 watts - good savings!

LED lamp in the bathroom

The light on the ceiling (36 W) turns on only when you need to take a shower or wash your hands. I converted the halogen lights (2 x 20W) above the washbasin to LED and connected them to a motion sensor and instead of 40W of halogen light I got 8W of LED

Bedroom LEDs

In the bedroom, a six-arm chandelier with 60-watt incandescent lamps hung in the center of the ceiling and there were 9 10-watt G4 halogen lamps in swivel spots in niches and an alcove above the bed. Total 450 W for a room of 14.5 m2. The spots were converted to LED 9 x 1 W)