LED downlights are a versatile light source for homes. They are designed to sit flush with ceiling and they are suitable for virtually any room, including living room, bathroom, kitchen, and more. Because of their increased popularity, there is a huge variety of LED downlights available on the market. This makes it challenging to choose the right ones for your needs. To make an informed decision, you will need to take certain things into consideration. Read on to learn more.
What Are Downlights?
Also known as LED recessed lights, LED downlights are lighting fixtures that are specially designed to be embedded in the ceiling to illuminate a space. Downlights can be adjusted for direct or general light distribution and they can also be outfitted with various bulbs, blinds, lenses, and reflectors for different lighting effects to meet specific requirements.
What Makes Downlights Special?
LED downlights are one of the most popular lighting options available on the market. They provide functional ambient lighting throughout a space and are considered as top-notch lighting solutions that cover variety of applications. Downlights, as the name suggests, emit light in the downward direction. They are capable of taking various lighting roles, e.g. accent and task lighting. Apart from this, these lights also aesthetically complement other installed lighting solutions, such as pendant lights, spotlights, etc. in the space. They are in high demand because of their many advantages with regards to reliability, flexibility, practicality, and energy efficiency.
Benefits of LED Recessed Lights
LED recessed lights are versatile lighting solutions that are ideal for a wide range of uses throughout the home. Their benefits include (but not limited to) the following:
Suitable for Virtually All Surfaces
The recessed features of LED downlights allow them to perfectly blend in with any architectural design. You can seamlessly hide these downlights within the building décor and they won’t take attention away from your wall fixtures or ceiling.
Enhanced Visual Appeal
LED recessed lights can set the tone wherever they are installed and provide a luxurious, sophisticated feel to any space when they are in use. Having multiple LED downlights can also lighten up the mood.
Better Performance
With the high luminous and compact flux used on LED downlights, the energy consumption on these lighting products is much lower as compared to incandescent lighting. This significantly extends the overall lifespan of these recessed lights as well.
Cost Savings
LED technology is dominating the market because of its cost-effective features. Since its easier and faster to make as opposed to traditional lighting fixtures, LED lightings cost less to manufacture. Not to mention they provide better lighting while consuming relatively less electricity, hence helping consumers trim down electricity costs.
Customizable Features
Energy-efficient LED recessed lights can have three different color temperatures, i.e. 2700K, 4000K, and 6400K. This allows you to create different space atmosphere depending on your preferences. Apart from this, types of reflectors can also be different. This makes room for further customization.
How to Choose Downlights
There are lots of different types of LED downlights that you can choose from but knowing a few key aspects about them will help you to choose only the best. Here are some key considerations when choosing downlights:
Ceiling Height
When buying LED downlights, be sure to consider your ceiling height. This is because higher ceiling will require you to buy a different type of downlight fixtures as compared to lower ceiling mainly because the surface required to illuminate differs depending on this specific factor.
Task Light Applications
Another key consideration is how you intend to use LED downlights in your room. Do you need task lighting or general lighting? For task light applications, narrow beam LED recessed lights are a recommended choice as they concentrate onto surfaces where the task is performed. Avoid wide beam LED recessed lights as the lighting won’t reach the surface that you want to illuminate. Wide beam feature is only suitable for general or ambient lighting.
Accent Lighting Applications
As mentioned above, how you wish to use LED downlights will determine the type of beam you should get. For instance, narrow beam is recommended if you want to highlight or focus a specific area. For accent lighting applications, it would be a good idea to invest in LED gimbal downlights as their tilting feature will let you conveniently illuminate a certain accent piece in your room. Fixed LED recessed lighting is not a good option in this regard.
Sloped Ceilings
If you have a sloped ceiling, then you will need to take certain special considerations into account when buying LED downlights. Firstly, make sure to buy special sloped ceiling downlight housing so the beam of your lighting is direct. Secondly, make sure the housing is longer on one side to fit the slope. It is also recommended that you invest in LED gimbal downlights that you can fully rotate.
Mistakes to Avoid When Buying LED Downlights
There are some common mistakes that you should avoid when buying LED downlights. Firstly, many homeowners often rely heavily on LED recessed lights to handle all their illumination needs in a room. In a room, you need accent, task, and ambient lighting. To cover all these lighting needs, your LED recessed lights need to be used in different ways, with different fitting sizes.
Apart from this, some consumers tend to increase the wattage on the lighting or simply increase the number of downlights on the ceiling in order to solve lighting challenges. However, this can leave the lighting feeling overblown and a room feeling stark. So, it is highly recommended that you keep your wattage low and install LED recessed lights in the right spaces. Then layer different fixtures in the space to handle your ambient lighting needs. LED recessed lights provide multiple applications. This makes them an excellent lighting option for both residential and commercial properties. With their seamless blending with ceilings and their versatile lighting capabilities, you can set up the mood in any space with ease. With so many options however, it can be difficult to choose the right downlights for your needs. The good news is, you can make this task much easier for yourself by following the above-listed guidelines.