Choosing high-quality lighting fixtures for the kitchen is an important process that is of considerable importance for arranging a harmonious interior. Currently, spotlights are very popular, they can perfectly complement the main chandelier, or even replace it completely.
An excellent solution to the problem of lighting in the kitchen are spotlights.
The convenience of staying in the kitchen, as well as the harmonious design of the room, will depend on how well such lamps are selected and installed. To make the right choice, you should listen to some expert advice.
Advantages and disadvantages of spotlights
Before you start arranging spot lighting in your own kitchen, you should familiarize yourself with all the features and subtleties of this process. This option for organizing lighting has both its advantages and some disadvantages.
Spotlights are very popular for many reasons:
- Attractive appearance and elegance - such lamps are very compact, they can be installed in any kitchen, they fit perfectly into a variety of interiors (from modern to classic), making the room more interesting and stylish. Some products simultaneously serve as decorative elements that decorate the interior of the kitchen.
- Large assortment - modern manufacturers offer a huge selection of similar lamps of different shapes, colors, design options. Thus, organizing the correct lighting in the kitchen and giving the room originality will not be difficult.
- Wide range of installation possibilities - spotlights can be easily installed on a variety of surfaces. They can be mounted on a suspended or regular ceiling, and can also be installed on wall cabinets, shelves and cabinets.
- Ideal lighting - spotlights help to achieve uniform, soft, eye-pleasing and diffused lighting that can advantageously highlight all the advantages of the kitchen and visually enlarge it. It is known that a single central chandelier conceals the space and creates darkened areas in it.
- Economical - this type of lighting helps to significantly save energy. You can install several switches in the kitchen at once, so that you can illuminate individual areas of the room one by one and at the same time zone it, if necessary.
- Functionality - spotlights perfectly complement the main chandelier, and are also an ideal light source for the kitchen in themselves. Such devices are indispensable when arranging a small kitchen with a low ceiling.
For a small kitchen, a good option would be to use spotlights.
This method also has some disadvantages (however, they are minor):
- To install spot lighting, you will have to work hard, since this work is quite painstaking and time-consuming.
- Installation of spotlights is possible only at the stage of ceiling repair. They should be installed in the kitchen set during the assembly process.
- You should think carefully about how to install spotlights in the kitchen so that the room looks organic and does not resemble a cold laboratory or office.
Lamps built into the kitchen set.
Advice! When installing spotlights indoors, you should also install a rheostat, which ensures more economical energy consumption.
How to adjust the height?
If your chandelier is on a chain, adjusting the height is very simple by reducing the number of links. If the lamp hangs on a cord, this cord can also be easily shortened to the desired size.
But if the lamp has a rigid mount, the so-called rod, it is not always possible to change its height.
Therefore, carefully study the information in the manufacturer’s catalog, make calculations, taking into account the height of your kitchen, and only then buy the right model.
Spotlights and their varieties
Spotlights can be divided into several types according to the type of installation - they are surface-mounted, suspended and mortise. Mortise products are only suitable for installation in suspended ceilings. Surface-mounted luminaires are installed on a regular ceiling, thanks to a special mounting plate for screws located on the base of the housing.
Recessed lamps for suspended ceilings.
The most popular are built-in models of spotlights, presented in a huge assortment. Recessed lamps can be completely recessed into the base of the surface on which they are installed, and then the light source will be practically invisible.
They can also be placed on the ceiling in a specific pattern, and then they will turn into a beautiful decorative light diffuser.
The most popular built-in models of spotlights.
Spotlights in the kitchen can be used to create basic, local and decorative lighting. It should be remembered that one such device is capable of independently illuminating approximately 2 square meters. meters of room. As for the finishing of the surfaces on which spotlights are mounted, it can be anything, since all modern devices are characterized by high fire safety.
Spotlights can be mounted on any surface/
For the manufacture of cases, moisture-proof materials are used that can withstand high humidity.
Strip lighting
The convenience of work and the appearance of the interior depend on the correctly selected and positioned lamp. LED lighting for the kitchen work area is becoming increasingly popular. It is a continuous flexible tape dotted with small point diodes, on which the degree of illumination of the room depends. The optimal number of points is considered to be 100-120 diodes per linear meter.
What lamps are used in spotlights
The designs of spotlights use halogen and LED lamps, as well as conventional incandescent lamps. The most popular option is LED lamps, which are highly economical since they require very little electricity to operate.
Spotlights can use incandescent, halogen and LED lamps.
In addition, they are practically incapable of heating up. Such lamps can be safely installed on any surface, even next to flammable objects - they are not capable of causing a fire. Recessed LED lamps can be fixed or rotating (can change the direction of light).
Rotating spotlights create coziness in the kitchen.
The incandescent lamps that are familiar to everyone provide a pleasant soft light, but they have larger dimensions, and in addition, such devices will not last long (they will have to be changed often).
For installation on suspended ceilings, you can use incandescent lamps with a power not exceeding 60 watts. The most durable and least energy-consuming are halogen lamps, but their price is quite high.
Soft warm lighting in the kitchen created with the help of spotlights.
Such devices provide lighting of high brightness, as close to natural as possible. The only drawback of such lamps is their ability to get very hot, so you should choose devices with a metal frame, a ceramic socket and a glass diffuser.
Also, such lamps require a transformer that converts 220 W to 12 W. If halogen lamps are mounted on a suspended ceiling, then their maximum power should be no more than 35 watts.
Proper organization of lighting in the kitchen using spotlights
To organize basic lighting in the kitchen, you should place spotlights at a distance of at least 30 cm from each other, maintaining a distance from the corner of the wall of at least 20 cm.
According to experts, for every 1 sq. meter of ceiling should be placed a lamp with a power of 20 W. If spotlights are combined with a chandelier, there may be fewer of them.
Spotlights combined with a chandelier.
Thanks to the correct placement of spotlights, you can completely change the perception of space. Such lighting helps to visually enlarge a small kitchen, evenly filling it with diffused soft light without shadows.
Soft light without shadows can visually enlarge the space in a small kitchen.
When lighting a spacious kitchen, light sources should be placed in such a way that they illuminate all functional areas well. At the same time, there should be a feeling of intimacy and comfort, and the whole atmosphere of the kitchen should be pleasant. Lamps are often placed around the perimeter of the kitchen, installing a pendant chandelier in the center of the room, above the dining table.
Spotlights are located around the perimeter of the kitchen and there is a large chandelier in the center.
If the ceilings in the kitchen are low, experts advise installing rotating lamp models, directing their light to the ceiling. In addition, you can also install lamps on the canopies of wall cabinets. The use of a ceiling chandelier should be abandoned.
With the help of spotlights, you can perfectly zone a room, correctly highlighting each functional area. Spotlights are ideal for illumination and decorative decoration of two-level ceilings. It is best to use embedded models for this.
Spotlights located on a two-level ceiling.
Installation
To perform installation work you will need the following set of tools and accessories:
- connection terminals;
- flat head screwdriver;
- crowns for metal or wood;
- construction knife for stripping conductors;
- electric drill;
- pliers;
- wire cutters;
- ladder.
Connection of lamps should be carried out taking into account the wiring diagram. First of all, install the lighting box. It is installed in such a way that it remains freely accessible in the future. Placing the box behind the covering material is not allowed. Next, a separate wire is connected from it to each lighting fixture. In this case, the conductors are placed in a corrugated pipe that performs a protective function.
If the installation of spotlights is carried out in a plasterboard structure, the work is performed as follows:
- First, they decide how to place each device on the ceiling. The location of the guides is taken into account, since the lamps should not rest on them.
- Using an electric drill with a hole saw, make a hole of the required size in the drywall. For square lamps, use an electric jigsaw to cut the hole.
- Pass the cable through the hole. You can work with wires only when the network is de-energized. To remove the cable from the hole, use a wire hook.
- Connect the cable brought out through the terminals (taking into account the color scheme). If LED fixtures are equipped with screw terminals for conductors, terminals will not be needed.
- Install the lamps in the holes and secure them with clamping springs.
- Light bulbs are screwed into lighting fixtures. Put on a decorative ring.
- Test the system for performance.
What you need to pay attention to when choosing spotlights
When choosing spotlights that will help you create the perfect kitchen space, you should pay attention to some parameters.
Country of origin - most of the spotlights on the country's market were produced in China. To purchase a truly high-quality product, you need to look for the by Europe marking on it. As a rule, these products are of higher quality and, accordingly, have a longer service life.
Choose high-quality lamps, then they will serve you for a long time.
At the same time, the cost of European products is almost no different from the cost of Chinese products. It is worth paying attention to spotlights that are produced in Poland; products from Russia and Ukraine are of good quality at an affordable price.
Quality of products - until recently, spotlights were presented on the market in a small assortment. Currently, their choice is very large, which is why choosing the most suitable option can be difficult.
Manufacturers offer lighting devices for every taste and budget. In stores you can buy cheap stamped devices and expensive lamp models inlaid with Swarowski crystals.
Currently, there is a huge selection of lamps of different types and shapes.
Color range of lamps - it is recommended to buy all spotlights for the kitchen from the same batch so that they have maximum similarity with each other in the shade of the body. It is also important that such devices are in harmony with the overall design of the room in their color scheme, and are made in the same style as the interior.
It is important that the spotlights are in harmony with the overall interior of the kitchen.
Design of the device - for installation in the kitchen, it is recommended to choose spotlights of simpler shapes, which will be much easier to clean from dust or dirt. For installation on suspended ceilings, lamp models with rounded edges are more suitable. In order not to make a mistake in your choice, you can purchase the simplest models of spotlights that do not contain crystal or glass.
For the kitchen it is better to choose spotlights of simple shapes.
Advice! Before making a purchase, it is recommended to obtain detailed advice from the seller, who will provide all the necessary information about the product itself, its installation method and operating features.
When used correctly, spotlights will be an excellent replacement for a traditional chandelier and will create ideal lighting in the kitchen. The main thing is to choose really high-quality products - they may cost more, but they will last longer.
Spotlights can completely replace all lighting in the kitchen.
Advantages of LED lighting
New lighting devices have retained all the advantages of traditional technologies and collected modern scientific achievements.
- Mechanical strength and durability. The service life of such devices exceeds ten years, while the original technical parameters do not deteriorate. Lighting strips are mounted in durable metal cases, which completely eliminates mechanical damage.
- Various colors. LED backlighting is most often white, but if desired, consumers can install all the colors of the rainbow. The luminous flux can be stable or variable according to an electronic program.
- Safety. Lighting devices operate on 12 V or 24 V, such voltage does not pose a danger to users.
LED lighting for the kitchen work area
