Smart stairs with motion and dusk sensors, illuminated in LED technology, are the best way to get a good, safe, comfortable, and at the same time extremely impressive lighting of stairs, so it is not surprising that more and more owners of new or renovated stairs are opting for this type of lighting.
Smart stairs as part of a smart home
Smart stairs are becoming more and more popular. In the era of IoT (Internet of Things) it is hardly surprising. In modern interior designs intelligent stairs are increasingly a central element of the house, which is its decoration and an important communication route. Smart stairs can function independently or as a part of a larger Smart Home system.
What are smart LED stairs?
Smart LED stairs is a system of modern LED lighting control of stairs, using intelligent LED stair controllers, dusk sensors and stair motion sensors. The system aims to increase the level of safety on the stairs, ensure convenience of use and save energy, while ensuring the decorative effects desired by the user on the stairs. The main function of intelligent stairs is to turn on the lighting for a specific time, after dusk and after motion detection by motion sensors. This ensures comfort of forgetting to turn the lights on and off and energy savings. Depending on the model, intelligent stairs also perform many additional functions, mainly of decorative significance.
The smart stair system usually allows you to tailor the operation to your preferences by changing configuration parameters. The easiest way is the buttons on the controller panel , the more advanced way are the configurators built into the controller. The most advanced intelligent stair systems enable configuration in a wide range using a mobile application that works wirelessly with the system.
Why stair lighting in LED technology?
Low-voltage LED lighting is used to illuminate stairs. Such lighting is energy-saving and safe (it does not get hot, it will not cause a fire). It enables replacement and implementation of virtually any type of lighting used so far. For example, thanks to the small size and flexibility of LED strips, you can illuminate places that are difficult to access for traditional lighting fixtures.
LED lighting, having the dimmable feature, can work with digital dimmers and controllers that use the PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) method to control the brightness of light sources. This allows you to adjust the intensity of lighting to the needs of the user, introduces the right mood, increases comfort associated e.g. with a mild start / stop lighting.
In conjunction with intelligent stair controllers, LED technology has brought a completely new functionality and new decorative possibilities to lighting the stairs. Depending on the type of LED stair controller, it is possible to gently illuminate the stair steps after dusk, backlight the balustrade, turn on the full lighting temporarily, or varying degrees of smoothness of switching on and extinguishing the lamps. It is also possible to perform various eye-catching animations, of which the FALA LED is the most popular.
Due to its very favorable features and usability, LED lighting has become a new trend in the field of utility and decorative lighting.
Multi-point LED lighting for smart stairs
Investors and interior designers use multi-point LED lighting for lighting stairs due to its unusual functional and decorative qualities. Most often they are LED strips or LED fittings. Multi-point lighting is usually mounted under the treads or on the side wall, usually 15 cm above the surface of the steps, so that individual stair steps become better lit and visible than in the case of traditional top lighting. There are many ways to create decorative stair lighting with LEDs, and everything depends on the construction of the stairs and the imagination of the designer.
How to light a staircase safely?
Smart stairs are first and foremost safe stairs. Well made multi-point lighting of stairs significantly increases the safety of movement on the stairs, because it better illuminates individual stair steps than traditional top lighting. This is important especially for children and the elderly moving up the stairs.
It should be remembered that stair lighting should ensure good vision of each stage and direct the stream to the stairs, but it must not cause glare that may dazzle the person climbing the stairs. Stair lighting should be more discreet and the light level lower than in such interiors as the living room or kitchen. Safe stairs may require different lighting in the evening and at night. At night, often only a slight illumination of selected stair steps is sufficient.
Effective stair lighting
Many people expect stair lighting, in addition to the utility function, also have a decorative function and wonder how to illuminate stairs so that they become a real showcase of the house. Properly selected multi-point LED stair lighting and the lighting control system used (Intelligent Stairs) are of fundamental importance here. Properly selected LED lamps can emphasize the shape of the stairs and bring out the beauty of the materials used for their construction, and thus significantly affect the final visual effect of the stairs. In turn, a modern system of intelligent stairs, with backlighting of stairs or handrails and with effective animations of lighting of stairs can turn a sometimes sad staircase into a real showcase of the house.
Gentle backlight of stair steps
LED lighting of stair steps is an extremely decorative way to enliven this part of the house at a time when nobody directly uses them. Stairs illuminated with LED strips look especially decorative. Usually (after dark) gentle lighting of stairs is used, usually 2% of maximum brightness is enough. Such a delicate backlight will emphasize the shape of the stairs and the beauty of the materials used for their construction and will enable safe communication at night.
LED backlight stair handrail
LED illumination of the handrail (balustrade) is another way of lighting your stairs. It can be an independent way of lighting stairs or just an addition to the basic lighting of individual stair steps. In the latter case, the handrail lighting may come on first and off last.
Animated LED stair lighting (LED LIGHT WAVE)
Stair lighting animation is the most advanced way of decorative stair lighting. Good animation should be effective and at the same time not cause fatigue for users. These features are provided by the LED light wave type animation, which consists in lighting up (or extinguishing) individual lamps in front of a person walking down the stairs. Unlike the step lighting of individual lamps, the smooth lighting of individual lamps from the so-called the effect of „blur.” This effect arises when subsequent lamps start to light up, when the previous ones have not yet reached their maximum brightness. The LIGHT WAVE created in this way has a different degree of brightness of the forehead and tail and is not only visually impressive, but even magical.
