Stair lighting can enhance the aesthetics and safety of your staircase. There are various ways to light up a staircase indoors, including round-mount or side step lights on each side for a bright look, linear LED step light fixtures through the bottom of every step for a polished and bolder aesthetic, and regular ceiling lights (using motion sensor light bulbs) and lamps in hallways and entryways. Pendant lighting can provide ambient light, while recessed ceiling lights in flat ceilings cast light downwards. Wall-recessed stair lights can also be used.
Indoor and outdoor step lighting ideas are explored, with three basic placement options: individual lights, 28 stepping stair light controllers, and LED strip/tape lights under each thread. For indoor applications, LED step lights are typically installed 12-18 inches above the steps, while outdoor installations may require slightly higher materials.
For indoor applications, LED strip/tape lights should be placed under each thread, and the center of the light source should be 18″ above the tread. Modern minimalism recessed stair lights in clean, crisp white or polished aluminum can be used, while dark bronze or louvered satin nickel can be used for a bold and dramatic look.
In summary, stair lighting can improve the appearance and safety of your staircase, making it easier to traverse and more visually appealing.
📹 EASY Motion Activated Staircase Lighting – NO PROGRAMING!!!
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How to light a staircase without a plug?
This article provides 11 easy ways to light a stairway without an electrical outlet, including wireless sconces, puck lights, LED motion sensor lights, LED ceiling lights, wireless spotlights, wireless light bars, battery-operated lamps, and fairy lights. Finding a suitable wireless lighting option is easier than you might think. Popular wireless sconces can be found online, and you can install batteries and attach them to the wall with screws for an easy way to add overhead lighting without wiring. Depending on the length of your stairway, you may need at least 2 or 3 sconces.
How do you light a dark stairwell without electricity?
Puck lights are battery-operated, circular luminaires that emit a warm white light without the necessity of an electrical outlet. Attachment to walls may be achieved via the use of adhesive tape or screws. The majority of these devices are equipped with remote control functionality; however, it has been observed that they may exhibit a tendency to dim and fade over time.
How do you position stage lights?
When installing front lighting overhead, use lighting stands or trusses as part of your stage rigging to ensure proper security. Position the lights on either front corner of the stage, angling them toward the performers. Adjust the front lighting multiple times to achieve the best wash. Backlighting is crucial for providing contrast and making performers stand out against the background. It helps the audience fully immerse themselves in the event, allowing them to see expressions, costumes, and details more clearly. Proper positioning of backlighting involves adjusting the lights to create a more immersive experience for the audience.
What height should step lights be on stairs?
The proper height for step lights is 6″-7″ and should be placed directly under the stair treads. This ensures optimal light distribution and safety for both the user and guests. If adding lights to existing concrete steps requires proper tools and expertise, professionals can help with this task. Deck lights or area directional lights can also be used on the sides of stairs or stairwells. If designing and installing step lights can be time-consuming and costly, professionals can provide 20 years of lighting expertise to turn your landscape steps into a stunning asset for years to come. Contact them today to learn more about their services and transform your landscape steps into a stunning asset for years to come.
What is the code for stair lighting?
The minimum light levels for egress in a building are typically 1 foot-candle (fc), but the NFPA requires a minimum of 10 fc on new stairways when in use. Performance areas may have exceptions, but these are not discussed. Stairwells must be lit even during power outages, with the minimum light levels of 10 fc and a minimum of 90 minutes of lighting. This necessitates the use of emergency battery back-up systems.
Stairwell lighting systems are typically designed to operate 24 hours a day, with an average cost of $78 per landing for each stairwell. This can be significantly higher for buildings with multiple floors and multiple stairwells, consuming an average of $1, 560 in electricity per year just to light the stairwells.
How to brighten up a dark staircase?
Lighting can make a small space feel larger by creating a lively welcome with unobtrusive ceiling lighting. Installing lights in the stairs or walls can create a soft glow, directing the eye towards the top of the stairs. Another option is to install a lighting fixture on the ceiling of the landing to draw the eye upward to a decorative focal point.
Incorporating hanging decorations into a narrow staircase can transform its look. Hanging pictures or photographs on the staircase wall can elevate home decor and create a beautiful aesthetic. It’s important to plan and measure the arrangement of photos to ensure they are at eye level when walking up the stairs. Hanging plants from high up can also draw the eye up and transform the look of the narrow staircase.
How do you light up indoor stairs?
Staircase lighting ideas can be tailored to the design, construction, desired effects, finish, and texture of the staircase. A staircase serves as the central spine of a home, linking spaces and people together. It should be functional and sculptural, with staircase lighting making a real difference. It should also serve a safety function, avoiding glare and considering maintenance. Interior lighting can enhance the form and add beauty and softness.
Wall recessed stair lights like Cazalla, Lecco, or Lucca 30 can add interest to a staircase, creating a wow factor in stone or classic carpeted stairs. Overall, staircase lighting can enhance the overall aesthetic appeal and safety of the staircase.
How to space step lights?
Determine the spacing and placement of the lights, avoiding stair joists. Space lights 3-4 feet apart and measure and mark their desired location.
Read the instructions carefully to determine the size of the Forstner or Bore bit needed for the installation. Cut or drill the opening for each light into the stair riser or tread board, following the manufacturer’s recommendation.
Loosely run the wire from the transformer to the closest light and from light to light, leaving a loop at each step light location.
How do you light an enclosed staircase?
Wall lights can create a soft, low-level ambient light that adds warmth and character to a staircase. They can be placed at even intervals along the stairway, emphasizing the wall space and drawing the eye up and along the stairs. Staggering wall lights on opposite sides can further open out the space. They come in various shapes, styles, and materials. For narrower staircases, a compact design is recommended.
For a more ethereal glow, choose a Helios wall light. For confined or lacking natural light, supplement existing overhead or wall-mounted lighting with additional light sources. The best lighting schemes use a range of different types of lighting.
How do you power a light without an outlet?
To augment the ambience of the room, it is recommended to consider the installation of a rechargeable, battery-operated light bulb in any lamp, thus eliminating the necessity for a power cord, and thereby achieving a more minimalist aesthetic.
Do you need a step light on every step?
Individual lights can be installed horizontally on the tread or vertically into the riser, creating a general glow and eliminating dark spots. They are typically located on one side or the other, sometimes alternating along the stairway. When installed into the riser, they are usually centered, flush with the riser, or surface-mounted. On open steps, a light can be installed on the bottom side of the tread, shining light on the step below. Decorative LED lights are available in various varieties. The wiring must be installed within the staircase structure and the type of fixture or trim must be selected in advance.
📹 Stair Lighting Aluminum LED Profile
Excellent heat dissipation, easy installation, light, strong and durable. This kind of design can play the role of anti-slip, both …
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I tend to use the recently introduced LED cob strip’s nowadays. ( Chip on board). The light is far more uniform almost like a continuous neon strip, no light and dark spots, very neat, diffuser is optional,I tend to run just as a strip, it blends into staircase edges seamlessly. Various led count per metre available as is voltage, 12 and 24v. I use 12v in all my projects to keep everything uniform as most controllers, passive, infra red, etc all tend to use 12v. The colour range is pretty extensive, besides white, cool, warm and standard, blues red purples, green and more. The blue looks stunning on stairs, landing and newels. I buy everything direct, I know all the proper LED specialist manufacturers now who supply such as Amazon and the UK lighting industry so I can save a great dealing direct. As an indication I pay around £8 ( $10 US) for a 5 metre length of COB LED which I think is reasonable.
Your narration and explanations are always top notch. You also did a great job making it look tasteful rather than gaudy with the corner moulding Chris. I only wish you would stop finding cooler light manufacturers. I finally got around to using the last cool company and now there an even better one :p
Looks awesome. Only thing I would suggest is making a 30 degree cut on those pieces of trim at the bottom and top of the steps, on both sides. Your 45 degree cut results in the joint being longer on one side than the non-mitered edge. instead, if you had each cut at 30 degrees for the 120 degree angle, both pieces will be the same exact miter cut length great job!
I have not seen another install on YouTube that placed the lights where you did. I like yours better than all the others because there’s no glare. Super easy on the eyes, especially at night when it’s needed and the illumination is where it’s most needed. No hot spots. Cleaning and vacuuming the floor will not be impeded.
Next time you use a caulking gun, if you put your finger hard on the tip/corner and keep constant flow and speed for the entire length of the job, you will have the most immaculate, professional looking corner, and almost zero cleanup. There are also options like cutting an old plastic card at a 90, and scraping excess, or cutting your nozzle at 90 on a 45 and just flow like a pro.
Wow. Some products that I didn’t know existed. Thanks! Two critical comments: 1. Adding the caulk pretty much negates the use of the Command strips. If the lights are removed, the caulk will pull the paper off the drywall. 2. You are indeed programming the controller for the lights. It’s all very intuitive with the controller interface, but you ARE programming. Nice result. Thanks for posting.
You mentioned running that power supply through the wall into the next room t hid it better. Not sure the cable is in-wall rated for that application, but I want to do a project like this for our stairs and maybe do a more permanent installation. Thinking I may try to find a controller/driver that can mount in-wall and splice into the home power supply with a permanent light switch acting as the on/off switch.
Great project and it looks awesome! One thing I was curious, though: with the current instructions, if you pass by one sensor and stays moving around in front ot the other, the lights will blink one minute after the firrst sensor is not detecting your movement, I think. Is there any way to “link” the sensors so they act as a single unit? Or make the second sensor cancel the one minute timer for turning off the first one? The way it currently is, it will not wait one minute and will blink eventually. Not a big problem, but not perfect either.
Looks like a great project and good inspiration 👌🏼 I was wondering if it’s possible with this setup to program the light strip in a way, when the top motion sensor is activated, that the lights on the top floor light up and the lights on the stairs light up in a motion (from top to bottom)? And the other way around, so when the bottom motion sensor is activated, the stairs are lighted up first (from bottom to top) and then the upper floor?
Another great article, Chris! Have you considered trying out Home Assistant? With this, you can control all your Govee, WLED, and Aqara devices from one interface as well as to setup automations to control the lights based on time, sun position, or triggers from third party devices (motion sensors, door sensors, luminance sensors, etc). I’ve been running it a couple years and have a lot of my LED accent lights setup with the Adaptive Lighting add-on so that the brightness and color temperature adjusts with the position of the sun throughout the day and into the night as well as being manually controlled with a mix of Zigbee and Z-wave battery powered/mains powered wall switches and scene controllers. The reason why I initially set up Home Assistant in the first place was the annoying practice of having to turn on my Govee immersion lights manually every time I turned on the TV and having to use multiple apps to control everything. It’d probably be some good content for the website!
I have to say, cutting websites like these to size was a huge pain when going around corners when I did a gapless installation myself. Additionally the usage of 5V LEDs made the voltage drop very apparent, so I had to splice power in at 4 separate points along my 20m stretch. End result is really nice though and I do recommend the Muzata diffusers as they look super nice
2 questions. 1: Is this still the best way to do this given your other article with wled and that purple board with motion sensor? 2: Can I have the motion do an animation first then steady state. For example if I wanted the lights to grow or fade on going up the stairs from bottom to top and then all stay on for 5 mins?
As a programmer, I couldn’t help but notice a flaw in your logic: Suppose you trigger the sensor at the bottom. The light turns on. You walk up the stairs and enter the bathroom. Then, you leave the bathroom again 55 seconds after having initially triggered the bottom sensor. Now the top sensor will trigger and switch the light on (which it is already). You start walking down the stairs. After five seconds, the light goes out, because the bottom sensor hasn’t seen movement for a minute. 🙂
Warning on how you did this… I used those 3M removable stickies for my LED lighting… they worked well enough over short distances, but over time the expansion and contraction of the house with a hot summer and cold winter, had it slowly come apart and eventually all my trim fell off… may be useful to put a couple screws or nails in each section if you want it for the long term.
Excellent job. We have 7 staircases in our house. One is long semi spiral that was built in France in 1782 and brought over. Finding a place to hide lights on it would be difficult. We ended up going with little hidden very low voltage spotlights that come on when the sun goes down. Before that, it was turn on the main lights, which in the middle of the night is way too bright. The house was built by a well known architect in 1938, when apparently lighting safety was an option 😉
Excellent job, been thinking of doing this down 5-6 steps to my lower split level movie room and then up to the mid-wall ledge where the exterior foundation and ground wall meet. However, my OCD focused on the lack of caulk on the existing trim. 😂 It made it worse when you did a beautiful job with the lights but still had the existing gap. This is why my wife hates my projects! lol I would have found a way to over complicate or add on more work for myself. 🥺
My would kill me putting that on the wall! Lol. But I have been using silicone led website. The lens I do for my baseboard which is a 6 1/2″ tall with a pretty complex profil, but It slids the LED strips in sideways and sefuse so it’s only 3/8″ wide strip and 8mm dep. But there is a flat spot about half way down baseboard, where I made a jig for my router and did a perfect website. Corners I had to chissel. But then on the end, there is my office and so I put an in wall access panel around on the other side of the wall in it and then drilled a hole from website to box. I put an esp32 with my custom LED board WLED and now it’s all automated and pir sensors on both sides. And when I start on either side, the lights light up and roll down the hallway lighting up. And once the other pur sensor sees me, I have it slowly turn off the other side lights until middle. and when I’m clear of both pir, it finished a imated turn off Next test I’m going to use a 24Ghz mmwave radar sensor and it can see exactly where I’m at and it will literally light up only around me and follow wherever I go
Another great article! I think it is your attention to detail that I like the most. I have been sitting on a project to make a motion detected strip light for my stairs but haven’t been able to decide how I want to do it. I really like your idea to set them against the wall and point down, then hide it with trim. I wont be using smart devices, just simple plug and play, but this gave me some great ideas to work with. Thanks!
Great article well thought out. I went a little more DIY then this though. I have been a automation person for a good while and have set up Home Assistant for home automation. About a year ago i got into making my own sensors for it by using a HA add-on called ESPHome. So i did something similar like what you did except used WLED which HA supports natively and a couple of sensors i made using ESP32’s and time of flight sensor called a VL53L0X, this uses infrared pulses which makes the sensor extremely accurate so the LED’s only come on exactly when you put your foot on the first step. This is needful for me as we pass right next to the stairs on the way to the kitchen all the time.
As usual, TOTALLY TUBULAR AND GNARLY AT THE SAME TIME! So, I know this is a proprietary system and you probably got it free to do a article on, and that’s perfectly fine, but as you will know, probably in the neighborhood of $400. Perhaps just keep in the back of your mind, maybe for a future article, but how you could do basically the same thing using WLED and standard WS2812B LED strips, with wired motion sensors that are about $2 a piece. I know the motion sensors will require wires which will be a little more difficult but it would bring the cost down exponentially. Thanks for another great article.
Just subscribed to your website because iv been perusal a lot of different led strip installations and your website is the only one that are very intriguing. Great installs and your article editing is very nice! I want to do this exact set up with a L wood shape covering the strip. Thank you for this article. You make this look very easy! Lol
very nice article. I would love to do something like that, My Hand rail is not connected to the drywall but to a 6 inch wide oak running that goes up the stairs. I would like the light to attach them that. I would like Motion detection at top and bottom but don’t want any WIFI or internet needed. Any suggestion for a none wifi setup ?
Caulking: have a bucket of water (for latex caulk) & try to do 95% of the “work” with the caulk gun/tube tip. Wet your finger & gently lay the caulking out. You’re not trying to remove half of it with your finger. (It’s not “eXspecially”, but rather especially. Throws me off when I hear that.) Drywall rarely gets wavy over time. It’s not just older homes. It’s worse in “custom” homes. It’s just sloppiness in the building process. It’s why builders use trims around things and various textures on the walls. They hide many sins. Corners are almost never square & walls are not flat, which you can also see at the tops of your baseboards & around the door casings as well. Caulking is how builders “fix” these problems. Fixing this sloppiness takes time & costs money. Using inexpensive “painter’s caulk” is fine. Always have trash receptacle or you’ll get caulking all over. It’s like a virus. It looks like you got some on your shorts. This virus goes EVERYWHERE. With a pail of water, you should only use 1 or 2 paper towels (which are put directly into a trash receptacle). Water helps smooth things out & is for rinsing your finger clean(ish). Buy a good caulk gun or regret it every step of the way. Buy once, cry once. Nice concept. Every stair should have this.
How do the Aqara T1 strips compare to a similar GOVEE strip? (M1?) I am planning a RGBW job for soffits and walkway lighting light this. I am sidering now these RGBIC type lights as the prices just seem so good. I already ran some LV 6wire to my soffits in preparation from my AV closet (with outlets). Can i still utilize the 6 wire, and keep the controllers and power supplies in the closet? If you have any consultation you do. let me know a way to reach you.
Great idea I will dream of doing. Just a case for saving trees – PLEASE rethink the reliance on TWO ROLLS OF PAPER TOWELS! 😮I’ve done a lot of caulking, enjoy it actually, and your real friend is a wet rag AND a tiny hole cut at a 45 degree angle in your tube. The tiny hole controls how much you apply, use a wet finger to swipe the line of caulk and a wet rag to clean up. Also less waste!
Alex plus 30 minutes before you paint! Gaps no more. And if your messy with caulk,a spray bottle with water and dawn is your friend. Lay the thin bead, spray lightly, smooth with your finger, clean with paper towel. The spray keeps the silicon from sticking to everything, just where you initially laid it
So i bought a T1 strip and single extension for under the kitchen cabinets by the floor. Bought the BTF connectors listed in the description. Extended a ribbon cable to pass underneath the dishwasher and when i plugged it into the next segment of LED strip, i didnt get warm white. I got RGB and cool white. THEN i soldered the wires straight to the extension/cut piece of LED strip and didnt get anything. Ive now tried this and similar methods to simply get the warm white LED and have now wasted HOURS and two extension strips from Aqara. Any recommendations for me? I’d REALLY like to get this thing to work. They claim it’s cuttable but in my experience thus far, it is not.
“Paper towels are your friend” — Latex gloves (or other, if you’re allergic to latex) are also your friend. They make sure you don’t get paint on your hands when doing the painting (don’t know about you, but this constantly happens to me no matter how careful I am) and they also work with the caulk, when you run your finger along the bead to smooth it out. It’s hard to tell but it MIGHT have worked with the issue that made you caulk it — if you’d taken a finger, dipped it in the paint, and ran it along those spots where the wall bowed, it might have been able to fill it in with paint… The caulk is better, but extra paint might have been able to fill the space.
Looks great. I have good luck with 3M command tape removal which you adhered to the diffuser & the wall. I have horrible experience with the removal of double sided tape which you used to attach the trim. (After I removed the double sided tape, the dry wall need to be professionally repaired.) Cannot recommend using double sided tape on dry wall. Finishing nails would be easier to repair.
Not gonna lie.. Halfway in seeing you only having the profiles out with the corners exposed i was like..Please dont end there..this cant be it But DAMN, the wood list was smooth af. Genius, but sadly it wont work in a home with kids haha.. I did something similar and it took around 1 day before the kids used it as a stepping point to climb the wall yelling ” im spiderman” rip. Gj on the articles!
Hey, I love your website. I have been perusal for a while now and just had an idea. I wanted to get your thoughts on it. I have been seeing people put hexagon/ honeycomb LED lights in their garages. I wanted to know if you thought it would be possible to DIY the same concept with diffuser websites and place them on my ceiling. let me know if you think it’s possible. Thank you and keep making these articles I love them.
Awesomely direct solution. The versions that seem to travel along with the person moving through the path taken, seem a bit cooler though. Not to complain, but are there programming options that give the look of travel without actually turning off and on in step with someone’s walk? If you could control how fast the lights turn on that could suffice. If it were also possible to turn off slowly that would be the other addition. Are the string individually programmable so the individual strips would turn on sequentially? I am going to use your idea, just wanted to understand more of what’s possible in programming the feature in the app.
It looks great, but the control systems seem a little overcomplicated. It works, yes – but it’s using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. The cost of components, complexity of any repair, dependence on a single supplier… when what you really need is just a very basic motion sensor and timer circuit. Any electronics hobbyist can whip that up from parts, or just buy a module ready-made.
Unfortunately, tape is not durable. Sure it will last a few years maybe but a decade? No way. Using a website that can be screwed into the studs would last longer. Command strips are specifically designed to be temporary. There are double sided tapes that are stronger and longer lasting. It looks amazing man… bravo!!
I just finished this project on two consecutive stairs. Did strip plus 8 extensions. The LEDs are white only no color after the first ‘cut’ and then 3rd party wire connection? Instructions in box say if you cut led you throw away the rest? How do I have a cut use extensions and have colored lights? I have asked company for help?
“if/then” statements are technically programming, though you’re not coding them, so the title should more accurately read “no coding” but that’s being fickle. But cheers to this guy for the cool project. My only criticism is if the stairs are near the master bedroom. You wake up at 4am to go to work, open the door and BAM the pitch black bedroom is hit with light (albeit not direct) entering the room. If my wife’s face is facing the door, that could wake her up each time. Cool idea but I’d be forced to take them down unless I program them not to go off at a certain time.
damn! that end result was definitely pro level in my opinion very well done! and thank to your article I’ll borrow a few ideas for my own future project. but I will have to make some changes.. tbh I’m not really a fan of lighting systems or any home automation system for that matter that rely heavily on the home network wifi signal. if your network provider were to have technical issues the wifi signal would drop out and the whole system would not function. or if like me you have your home router/modem on a simple timer system to save on utilities because why use power for the internet when everyone’s in bed asleep? ^_^ but I’m sure there are some simply work arounds.
This is the wrong LED strip to use for simple motion activated lighting. The only “advantage” of the strip shown is that it is easy to extend, a feature made necessary because of the chip controllers needed to control the 6.5 ft short sections.That application doesn’t require a hub or multiple color strips. Using them reduces the long term reliability and dramatically increases the cost with no benefit. Any PIR detector made for security applications has dry contacts, high quality relays are much less expensive, single color sprips in longer lengths have fewer active components, run cooler and consume less power.
What is the height of the diffuser websites above the floor/floor trim? I actually am recreating this build but doing the molding first (already made my 45 degree corner cuts) flush with wall then using double sided tape to affix the diffuser? Trying to decide if I want the trim to go above the wall socket or below. I have an angled aluminum led diffusers used for ceilings going in my build.