Stairway Lighting

I have written previously about the “runway lights” that graced the main stairway and provided a whimsical (if not outright comical) accent. Someone had taken the trouble to install and route the wiring to a series of colored lamps along the skirts of the stairway. I considered this to be one of those features that attracted me to This Odd House and I wanted to preserve it in some way.

The installation of the new treads and risers had required temporary removal of the runway lights in order to cut and fit the new pieces. Now that the stairs were (mostly) in place, I needed to restore the lighting. As usual, the inexpensive and easy solution, re-installing the Edison sockets and utilizing my renewed supply of specialty incandescent lamps, was rejected in favor of the modern way to do lighting: LEDs!

LED lighting has so many advantages over traditional lighting that it is just easier to list its only disadvantage: price. So in a project where the bulk costs of the major raw material (hardwood maple), far exceeds this one factor, it is easy to justify almost any LED lighting design.

I wanted to retain the “feel” of runway lights highlighting one’s traversal of the stairs, and to simultaneously convey the visual pleasure of color.  I could replace the individual colored lamps with equivalent LED bulbs, but I also considered LED strip lighting that would run a continuous path along the stairway. Once I found a “J-channel” molding that could house such a strip, the choice was obvious. I proceeded to design an LED replacement for the runway lights.

This choice brought new requirements however. I needed a power supply for LEDs: 12 volts DC, not 120 volts AC. If I wanted color, I needed the RGB strip, not the white strip. If I wanted to control the color, I needed an LED color controller module.

The requirements went on, but at this point I was committed. In the end, I was able to install the necessary power supplies and control components under one of the stairway treads. Motion sensors are positioned so that as you enter the stairway from either the top or bottom landings, the power switches to the LED strip lights, and you experience the personal attention of a light-guided path to the next level.

I still had the issue of what to do with the empty holes that had held the previous Edison lamps. I was about to cover them with blank coverplates, but Portia discovered that there are modern LED nightlights that had the exact same diameter. She brought some home from IKEA and I adapted them to their new role. The stairway is now lit with the calm glow of these lights until someone actively ascends or descends, at which time the new LED runway lights come to life to light the way.

Here are some recordings of the up and down experience: