Thinking about how to do an illuminated ceiling. I have plenty of head room, say a foot or so between the hard ceiling and the illuminated panels. I was first thinking about surface moiunting halogen pucks to the underside of the hard ceiling, then suspending liky white plastic panels below that. But I’m concerned that the hologens might get too hot, with bright areas and/or cause burn spots in the plastic. But they are dimmable which I like. So maybe I would use 4 ft strip fluorescent shop lights. That would provide a more even lighting and would be cooler, buit they are not dimmable.
Any suggestions? And what would I use for the translucent panels?
I’m sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
Replies
"So maybe I would use 4 ft strip fluorescent shop lights. That would provide a more even lighting and would be cooler, buit they are not dimmable."
If you spend the money you can get dimmable ballast.
Now if you REALLY want to spend the bucks you can get led and electroluminace pannels (backlights for LCD monitors).
You could try fiber optics or LED's. Would cost a little more.
Acrylic panels for suspended ceilings come in many styles, clear/white/prism/crackle/plain. See the selection at an acoustical/suspended ceiling distributor.
Instead of dual tube shop lights, mount 3 single tube lamps with three separate switches. Flip the switches to increase or decrease the light. Not truly dimmable but at least 3 levels of light. For a larger area, install additional sets of three. Could also use a rotary 3 position switch if you don't care for the 3 switch idea.
You could also try a rope light. For conversation/oddity, get a traveling light set and you could develop an undulating light pattern behind the panels. Use different color ropes for other effects.
For just a few bucks you could mount a few strings of Christmas tree lights, white or colored, steady, blinking or traveling.