How to make neon light in the room yourself

Neon lighting in the room is an unusual solution that gives a uniform light of great brightness and is suitable for both vintage and modern interiors. It is important to choose the appropriate option and understand all the installation features in order to do everything right and ensure the safety of the system.

Neon lighting makes the room unusual.

Pros and cons of the solution

Neon lighting is different from most analogues, so when choosing, you need to study its advantages and disadvantages. Only after evaluating the positive and negative aspects can a decision be made. The main advantages are:

1. Illumination is uniform along the entire length of the tube. There are no blackouts, highlights or breaks on it, so the look is always perfect.
2. Large selection of colors to use. This allows you to choose the best solution for any room, there are many options, so there will be no problems with the purchase.
3. Since modern neon is sold in flexible tubes, it will not be difficult to install it even in hard-to-reach places and difficult areas. It takes many forms and can be installed even on oval and round elements.
   View of flexible neon with contact wires.
4. Comfortable brightness for human eyes. The tubes do not irritate the eyes, even if a person stays in the room for a long time.
5. The surface does not heat up to more than 40 degrees, which makes neon suitable for any base.
6. The system does not pose a risk to human health and the environment. Even if the tube is damaged, nothing bad will happen.
7. The operation of the backlight is completely silent, the resource is large, so you do not have to change the neon in a couple of years.

Compositions look stylish.

This option also has disadvantages that should be considered:

1. Soft lighting highlights all the flaws and flaws on the surface. Therefore, the walls must be perfectly even.
2. To work, you need a high and stable voltage, it is important to ensure uninterrupted power supply. If the length of the neon lighting is large, it must be divided into several segments, which complicates the installation work.
3. The strength of the shell is average, it does not tolerate impacts and deformation effects.

When using neon in rooms with high humidity, it is better to place it higher so that water splashes do not fall on the tubes.

What is it and how does it work

Neon lighting in the room is a gas-discharge light source in the form of a tube. If earlier glass was the material for the manufacture of the case, now polymer shells are mainly used, which reduces the cost of products and makes them much stronger and more resistant to damage.Neon is pumped inside - an odourless, monatomic inert gas. When a current passes through it, it begins to emit light.

Neon light is always orange-red, all other shades are also called neon, but other inert gases are used there.

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Description of the glow of a neon lamp

 

This option appeared in the last century and was widely used for window dressing and entertainment venues. Now neon lighting is back in fashion and increasingly used by designers, it can be used to achieve different effects - from ultra-modern systems to vintage environments in the spirit of the 70s and 80s of the last century.

The inscriptions are a traditional solution in the spirit of the last century.

With the help of neon, you can not only decorate the backlight along the contour of the room or highlight individual elements, but also create a variety of shapes. Also, letters or numbers are often made from tubes, which allows you to make any inscriptions.

DIY neon construction process

Hanging neon structure

Using flexible neon.

This is what the neon strip looks like at night

Making a neon sign

Options for neon lighting of the apartment

Before you make a neon light in a room, you need to decide where it will be placed and how best to use it. There can be a lot of solutions, but the most popular ones are:

1. Illumination of ceilings along the contour. In essence, everything is about the same here as with led strip - a niche is made or a special baguette is attached, in which the tube is laid. You can not hide neon, it looks interesting and will allow you to decorate the room differently than usual.
2. Lighting moldings and cornices to highlight these elements in the setting and focus on them.
3. Isolation of columns, decor on the walls. You can highlight the contours or use the tubes in any other way, it all depends on the specific conditions.
4. The use of neon for installation along the contours of the floor: you can mount it inside the baseboard or place it above it, it is important to protect the elements from damage. Also, they often make small niches on the steps of the stairs and put the original neon backlight.
   Neon lighting looks especially impressive on transparent stairs.
5. You can buy a ready-made or make your own neon lamp, this is a good solution for some interiors, setting the mood for the whole environment. It can be either a desktop or floor version, usually it is a certain figure, which can be anything.
6. Installing tubes inside niches allows you to highlight them on the wall and attract attention. It is important to correctly position the elements so that they give the light of the desired intensity.

Neon lettering is a great solution that suits almost any room.

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How to make a neon sign with your own hands

 

How to make neon lighting in a room

The ends of the neon hose must be properly processed.

Mounting This type of backlight is different from other options, so you need to understand its features. Electroluminescent devices, which include neon, operate at the expense of alternating current with a high frequency. Since the frequency of the current in household networks does not exceed 50 hertz, and for the normal operation of neon you need at least 2 kilohertz, when connected, always a step-up voltage converter is installed. You need to connect the system according to the following instructions:

1. Choose a neon tube of a suitable color and length.If a piece is purchased that needs to be cut into several parts, it is better to do this in advance.
2. Install a plug at one end, if it is not there, use a sealant, which must be carefully sealed off the end. It is worth continuing to work after the sealant has dried.
3. When choosing an inverter, proceed from the power consumption, while the inverter should have a small margin so that the equipment does not work under high load all the time.
4. Before connecting the second end, carefully remove the outer sheath by about 10 mm. When doing this, it is important not to damage the thin copper wires that are under the insulation, since this is the first contact to which you need to connect.
5. On the middle conductive part, it is necessary to remove the phosphor from the surface, and then clean it to a copper sheen. If a connector is used, you need to strip the ends of the wires on it by about a centimeter.
6. It is necessary to connect the contacts with a soldering iron, first connect one of the connector wires to the middle core. It is important to do everything securely so that the mount holds well.
7. The second wire is soldered to thin external wires, they can be connected to simplify work.
8. After soldering, put on a piece of heat shrink tubing and heat it up so that the connection is insulated.
9. Fix the backlight in the chosen place so that it normally holds, select the installation method according to the situation.

When connecting wires, polarity is not important.

Video tutorial: how to make a neon backlight plinth.

Making a neon light in an apartment is not difficult if you choose high-quality components and deal with the installation features. The main thing is to use a transformer with suitable characteristics and solder the contacts reliably.