Last updated on July 12th, 2022 at 08:35 pm
Lighting of Glass Countertops, Glass Bar Tops, Kitchen Island Bar Tops, Outdoor Bars.
Glass Countertops and Glass Bar Tops benefit greatly from enhanced lighting techniques. Since there are so many ways to design a Glass Countertop lighting schem, we offer herein our best ideas. There are 5 ways used the majority of the time:
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Under Lighting Glass Countertops
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Glass Countertop Lighting from the Ceiling…Downlighting
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LED strip lighting on Outside Edge of Glass Countertops
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LED strip lighting on Inside Edge of Glass Bar Tops
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Ambient Lighting of Glass Countertops
Combining these techniques is smart. We discuss the various merits of each technique in this info blog.
Under Lighting Glass Countertops
This technique uses LED panels to evenly illuminate the textured glass, and in addition, it tends to washout textures. Because it lights the glass from all angles, and produces a more subtle effect. For very sharp textures, it therefore produces a fabulous luminous quality not achieved by other techniques. It is an even lighting under the entire (or most) of the glass counter. Downing Designs texture “Ice” is just such as texture that looks terrific with under countertop LED lighting panels. It differs from Edge lighting with an LED in that the luminosity decreases as a function of distance from the light source. This is not a problem for a typical glass countertop where the distance is usually 26″ or less.
Down Light Glass Countertops with SORAA Ceiling LED Lights
Proper placement of narrow-beam LED ceiling lights can create dramatic shadows on anything with relief in its surface e.g. artistic textured objects, glass countertops, etc.
We recommend SORAA 4000k LED bulbs. We have used them in our showroom glass bar top with great success. They are dimmable, cool, offer perfect color rendition of flesh, and long-lasting.
You have many choices of lighting beam angles. By clicking on the links you will see the spec sheet and beam profile for each.
As a result of using 10 or 25 degree down lighting beam angles, either as spot lights or as overlapping beams, you can cast dramatic shadows onto the floor. Most noteworthy, these are dynamic shadows especially in a our Glass Sinks when the water is flowing the interplay can be very alive and fun.
Down lighting of Glass Countertop with LED
SurfSink Glass Sink Down Lit with Soraa 4000k 10 degree narrow beam ceiling light
LED strip lighting on Outside Edge of Glass Countertops.
The most common Glass Countertop lighting option is to place and LED strip at the rear edge of the glass abutting up to a wall. The LED strip goes between the glass and the wall and irradiates from the rear to the front. The advantage of this technique is that since the LEDs are hidden and need no cover plate. The disadvantage is allowing for the possibility that the LEDs ever need replaced. Using the highest quality LEDs is the smartest way to avoid this repair. Downing Designs website features mostly rear edge lighting of our glass bar tops and countertops. The advantage is with deeply textured glass, that deep and dark shadows are created on the textures. This is very dramatic. On a high bar where 365 degree observation is possible, we employ a stainless cover strip to conceal the LED strip and wiring. Our custom high bar brackets are drilled to allow the wiring to pass inside the bracket and thus be almost entirely invisible. Typical examples are below.
Swim-Up glass countertops in Pool bar outdoor kitchen Ft Myers, Fl
Textured Blue Glass Island Countertop with LED strip light
LED strip lighting on Inside Edge of Glass
Often, as in a dining table top, we do not recommend to have the LED strip on the outer edge. We engineer a smart option which is to illuminate the glass from the inside-out. As you can see in the example below, the LED’s are ensconced in the middle and a stainless cover plate conceals them. We observe that the pixelation of the LED’s is masked greatly by the overhang of the stainless plate, and it is a very clean look. Clearly, the texture of the glass and the edges come alive with this technique.
LED illuminated textured glass dining table top
Ambient Lighting Glass countertops.
Many rooms have a steady influx of light during the day. When illuminating our Low-Iron glass countertops,it can create a beautiful scenario. See examples below:
Glass Counter High Bar in Daylight
Glass Bar Top over concrete countertop in Tampa Florida
Conclusion
It may seem like there are confusing choices to be made when lighting glass bar tops and glass countertops, but with our guidance almost all of these techniques can be used alone or in combinations. Never forget ambient lighting because it is most prevalent during the day. Most clients come to our showroom to see these lighting options for themselves and we will cover their individual merits at that time. Finally, never hesitate to contact us to discuss your project needs upfront, because you only get one shot at cutting your ceiling correctly. The rest is easy!
Jeff Downing (813) 784 5211