Gallery & Stairwell Lighting

What are the advantages of LED stairway lighting?

If you decide in favour of LED stairway lighting, you can benefit from various advantages: In contrast to conventional light sources, LEDs are much more durable. They also consume up to 90 % less electricity with the same light intensity. So you can save all kinds of energy costs. In addition, LED bulbs are more environmentally friendly than, for example, traditional fluorescent tubes or CFL bulbs, as they do not contain any toxic substances. Nevertheless, you should dispose of them at a recycling centre after their demise. This is because LEDs carry electronic components that can be wonderfully recycled.

The days of cold white LEDs are over: with modern luminaires, you can also let your stairwell lighting shine in warm light colours - if you so wish. LED bulbs are available in daylight white (6,500 K), cool white (4,000 K), warm white (3,000 K) and extra warm white (2,700 K). In addition, many of the bulbs are dimmable, come with built-in sensors or can even be controlled via smartphone, tablet or voice command. You can read more about this in the next chapters.

Which LED bulbs are suitable for stair lighting?

If you are planning stairwell lighting for your office or your own four walls, you should first get an overview of the location and what is available. Does your stairwell have a ceiling? If so, you can install ceiling luminaires. If the stairwell is flanked by only one or two walls, wall lights are the way to go. If, on the other hand, it is free-standing, you can bring light into the darkness with LED strips, for example. We will now explain these options in more detail. One thing in advance: with stairwell lighting, it is very important that people using the stairwell are not dazzled. Otherwise, there is an acute risk of accidents. In addition, you should ensure a light intensity of 150 to 200 lumens per square metre.

Ceiling Lights and LED Panels

Ceiling lights and LED panels are a very good way of providing ambient lights for stairs. Particularly important here is a wide beam angle that provides adequate lighting over the entire surface. Therefore, you should refrain from using spotlights or individual spots. Another advantage of ceiling lights and LED panels is that they emit light diffusely, significantly reducing the risk of glare.

Wall Lights

Wall Lights cast their light onto the surface of the wall, from where it is reflected. This also creates diffuse light, which can thus also function as ambient lighting. In this case, the height at which you mount the lights is particularly important: The light source must not dazzle people on the stairs, otherwise the risk of injury increases.

LED Strips

LED strips can be used as indirect accent lighting. You can either run them upwards along the stair treads or frame them under the handrail, for example.

You can significantly minimise the risk of glare from the strips if you install them in a profile fitted with a matt plastic pane. This diffuses the light. Another advantage: the profile efficiently dissipates the heat produced by the LED strip so that the service life of the light source is extended.

LED Spotlights

As basic lighting for stairs, recessed LED spotlights are only suitable to a limited extent because you have to install many of them and they may produce strong shadows. Incorrectly adjusted, they can even increase the risk of injury. As accent lighting, however, they are a real eye-catcher.

For example, you can recess them in the wall just above the steps so that they are directly illuminated. In this way, you give each step special attention and provide your stairwell with special lighting. 

Which stairwell lights are dimmable?

No matter which type of stairwell lighting you choose, dimmable LED solutions are also available. But not every LED is dimmable per se: whether you can adjust the light intensity of a product or not can be found in the product title as well as in the technical data. There you will usually find the information "dimmable".

If you only want to search for dimmable stairwell luminaires, you can use our filter function on the left. Tick the "Yes" box under "Dimmable" and you will only be presented with dimmable products.

Please note: To dim an LED bulb or light, you need an LED dimmer. Unfortunately, ordinary dimmers no longer work with the modern technology built into the bulbs.

Are there motion sensor stair lights?

Of course, there are also stairway lights with motion detectors. This can be particularly worthwhile if you want to illuminate a stairwell that is only used by people from time to time. After all, the luminaire comes on when something moves around it. This saves you a significant amount of electricity costs.

You can easily find stairwell lights with motion sensors using our filter function on the left. Check "Motion detector" under "Sensor type" and you will only be shown products with this function. 

Which LED lights are suitable for stairway lighting?

If you want to illuminate an entire stairwell, you can of course use the same lights as for regular stairwell lighting. However, you should make absolutely sure that there is adequate luminous intensity of at least 100 lumens per square metre (150-200 lm/m² is better) throughout the premises so that the risk of accidents is minimised.

It is particularly important to use lights with emergency lighting in stairwells. These provide light even when the power has failed and enable people to leave the building safely in an emergency. Such emergency lighting is even mandatory for public stairwells. For more on this topic, see our "Emergency Lighting" page.

Lights with motion sensors also offer a very practical option. After all, they only come on when a person is moving in the stairwell. This greatly improves the efficiency of your lighting and saves you energy costs.

You can easily find stairwell lights with motion sensors by using our filter function on the left. To do this, tick "Motion detector" under "Sensor type".

What should you look out for in outdoor stairwell lighting?

The same rules and tips apply to outdoor stairwell lighting as to indoor stairwell lighting. However, there is an additional factor: Because outdoor lights are exposed to the elements, they need to have a certain IP protection rating:

If your bulbs are located under a small ledge or in a protected area, you can reach for IP44 - products with this protection class are protected against occasional splashing water. However, if the lights are exposed to rain and other weather conditions, you should reach for IP65 or higher.

You can use the filter function on the left to sort the products in our category according to IP protection class. Under "Protection level", simply tick the IP value you require. Of course, you can also take a look at our LED Waterproof Fixtures category right away.