Stair lighting ideas

So illuminated steps or those that start to light up when you step on them definitely don’t have to be, they are probably not cheap either.

Yes, that is super luxury. It really doesn’t have to be that way. I agree.

May I ask how many steps you have? For us, it is an open staircase (so the steps are not closed) and according to the master plan, there should be 14 steps.
Maybe, if they are for the wall, a light at every 3rd step?
Are there special lights for that? Especially with dusk function?

- 17 steps including the 90-degree turn
- Open staircase
- The number of lights depends on personal taste. Others would have put, for example, 5 or 7 lights in my case. I simply wanted properly illuminated stairs.
Despite an aesthetic sense, not every single step has to be exactly equally bright. Of course that’s nice, but costs a lot of money. Benefit: zero. As I said, the important thing is to see all the steps... The main purpose of the setup (for me) is not to fall down the stairs at night half asleep and break multiple ribs or your neck just because you wanted to get a glass of water or apple juice from the fridge.
- There are special built-in/recessed wall lights for this purpose. Unfortunately, there are many options. I got lost in the offerings back then. My good friend (master electrician) came up with a suggestion. I liked it. Also price-wise. The lamps cost 50 euros each without LED.
- The transformer came separately.
- The dusk function: this is another element that was installed. Very small and inconspicuous, it is built into the wall (for me at the height of the highest light on the upper floor). Whether there are systems that already have everything included: I don’t know. I only know that you can buy all the parts separately.

By switch you mean a normal on/off switch, right?

Yes, exactly. It does nothing other than turn the system on/off. When it is on, the dusk function is active. The staircase lighting then comes on in the evening (sensitivity is adjustable), you don’t have to worry about it. The last person going upstairs to sleep presses "off" so the light doesn’t disturb sleep (topic open door, upper thread). In the morning I press the switch (I’m always the first up) to on and don’t have to think about it until the following night. People who don’t have a cat would have taken a motion detector.

According to the construction service description, no handrails are planned on the right wall (outer wall), so I probably found these LED handrails practical.
What beam angle would you recommend?

So you don’t have a “blink-and-glare grenade” on the opposite side of the stairs (very likely the hallway or living room), it makes a lot of sense to have an asymmetric angle. I don’t know your staircase width or railing height, but I *guess* 50-60 degrees handrail/stair could be quite optimal. Maybe 40 degrees would also suffice. Might need to be calculated.

Maybe there is a company nearby that sells something like this, then I could possibly get a precise idea – on the internet they look great, but there’s always some trickery.

You need to search for that, I think it’s not that easy.

Regarding dirt – wouldn’t it even be better to have the chocolate fingers on the handrail, which is washable, instead of on the "white" wall?

Do you want to use the stair handrail for that or mount an additional one on the wall?
Either way, according to Murphy’s law: if you don’t install a handrail, there will be no chocolate stains on the wall. Because no handrail is there, the stair handrail is used (then the chocolate is there). If you install a handrail, it will be partially used, so the wall naturally gets chocolate stains.

You will hand it over to the electrician anyway. He knows what he’s doing. He will definitely pick the right (LED-compatible transformer and dusk switch). They have special catalogs for that, mine had tons.

The main purpose of the event (for me) is not to fall down the stairs at night half-asleep and break multiple bones or your neck just because you wanted to get a glass of water or apple juice from the fridge.

That is primarily also my thought behind avoiding this.

Do you want to use the handrail of the stairs for this, or install an additional, extra one on the wall?

I thought about installing an additional handrail on the other side. In our rental apartment, we only have one and if you should slip, you have a handrail to hold on to on both sides just in case, but we only have one staircase with 5 steps and it goes straight up and not around the corner like in the future house.

I don’t know the width of your stairs and the height of the railing, but I *estimate* (!) that a 50-60 degree handrail/stair angle could be quite optimal. Maybe 40 degrees is enough. That might need to be calculated.

I have to check if there is anything about this in the construction service description, I don’t have that exactly in mind. In the master plan it only says "14 Stg. 19.07 / 25" which probably means the width/height of the steps?

Then I’d better wait first to see who the responsible electrician will be and whether they have something like this in their offer.

Generally, it is good to know first of all what is possible and if anything is possible at all.

I worry less about the chocolate stains, so far our walls still look quite good. Maybe something washable will help there.

Thank you very much for your detailed answers