LED paving stones for paths: making a "runway" in the yard. Personal experience

Budget method for making LED paving stones

It is an axiom that paving is one of the most effective and effective ways to decorate a yard. But to combine the track canvas with backlighting, in order to make it even more spectacular, they guessed relatively recently. This was facilitated by the ubiquity of LED elements. In lamps of all shapes and colors, you won't surprise anyone with them, while paving stones with backlighting are still a rarity in the areas. But the participants of our portal are ahead of the whole planet and have already tested this promising know-how. Moreover, they even made a "pilot" batch with their own hands.

Site: what happened and how it became with backlight

Al148

FORUMHOUSE member

So I decided to share my thoughts on using light blocks to "decorate" a parking lot.

Background: a small land plot was purchased in an uncomfortable state.

But there was a desire, there were also ways to transform everything. Interestingly, there were no heavy equipment, which would have ruined the yard even more. And hiring a mini-excavator was cheaper than manual labor.

Al148

FORUMHOUSE member

The small excavator is very efficient. We arrived in a jeep with it in the back. Himself! I went down from the body to the ground along the guides. During the day, they dug all the necessary trenches (and this is more than 100 meters) for irrigation, drainage, electrics, plumbing, etc. (to a depth of 0.5-1.5 m). He finished, he crawled into the back and left. One person did everything. We have clay (5 meters deep) - can you imagine how much we would have dug ourselves or hired workers? For the money it turned out - the technique is cheaper, but there is nothing to say about the speed.

After all the manipulations, the site was concreted, it was also the parking lot, and it was the turn of the choice of the finishing coating. We stopped at the cobblestones, but wanted something else non-trivial, for example, to decorate with glowing blocks. At first, the price of the issue was shocking, the range of prices ranged from 2 to 5 thousand apiece, but at least three dozen are needed. To reconcile the thirst for beauty and the "toad" was helped by the understanding that beauty still needs sacrifices, well that the material, and the discovery of a domestic manufacturer with a price tag of 1,000 for any color. on white matte paving stones. Al148 chose white frosted tempered glass blocks.

• Dimensions - 200 × 100 mm (as standard paving stones).
• Operating mode - -40... + 50 ˚С.
• The distance between the blocks is about 1 m.
• Power supply - 8... 12 V (built-in stabilizer, when the voltage drops, the glow intensity decreases).
• The connection is serial, less than 12 volts reaches the extreme unit.
• Consumption is about 120 mA per unit, for 34 pieces it is about 4-5 A.

The gates are hinged, automatic, in the control unit there is a mode for turning on the spotlight when opening. Through this relay Al148 connected the chain through the 220 V power supply and now, as soon as the doors swing open, not only the spotlight but also the light blocks turns on.

After the launch of the horizontal lighting, it became more comfortable to use the parking lot. It is especially convenient to park "along the guides" in winter and late at night. Such runways not only look spectacular, but also practical.

Well, no one canceled the efficiency, the level of illumination is sufficient, and the power consumption is incomparable with the searchlights. Taking into account the cost of pleasure, the difference will not be a dozen years, but the bonus is nice.

Experience in operating LED paving stones

The first test in combat, that is, the winter season, the light blocks withstood with flying colors. Nothing broke, failed, cracked, but Al148 I cleaned the site carefully and tried not to drop heavy, and even more so, heavy sharp objects.

How to make LED paving stones with your own hands

Inspired by the example and experience that he shared Al148, our other member of the forum also caught fire with the idea of ​​decorative and functional lighting. But he preferred to do it on his own and saved a lot on the circle.

Levi

FORUMHOUSE member

He poured EP (Dzerzhinsk) epoxy into the mold from the paving stones. On the radiator from a piece of PN (profile 28 × 27 mm) tape with 3528 LEDs (6 pcs per 10 cm). Made two types of lamps 60 × 120 and 120 × 120 with 6 and 12 LEDs, respectively. ShVVP wire 2 × 0.5 ss. The consumption of epoxy for a 60 × 120 mm lamp is about one and a half bottles (280 g). T. e. at a price - about 300 rubles. Powered by a standard unit IEK 12/120 W. Luminaire consumption for 6 svd ~ 1.5W. I placed it in one and a half meters.

And this is the result.

Definitely like!

Our publications help you make your own base for a reliable track. Homemade paving stones or fake diamond. In the video - a master class on laying natural stone paths with backlight.

How do you like the idea and implementation?