Advantages & Disadvantages Of Drop Ceiling Light Panels
If you are considering using drop ceiling panels in your home or office building to update, don’t forget to think about getting a few translucent or colored drop ceiling light panels. Popular in home kitchens, these are panels specially designed to allow light through. Usually, florescent lights are placed above the drop ceiling light panel to illuminate the room.
Advantages
There’s no need for light fixtures when you’ve got drop ceiling light panels>. These lights are seamlessly integrated into your ceiling, giving a room a natural feeling. Also, they can be customized to your personality and the type of room they’ll be in. Just buy panels that are as decorative or conservative as you’d like.
Some places sell designer light panels, which stand out much more than traditional ones. With their beautiful designs, custom panels will express your personality or your taste for elegance. Not only can panels be artistic, they can also emulate nature, and give your office or home the spacious feeling a skylight affords. Some companies sell nature-emulating panels, which often depict blue skies and clouds to achieve a skylight look.
Disadvantages
You’d need to buy specific, florescent lights to place inside the panel. These can be expensive (most will be over $100.00), so if you use several throughout a room, this cost can really add up. It all depends on how large a space you plan on lighting. A general rule of thumb is to have four florescent lighting panels for every 75 square feet of paneled ceiling.
In addition, to change the light bulb, you must remove the panel, which can be an inconvenience. Still, you’d have to climb a latter to change a ceiling bulb, no matter what type of ceiling lighting system you have. So really, taking off the panel isn’t that much more of an inconvenience. Another problem is that drop ceiling light panels are quite brittle, so if you have children who like to throw things, these lights might end up in pieces. This also means you’ll need to be careful when transporting and installing them, to ensure they don’t break.
Placed to Buy
Standard Panels
Ceilume sells light-weight, vinyl tiles. Coming in various patterns, they range in price from $6.45 - $17.45, depending on the number you order. Ace Hardware sells a 2 ft by 4 ft panel, which would be nice for a home kitchen.
Designer Panels
Stratus Designs provides panels, which have relaxing, outdoor images on them. For example, they have panels with a blue sky and clouds on them, to simulate a skylight. They also have a panel with hot air balloons floating through the sky.
The Sky Factory sells custom light panels that create a mosaic of nature by combing several panels together. These panels give a realistic rendering of the outside world by combining blue skies and overhanging tree branches.
Bizrate sells the bulb’s you’ll need for your panels. Drop ceiling light panels are a great way to light a room, because the bulbs are long lasting, the panels can be attractive, and they are easily customizable and replicable.
Make sure to think about what type you’d like before you make a final purchasing decision.
