Cove Lighting

Cove lighting is the effect where the ceiling glows and you cannot see what is doing it. The strip sits inside a ledge or a tray, throws light upward, and the ceiling bounces it back as a soft wash. No glare, no fixture in the sightline.

What a cove run needs

• LED tape — the light source, cut to length at marked points.
• Aluminium channel — holds the tape straight and pulls heat away, which is what keeps the LEDs from dimming early.
• Diffuser — the frosted cover that turns a row of dots into one continuous line.
• Driver — sized to the total run, with headroom to spare.
• Dimmer — matched to the driver, not just to the tape.

Building the cove

Leave at least 4 inches between the tape and the ceiling above it. Any closer and you see a hot band of light instead of an even wash. Keep the lip of the cove tall enough to hide the strip from every angle someone will stand at, and paint the inside of the cove flat white so it reflects rather than absorbs.

Sizing the driver

Work out watts per foot from the tape spec, multiply by the run length, then add 20 percent. A 16-foot run of 4-watt-per-foot tape needs 64 watts, so choose an 80-watt driver. Running a driver at its ceiling shortens its life.

Colour temperature

Stay at 2700K or 3000K for a home. Cove light is ambient light, and cool white makes a living room feel like an office corridor. Tunable tape is worth it in a space that shifts between working and relaxing.

Related

For visible architectural lines instead of hidden glow, see linear lighting. For aimed accent light, see track lighting.