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LED is quickly becoming the go-to high-efficiency lighting choice in American homes. Initially, most LED bulbs were bright and unfiltered. This type of light is perfect for use as a spotlight or to highlight a particular painting or feature in your home or office. But now LEDs are being used as a general form of lighting. They usually replace fluorescent or incandescent light bulbs. To be used for general light, LED lights need light covers to diffuse their brightness and harshness. An LED light panel can diffuse the bright light of light emitting diodes used for general space lighting. But standard diffusers don't do much to convert the harsh light. They just spread it out a bit so that it is less severe on the eyes.

Fluorescent and LED Ceiling Lights

The space lighting used in a room is usually located in the ceiling. In some cases, wall sconces can provide extra light. Still, most rooms are lighted mainly from above. For nearly a century, individual light bulbs have been popular in domestic situations. Recently, the inefficiency of Thomas Edison's tungsten filament light bulb has led to increasing interest in alternative light sources. Fluorescent lights were a staple in commercial and institutional settings. In the late twentieth century, CFLs led to the adoption of fluorescent light in homes, as well. More recently, LED (light emitting diode) illumination has become the leader in high-efficiency lighting. LEDs save on energy since they offer a better way of converting electrical energy into visible light.

LED illumination also allows for much brighter light with minimal energy use. This has been especially useful in situations that require bright, compact lights. For example, LEDs are now used in automobile headlamps. Their high brightness to energy ratio has also made them ideal for domestic use.

LED Light Panel and Lighting Diffuser Panels

Both LED and fluorescent light sources have one problem in common. Their light is harsh, and there is a need to soften it or mitigate the brightness. Also, light emitting diodes tend to be very directed with narrow beams, hence their use as spotlights. Banks of LEDs create a practical lighting solution. A single light emitting diode would not light an entire room. Inside of a standard-sized LED bulb is an array of diodes that work together to create a bright light.

LED lamps are best used along with a diffusing LED light panel. LED light panels diffuse the light over a larger area so that the individual sources are less obvious. You can do this using a single LED light panel or a series of LED light covers or diffusers for larger rooms with multiple light sources. Such panels tend to come in the form of frosted glass or plastic. They are arranged to provide a more even type of lighting to illuminate an entire room or an area within a room.

Diffusers have been used in offices and laboratories for many years now. They provide a diffuse lighting system that illuminates an entire room with an even intensity of light. However, even these can be a bit harsh and do not add much to the decorative appeal of a room in your home.

Sky and Cloud Panels

Sky and cloud panels are a very popular way of decorating LED diffuser panels. They were originally designed as decorative fluorescent diffuser panels. With the growth in LED lighting, these panels have graduated to use as LED light covers.

So what are sky and cloud panels?

Fundamentally, decorative fluorescent or LED light covers are plastic sheets that have been printed with bright, high-definition photographs. They are easily affixed to your fluorescent or LED diffuser panels. The photographs are backlit by the lamps to offer a fantastic view of the subject of the photo. Sky and cloud panels are available with a wide variety of photos of blue sky and white clouds. Since they are actual photographs, there is really an infinite variety possible.

Octo Lights sky and cloud panels can display any form of cloud in a blue sky: fluffy cumulus, herring-boned cirrus, high misty altostratus, and even the anvil-shaped developing cumulonimbus that brings all that rain. If you prefer the night sky, then you can enjoy looking up at a bright full or half moon with the constellations shining brightly down.

Using an LED light panel to diffuse the harsh glare of such lighting systems is almost essential. You can do the same with fluorescent lights. However, why not use LED light covers that you can enjoy and enable you to relax?

Check out all of our LED and fluorescent light covers here!