DIY faux skylight project

[robot000111]

I've been wanting to add some natural light to my house since moving to a home in the woods and I've come up with an idea for a DIY faux skylight.

I want to cut a hole in the ceiling and install an LED panel that changes its brightness and color temperature throughout the day to mimic the sun. The plan is to have a set schedule like starting at 6 AM with a warmer, dim light and gradually getting brighter and cooler to a midday peak, then reversing the process in the afternoon until it turns off at night.

I'd like to install four of these panels, but I'm having trouble finding a brand that lets you automate both the brightness and color temperature at the same time. Most of the ones I've found seem to require you to manually select the color or just have a few preset options. Has anyone on here done a similar project? What kind of lights or control systems did you use?

 

[Tivall1]

There are some smart panels that let you set schedules so the brightness and color shift automatically throughout the day, which is perfect for mimicking sunlight

 

[JC Rojs]

Look for options that say full-spectrum or tunable white, and give you a range somewhere 2700K-6500K. Philips Hue, LIFX, and Yeelight have some smart lights that let you dim things down and mess with the color.

 

[_brentyy]

I've been wanting to add some natural light to my house since moving to a home in the woods and I've come up with an idea for a DIY faux skylight.

I want to cut a hole in the ceiling and install an LED panel that changes its brightness and color temperature throughout the day to mimic the sun. The plan is to have a set schedule like starting at 6 AM with a warmer, dim light and gradually getting brighter and cooler to a midday peak, then reversing the process in the afternoon until it turns off at night.

I'd like to install four of these panels, but I'm having trouble finding a brand that lets you automate both the brightness and color temperature at the same time. Most of the ones I've found seem to require you to manually select the color or just have a few preset options. Has anyone on here done a similar project? What kind of lights or control systems did you use?

To get the best lighting, try full-spectrum tunable white panels. These let you change both brightness and color. LIFX, Philips Hue, and Yeelight have great tunable strips and bulbs. For panels, think about a custom setup or a simple DIY project using LED strips and diffusers.

 

[Marky A_]

Try using a frosted diffuser to soften the light and recess the panels a bit for depth. Add trim or molding around the cutout, it'll make it look like a real skylight.

 

[dolor221]

Check out Human Centric Lighting controllers. Ketra (now Lutron) and Soraa have systems made just for circadian automation, but they're pricey.

 

[SamuelII]

Try a blue tint in the center to mimic a sky, kinda like how the Feit Vista panels do it.

 

[kattalita202]

Try using adjustable white LED strips behind some frosted acrylic. Control them with a PWM dimmer or a Zigbee LED controller to automate everything. This setup is great because you can tweak the shape and size to fit perfectly in ceilings.