Intro
My old Ikea GRÖNÖ lamp was long due for an upgrade to LED, but I wanted to use a strip not just buy a bulb. That is because I wanted the light controllable through my 1000² home automation system. Now, the cool thing about building my own dimmers is that I could dim the light down to very low duty factors, which is pretty good considering the way human eye responds to light levels. As a result, during the night the lamp stays at only 10 mW (out of the full 15W of the strip). This provides for a very discreet orientation light and allows me to keep the whole apartment at very low light level using just a few mW of power.
The build
Looking for something to twist the LED strip around, an empty bottle of wine turned out to be a good candidate. For good light quality, it is highly recommended to use some good wine, which should be savored the night right before the build.
Well, actually it was the perfect size for the 5 meter long strip. Even the diameter is of such dimension that it slightly shifts the LEDs to provide a more uniform distribution of light. I suspect some higher power was involved in arranging this.
Placing the bottle exactly in the centre of the lamp results in a softly diffused light
The wine bottle does have a purpose, the result is both a lamp and a vase
No, it will not stay near my parts drawers.