LEDs enhance art at National Gallery

The National Gallery in London is set to get LED lighting throughout over the coming two years, with the works of art it houses set to be brightened by efficient new systems which will make it even more engaging for those who visit.

The LED lighting will not be doing all the hard work as it will be working in unison with automated roof blinds which can minutely adjust the amount of ambient lighting in each room to make for the perfect viewing conditions.

The ultraviolet light from the sun which can damage the masterpieces is filtered out and the LED systems provide pure, crisp light within each room.

At the moment the lighting system in the National Gallery is relatively unsophisticated as it flicks on and off to cope with the changing natural light. The new LED system will have no such issues, as it is able to gradually modulate the intensity of the output so that visitors are not distracted.

The organisers at the National Gallery have been searching for a replacement for the current lighting setup for the last three years. Over this period the viability of LED systems was increased, thanks to technological improvements and so the choice became obvious.

Perhaps the best thing about using LEDs in the National Gallery is that the amount of energy consumed to light up the place will be reduced by 85 per cent. In conjunction with these savings, the lifespan of the LED systems will be 25 times longer than the current lighting, which is based on tungsten lamps.

There seem to be no downsides to using LEDs in the National Gallery and so when the installation of the systems is complete at the start of 2013, it may well be a prime time to take a visit to the establishment, whether it is your first or fiftieth time.