Far and away the vast majority of bathroom faucets look pretty similar – one or two handles, a standard spigot, and nothing really remarkable. Sure, some faucets are more beautiful and unique than others, but if you want to get something that will really stand out, you need to step a little ways out of the ordinary. Many modern bathroom faucets and vessel sink faucets are specifically designed to look unique and unusual to make your faucet a design focal point of your bathroom. One of the best ways to do that is to incorporate LED lights.
What Are LED Faucets?
LED technology has been creeping into faucet design over the last few years, both in kitchen and bathroom taps as well as in shower heads. The latter has proved incredibly popular as a component of a chromatherapy shower, while the faucets are becoming more common in modern design. But what are they exactly? Simply put, they’re faucets with very small LED lights are built into the tap which turn on when you turn the water on. The light then bounces around inside the water, turning the whole stream whatever color the lights happen to be, creating a colorful glow every time you turn on your faucet (though the effect works best in low or no light).
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Why LED Faucets?
I’ll be honest – I first saw these more than a decade ago, built into a novelty drinking fountain at Disneyland. You pushed the button to start the flow of water, and a glowing, color-changing rainbow of liquid came out. It was both surprising and fun. But you might be wondering how that translates to a modern bathroom. Well, probably you aren’t going to be dazzled by a seemingly magical fount of rainbow water, but the novelty factor remains. LED faucets – especially luxury waterfall faucets like the one above – look incredibly unique, with parts designed to light up from within as well as illuminating the water. These lights are still rare enough to be surprising, which means that in a guest bathroom, an LED faucet is a great way to thrill your guests without a large scale remodel.
Heat-Sensing LED Faucets
That said, LED faucets are good for more than just the novelty. This might sound silly to say, but one of their more important functions is actually safety. LED taps and shower heads alike are often triggered by temperature in much the same way an anti-scald valve works. That is, when the water is at or above or below a certain temperature, the lights change color, changing the color of the water, usually blue for cool water, purple for warm water, and red for hot water. Very hot water will cause the LED lights to flash red, letting you know the water is too hot without you having to burn your hand to check.
A Rainbow Of Colors
The most basic LED faucets come in a simple red/blue to indicate temperature. But newer models offer a wider range of colors, both used to reflect various temperatures and for simple display. Of course, LED faucets are limited to the colors that LED lights can produce, but as technology improves there’s been a noticeably better variety in color. Sumerain’s LED faucets have at not only the traditional red, blue, and purple, but also green, while LEDs in general atr more rarely able to produce orange, yellow, pink, and white as well as a few shades of blue/green. No matter what the color, it penetrates the water as it flows, illuminating it from within; if you fill up a sink, the light will even stay in the water there, giving it a colorful glow.
Chromatherapy Faucets
As I mentioned earlier, another major use for LED faucets is chromatherapy. Science has proven again and again that exposure to various colors has a noticeable impact on your mood, and multi-color LED faucets take full advantage of this fact. The effect is more noticeable in LED shower heads, perhaps, but running your hands under a beautiful font of crystal blue or shimmery yellow water is a great way to enhance your mood and brighten up your day. When LED faucets come with more than one color light (and the colors aren’t linked to temperature), you can usually change between them with the touch of a button, allowing you to choose the sort of mood you want to set.
Hydro-Powered LED Faucets
It’s important to note that there are two types of LED faucets: ones that are battery or electrically powered and ones that are water powered. The former need to be hooked up either to an outlet or to a battery pack in order for the lights to work, and the back up batteries need to be replaced usually once or twice a year. Hydro-powered LED faucets are ever so slightly much more environmentally friendly, using the force of water passing through the tap to power the light so they don’t need any kind of back-up power. Either way, be aware that while LED lights do last a long time, they don’t last forever, so make sure you have at least a few spares on hand.
What do you think of these decorative LED faucets? Do you like the modern look, or do they speak to your inner child?
