One of the reasons for cloud ceiling popularity today is because it can turn into a stylish design. A ceiling accented with clouds can evoke relaxation, whimsy, and expansiveness.
Although cloud ceilings are functional, they give off a modern vibe, and you can install them in your house and office. Despite all these features, you might still wonder if a cloud ceiling is a fire hazard.
Cloud ceilings are fire hazards. So, after installing a cloud ceiling in your room, ensure you are always indoors when the clouds are switched on and use the LED lights only.
Does Cloud Ceiling Catch Fire?
Cloud ceilings are susceptible to fire. When the LED light is on for a long period, it can lead to overheating, thereby leading to a fire outbreak in your ceiling.
Cloud ceilings are the region above the earth’s surface where the lowest layer of clouds is considered irregular and foggy.
These ceilings have gaps that separate the ceiling panels beneath them. If you don’t fix the cloud ceiling correctly, it can lead to fire breakage.
The cloud ceiling gives your room an interesting light scheme and adds to the complexity. Therefore, the lighting load and shading complex increases more than that of a full ceiling.
Thus, it’s best to calculate the lighting density before creating a cloud ceiling. Cloud ceilings help to lay out power strategically. It also provides systems that show the graphic display of a full ceiling.
There are different designs for your cloud ceilings:
#1. Complete Ceiling Coverage
You can install a cloud ceiling to cover up your roof completely. It will still give you that beautiful appearance you want.
#2. Suspended Shapes
This cloud ceiling is in various shapes across the ceiling, just like the cloud in the sky. This design is good for seating areas and gives an airy setting.
#3. Strategic Placement
Strategically placing your cloud ceiling where needed will help you control sound. They also allow the original ceiling to be seen, beautifying the room’s interior.
#4. Bold Statements
When your cloud ceiling is bold, it gives your roof an eye-catching statement and adds a classy look to the room.
#5. Center Collections
Installing your cloud ceilings at the center of your room gives a gentle yet classy feeling. It also beautifies the room more.
Also, placing the cloud ceiling at the center is the best option if you design a large room since it accommodates a larger audience.
What do you use to Make a Cloud Ceiling?
To set up a cloud ceiling, use the following materials.
- LED light strips
- Poly-fil wool fill
- Christmas lamps
- Chimney tape
- Adhesive gun
- Glue stick
- Gorilla heavy-duty adhesive spray
- Philips hue light
- Poster Board
How To Set Up a Cloud Ceiling?
You can set up a cloud ceiling by adhering to the steps below.
#1. Step 1
Cut your chimney tape into medium sizes, then twist them. Doing so will create a dual-side tape. Paste the two-sided tapes at the back of each poster board, and stick them to the ceiling.
The space between the poster boards depends on your preference. However, the poster boards must cover the region where you want to set up the cloud.
#2. Step 2
Bind the LED light strips to the poster boards with hot glue. You can decorate your poster boards in any pattern of your choice. If you want a colorful ceiling, add a Christmas light.
But note that the Christmas lights are fire tolerant compared to the LED light strips. So, only use them when necessary.
#3. Step 3
For the poly-fil, you can use either hot glue or gorilla adhesive spray to attach them to the ceiling.
To match the clouds and achieve the cool effect you want, change the middle light bulb of your roof to hue light. Now you have the coolest ceiling you can imagine.
How do you Make Cloud Ceiling Safe?
To keep your cloud ceilings safe, put the following in mind.
- Utilize only low-voltage and battery-operated LED lights for the roofing.
- Ensure the bulbs and other materials are not in direct contact. One way to do this is by installing the LED lights inside a plastic container before applying the hot glue. This method is better than applying glue over the light directly.
- Refrain from using cotton for your cloud ceilings. Make use of polyester fiber fill that fulfills the flammability rules. You will see this on the pack.
- Don’t leave fairy lights on for the whole night. Leaving it on can cause overheating.
- Avoid hanging the light directly over your bed in case of accidents.
Cloud designs need vertical leads and pendants for sprinklers to work well.
Installing sprinklers for standard fire protection is necessary because it uses a fusible chain that stops working when hot, which allows water to flow from the nozzle into the deflector, thus distributing it into the room.
The ceiling is a boundary to hold rising heat at the sprinkler level. Maintaining the heat opposite the sprinkler head is important for better performance.
Cloud ceilings often use sprinkler heads when the clouds range from 48 inches.
So, when creating a cloud ceiling, ensure you place your sprinkler head and the draft cloud within a free area less than 50% and 48 inches wide.
In addition, your sprinkler head must stop behind the cloud to ensure the fire heat does not evade the head.
But the sprinkler is not always required above the cloud ceiling when you meet some necessary conditions.
These conditions include:
- Cumulative areas of the openings around the cloud are lower than or equal to 20% of the ceiling area, construction components, or plane used to deduce the barriers of the compartment.
- This condition confirms that the space between clouds is not too wide. The heat will store above the cloud ceiling when the opening is too large. Therefore, the space is no longer a concealed opening.
- For every vertical base between the ground and the ceiling, the panel should be one inch that divides the cloud ceilings. Introducing a sprinkler above the cloud is unnecessary when this condition is met. For example, the distance between the floor and the underside of the cloud ceiling is 10 feet, and the distance between the cloud ceilings must be 10 inches or less before you can exclude the sprinkler.
- The ceiling height must not exceed 20 feet from the ground.
- Cloud ceiling construction must be smooth.
- When designing a cloud ceiling with irregular shapes, the least width dimension of the cloud must be the least width dimension. Also, the division between the clouds must be the greatest dimension.
- The gaps above the cloud ceiling must contain either a noncombustible or restricted combustible structure with the least flammable loadings.
Do Ceiling Clouds Work?
Ceiling clouds reduce the reflected noise in an open environment. Ceiling clouds differ from other echo control options because of the proportion of air.
More air enables the panel to eliminate the echoes while controlling them. The ceiling cloud absorbs sound immediately. The sound travels towards the ceiling and echoes back towards the floor.
| Pros of Ceiling Clouds | Cons of Ceiling Clouds |
|---|---|
| They are very simple to fix and lightweight. | It is very expensive. |
| It is very durable. | It takes up a lot of space on the roof. |
| It is a good sound absorber. | Ceiling clouds hang down a little more than the normal ceiling. |
Cloud ceilings help you balance your space in different ways;
#1. Improve Sound Quality
You can install the cloud ceiling by laying it flat on the ceiling or by placing it a few feet down.
Regardless of how you install the cloud ceiling panel, they reflect sound from beneath and distribute it across the room.
Adding cloud ceiling panels to your room will boost the sound quality. You can use a different layout for your clouds.
For bigger rooms, it’s best to spread the panels, while small rooms sound better, centralizing the panel within a space.
#2. Adds to the Visual Appeal
Installing a cloud ceiling adds to the visual appeal of your space. Due to the ceiling’s diversity of designs and styling techniques, the panel ties a room together.
Cloud ceiling comes in concave, convex, and flat styles, which brings out the luxury while balancing your space.
Tall ceilings will look beautiful depending on the size of your room, with a cloud panel suspended a few feet from the roof. But if you prefer a simple ceiling, laying the cloud panel flat is the best option.
Conclusion
Cloud ceilings are fire hazards. So when creating a cloud ceiling, use a LED light and do not leave the light on when going out.
Read through this article to see other precautions you must take when creating a cloud ceiling to prevent a fire outbreak. Then you can let your imagination go wild with your designs.