LED handrail

The handrail profile carries a continuous LED strip: marked stairs, soft light.

Made to measure — priced after survey

The product

The light comes from the grip

A continuous strip housed in the channel groove: the stair is marked out without a ceiling light.

An illuminated handrail is not there to decorate, it is there so you can see where you are putting your foot. The strip sits in a groove in the profile and is diffused by a cover: the eye sees a line, not dots, and the nosing is lit without dazzling the person climbing. It is the only way to light a staircase without dropping the light from the ceiling into people's eyes.

The figures that matter are electrical. The strip runs on 24 V DC, fed from 220–240 V AC through a transformer. It draws 6 W per metre for 337 lumens, with 144 LEDs per metre and an 80° beam angle. The colour temperature is 4000 K — neutral white, neither the yellow of a living room nor the bluish white of a car park — and the whole thing is dimmable.

The protection rating is IP66: the assembly withstands driving rain and jet washing, so it takes outdoor use. The strip can be cut every 55 mm, which sets the real cutting pitch — a 3.42 m line of light does not exist, you land on the lower multiple and make up the difference at the end.

What is decided during installation is the cable. Before ordering you have to settle where the supply comes from, where the transformer sits — dry, ventilated, accessible — and how the drop runs: in the wall, in a post, or in the first support. Resolved after the event, it always shows. In Switzerland, connection to 230 V is reserved to an installer holding a licence: we install the profile, block the glass and pull the cable to the connection point, and the electrician makes the connection and carries out the inspection.

IP66: driving rain and jet washing, outdoor use included
24 V DC, 6 W and 337 lm per metre, 144 LEDs/m, 80° beam angle
4000 K neutral white, dimmable
Strip cuttable every 55 mm
Wall-mounted, or directly on the glass edge

The range

LED handrail, model by model

Each section drawing is that of the system as actually installed. The dimensions beside it are the values the system is approved for, not ballpark figures.

ML-10

Wall-mounted LED handrail, aluminium

Application: Private, commercial and public
Glass: Sans objet — pose murale
Centres: 2 supports par 2,5 m · 4 par 5 m
Lengths: 2,5 m · 5 m

Section drawing to comeML-20

Glass-mounted LED handrail

Application: Private, commercial and public
Glass: 12 – 21,52 mm
Centres: 2 supports par 2,5 m · 4 par 5 m
Lengths: 2,5 m · 5 m

Section drawing to comeML-30

Timber LED handrail, wall-mounted

Application: Private, internal only
Glass: Sans objet — pose murale
Centres: 2 supports par 2,5 m · 4 par 5 m
Lengths: 2,5 m · 5 m

ML-40

Balustrade channel with integrated LED

Application: Private, commercial and public
Glass: 12 – 21,52 mm
Lengths: 2,5 m · 5 m

Compare

The four mountings

The profile changes according to what it carries: a wall, a glass panel, or nothing but itself. The electrical characteristics, on the other hand, are common to the whole range — 24 V, 6 W/m, 337 lm/m, 4000 K, IP66.

Compared specifications of the profiles in the range
Model	Application	Glass thickness	Approved load	Fixing centres	Lengths
ML-10Wall-mounted LED handrail, aluminium	Private, commercial and public	Sans objet — pose murale	—	2 supports par 2,5 m · 4 par 5 m	2,5 m · 5 m
ML-20Glass-mounted LED handrail	Private, commercial and public	12 – 21,52 mm	—	2 supports par 2,5 m · 4 par 5 m	2,5 m · 5 m
ML-30Timber LED handrail, wall-mounted	Private, internal only	Sans objet — pose murale	—	2 supports par 2,5 m · 4 par 5 m	2,5 m · 5 m
ML-40Balustrade channel with integrated LED	Private, commercial and public	12 – 21,52 mm	—	—	2,5 m · 5 m

The loads shown are those the system is approved for. Final sizing depends on the use of the space and the wind pressure at the site — that is what we check during the survey.

Downloads

The documents for this range

A4 data sheets, one per profile: vertical section, dimensions, finishes. Final dimensions are set at the site survey.

Non-contractual documents · Current edition

Downloads

System documentation

Mounting instructions, brochures, technical data sheets and certifications for the systems we install, in their original version.

Brochures · 2

Mounting instructions · 6

2D drawings · 13

One PDF drawing per article number, served by the manufacturer.

All drawings in the manufacturer's download centre ↗

Finish

The finishes

The body is aluminium — mill finish for coating in any RAL, naturally anodised or stainless-steel look — or timber for internal use. The strip cover, however, is always opal: it is what turns 144 dots per metre into a continuous line. Replacing it with a clear cover to gain output does exactly the opposite and produces a string of dots.

On coated work, order the end caps and cable-drop covers in the same batch as the profile. A part coated six months later does not land on the same colour, and on a handrail lit from below the difference shows twice: once in daylight, once under the LED.

.13: RAL gloss
.16: RAL matt textured
.18: RAL matt
.19: RAL enhanced, high-durability powder coating
.AN: Natural anodised
.IX: Stainless-steel look

The drawing

Drawn before it is installed

Every piece starts from a workshop drawing dimensioned to the half-millimetre. That is what guarantees a true line once on site.

Installed

LED handrail, once installed

Views of systems equivalent to the ones we install. Our own projects will fill this page as they are handed over.

Frequently asked questions

About led handrail

01What colour temperature?

4000 K, neutral white. It is the compromise that renders the contrast of the nosing: below it, warm light flattens the relief; above it, you fall into the cold white of plant rooms. On a staircase it is the legibility of the step that decides, not the mood of a living room.

02Can the light be dimmed?

Yes, the system is dimmable. The dimmer must be compatible with 24 V DC on the secondary side, or control the transformer itself. A conventional lamp dimmer placed upstream of an LED driver makes the strip flicker and shortens its life.

03Where does the transformer go?

Somewhere dry, ventilated and accessible. A transformer walled into a partition is a future fault you will pay for in demolition. Its position is settled on the drawing, with the electrician, before the profile is ordered.

04What length on a single supply?

At 6 W per metre, the driver is sized on the total length plus around 20 % reserve. On long runs you feed from both ends: otherwise the voltage drop reads as a gradient at the end of the line.

05Can the strip be cut anywhere?

Every 55 mm — that is the pitch of the cutting points. The profile, by contrast, is cut to the exact dimension. The difference is taken up at the end cap, never by pulling on the strip or bending it round the corner.

06Does it survive outdoors?

Yes: IP66, so driving rain and jet washing. What does not survive outdoors are improvised joints. They must stay inside the profile or in a sealed box, and the cable must never rise into a connector as a drip loop.

07Can the strip be replaced later?

Yes. The cover unclips and the strip is changed without removing the profile or touching the glass. That is precisely why the cover is never bonded, even when it stands slightly proud after installation.

08Does the LED change the load class of the balustrade?

No. The strip sits in a groove and plays no structural role. The load transfer remains that of the channel: 0.6 kN/m in dwellings and offices, 1.0 kN/m in assembly and retail areas, 3.0 kN/m in high-density spaces.

09Who makes the electrical connection in Switzerland?

A licensed electrical installer. Our part stops at the connection point: profile installed, glass blocked, cable pulled and labelled. Connection to the mains and the final inspection are the electrician's responsibility, and the safety certificate forms part of the file.

10Can an LED handrail be curved?

The profile bends, the rigid strip does not. On a radius you have to segment — strip cut every 55 mm with flexible links — and the result is never as even as on a straight run. That is a decision to take before drawing the curve, not after.

11What does an installed illuminated handrail cost?

The order of magnitude runs from 250 to 600 CHF per linear metre, supplied and installed, excluding the power supply and electrical works. The cable drop and drilling the substrate often weigh more than the profile itself.

12Are the systems certified?

The systems we install are certified, LED section included. We attach the test reports and technical data sheets for the chosen system to the quote.

The systems we install are certified