LED strip light buying guide: How to choose LED strip lights
LED strip light buying guide: How to choose LED strip lights
This is an all-inclusive purchase guide for LED strip lights. It explains in details the nine major factors to consider before choosing LED strip lights. With so many options on the market, it is really hard to tell which one is good. We have prepared this article to educate new and experienced users. It has greatly helped buyers to determine the right LED strips for a lot of projects.
1. Need single white or tunable white light? Select the white color temperature you need.
If you need install white lights, the color temperature of white lights should be carefully considered.
1800K is the orange color. It is unique and very impressive, super warm with reddish and yellowish tone.
2400K is the amber color. It is very warm lighting with yellowish tone.
2700K is similar to light color that incandescent lamps generate. It is a warm and relaxing lighting.
3000K looks like the light of halogen lamps. It is slightly brighter than 2700K, and puts a slightly yellowish or reddish tone on objects illuminated.
4000K or 5000K, also known as neutral white, is a whiter white than 2700K or 3000K. It is commonly used in office and commercial lighting.
6500K, also called cool white or daylight bright, is the brightest pure white. It mimics the natural sunlight of a sunny day. School, work and production environment widely utilize 6500K strip lights to increase productivity. 6500K light is an essential element for high end modern hotels, restaurants and clubs.
Tunable white LED strip lights, also called white adjustable, can produce lights with color temperatures from 1800K to 6500K, or from 2700K to 6500K. They are made by using both warm white and cool white LEDs on the same FPC board. The lights of warm white and cool white LEDs are mixed to various levels of relative brightness to produce light of varied color temperatures.
2. Prefer color changing light? Consider RGB, RGBW, or RGBCCT.
If you like colorful light, you can choose RGB LED strips, or RGBW and RGBCCT. They all have colorful light. The difference is that RGBW or RGBCCT has pure white light, but RGB doesn't.
RGBW LED strips have white light of single color temperature, which can select only one from 2400K, 2700K, 3000K, 4000K, 5000K, or 6500K. It is worth mentioning that we offer super high brightness version, which has three rows of high density LEDs with RGB in the middles, white on each side. It is suitable for almost anywhere, because if it is too bright, you can dim down anyway. But if you use a lower brightness LED strip, you can not bring up the brightness higher than its designed limit.
RGBCCT Tunable White LED strips have all the colors, and various adjustable whites at the same time from one single strip! That means you can enjoy not only millions of colorful light, but also and all the whites mentioned above.
3. Indoor or outdoor waterproof.
For indoor applications, please choose IP20 indoor LED strips. Choose outdoor waterproof LED strips, IP65 or above, for outdoor or semi-outdoor applications. Waterproof ones are also good for indoor use, as their outside layer of waterproof tubing can protect electrical parts from dust and impact.
4. Voltage: 12V or 24V DC.
Compared to 12V, what advantages do 24V LED strip lights have? 24V lights operate with half current as 12V ones, which is determined by the relationship of power, current, and voltage.
If a lighting project needs continuous and long run installation of LED strips, 24V version is better. The reason is a commonly known issue "voltage drop". Voltage drop is the phenomenon that electrical voltage decreases along the road because the electrical resistance is inevitable along the circuit.
Due to voltage drop, the light at the beginning part of a long LED light strip will be brighter than that at the end. The voltage drop is smaller for a 24V LED strip than 12V. Many 24V LED strips can run continuously up to 10 meters (about 32 feet) without noticeable brightness decrease from end to end.
Current Controlled LED strip lights can resolve the voltage drop issue, to certain degree. But they are more expensive, because they have more complicated electrical circuit design, utilize more electrical parts, and need longer time for manufacturing.
Most cars, RVs, boats and yachts have 12V power system on board. So, 12V LED lights are the only choice.
5. Brightness.
Light creates atmosphere via its brightness and color. In light science, brightness is measured by using lumen. It is indicated in the value of lumens.
What is lumen?
Lumen. Lumen is the measure unit for the total quality of visible light emitted during a unit of time. It indicates the brightness level of the light produced by the light source. Traditionally, electricians use foot-candle as the measure to tell the light intensity, as is the customary unit used in the United States. A foot-candle equals one lumen per square foot. The brightness level roughly equals to the light that is one foot away from a common wax candle.
If you need brighter LED strip, you will select those marked with higher value of lumens per unit length. Please be careful that different manufacturers may use different brightness marks.
For example, one strip is marked as "240 lumens/ft", another marked as "700 lumens/meter". We cannot say that the second one is brighter than the first, because the length units are different.
Unit conversion is necessary for meaningful comparison. Say we convert the brightness mark of the first strip to lumens/meter. 1 meter equals 3.28 feet. The first LED strip would be 240 lumens/ft*3.28 = 787.2 lumens/meter. Now we find out that actually the first one is brighter than the second.
Luminous efficacy. Luminous efficacy is another important factor regarding brightness. It is the ratio of the light strip's lumen value to its wattage. By this definition, we can see that the ratio measures the efficacy of emitting light when using one watt of power.
When consuming the same amount of power, a light strip with higher luminous efficacy can produce more lumens of light. To put it from another perspective, when generating the same brightness, higher luminous efficacy means less energy consumption, saving more on operation cost.
Relationship between brightness and wattage. The brightness of a strip light is correlated to its wattage, the power it consumes. Similar to light bulbs, the higher wattage a light is, the brighter it is.
How many lumens do I need for a space?
When installing LED strip lights for homes, we often encounter the questions: how many lumens do I need for the space? How many lumens per square foot should be planned to illuminate the rooms optimally and comfortably?
To achieve optimal brightness for different rooms, you can refer to the following table as a general guidance:
Applications
How many lms/sf
Bedroom lighting
10-20 lms/sf
Stair and hallway lighting
10-30 lms/sf
Under cabinet lighting
20-40 lms/sf
Under counter lighting
20-40 lms/sf
Kitchen island toe-kick lighting
20-50 lms/sf
Bathroom lighting
50-70 lms/sf
Kitchen countertop lighting
60-80 lms/sf
6. The number of LEDs, LED density, and LED types.
LED density: the meaning of the number of LEDs on a unit length
The number of the LEDs has meaning only when it is viewed by the length of the strip, e.g., how many LEDs per meter or per foot. It is commonly referred to as the LED density.
LED Density indicates how far away one LED is from the next, indicated by the LED quantity per meter or per foot, such as 60 LEDs/meter, 120 LEDs/meter, 18 LEDs/foot, or 36 LEDs/foot.
How does LED density affect the brightness?
In general, all other factors comparable, a higher density LED strip is brighter than a lower density one. This is because there are more LEDs emitting light on the higher density ones. By comparable factors we mean the same type of LEDs, the same current drawn, etc.
Light spotting: How does LED density affect light distribution?
A common phenomenon of LED strip lighting is that for certain projects, you can clearly see the light spots or LED dots on the diffuser of a light strip fixture. This is so called "light spotting" in light distribution. Perfect distribution would mean no light spotting.
Light spotting is affected by two factors: the distance between LED and diffuser, and the distance between two adjacent LEDs.
Distance between LED and diffuser.
How the distance between LED and diffuser affects light spotting can be understood this way. If you stand 10 meters away from a wall and project a flashlight onto the wall, you'll see the whole wall area is lighted, we consider the light distribution good.
As you move closer to the wall, the lighted area becomes smaller and smaller till the point it reaches to the same size of the flashlight head. At this time the light distribution is not good because of the light spotting is very pronounced. This character is universal to a spot source of light.
Same as the flashlight, LED is a spot source of light. So if the light spotting is an issue, we can choose to increase the distance between LED and diffuser. If we are using LED strip channel assisting installation, we can choose deeper channels so that the distance between LEDs and the diffuser is larger.
Distance between two adjacent LEDs.
In contrast, the shorter the distance between two adjacent LEDs is, the higher the LED density, the better the light distribution of the LED strip. It is because the shorter the distance is, the easier for the LEDs to cover each other's blind spots.
There is a situation when the distance between LED and diffuser can't be longer any more due to limitation on installation space. In this situation, in order to obtain less light spotting or better light distribution, light strips with higher LED density are the right choice.
Some of our LED strip lights are specially designed to achieve perfect light distribution. They come with high density of LEDs. Even used in shallow aluminum channel, they present very nice light distribution with no light spotting. At the same time the light strip produces high brightness with low current drawn, generates little heat, and promotes long lifespan.
LED types.
The type of SMD LED package is often indicated by a number, such as 2216, 2835, and 5050. The number is actually the LED package's dimensions in size
2216: The size of a 2216 LED is 2.2mm x 1.6mm, height is 0.6mm. 2216 LED has the smallest and ultra slim body, perfect to make high density LED strips, such as tunable white, to get the best mixing effects for tunable white color temperatures. It is also the best LEDs to make ultra slim light strips to fit small grooves. Each LED usually has the power of 0.06W, 0.15W, or 0.2W.
2835: The size of a 2835 LED is 2.8mm x 3.5mm, height is 0.7mm. Each LED usually has the power of 0.1W, 0.2W, or 0.5W. It is one of major LEDs to make white LED strip lights. It is also used to make colored light.
5050 RGB: The size of a 5050 RGB LED is 5.0mm x 5.0mm, height is 1.6mm. Each LED has three chips inside, red, green and blue. It is the major LEDs to make RGB LED strip lights. Each LED usually has the power of 0.2W.
5050 RGB+White: It is also known as RGBW. The size of a 5050 RGBW LED is also 5.0mm x 5.0mm, height is 1.6mm. Each LED has four chips inside. In addition to red, green and blue, it has the fourth white chip. Due to this, it is also called 4-in-1 LEDs. The white chip is able to produce pure white light. The 4-in-1 design makes this LED the best to make RGBW LED strip light. Because the white chip is so close the colored chips, this 4-in-1 RGBW LED produces the best light mixing distribution when blending white into colored light.
5050 RGB+Tunable White: It is also known as RGBCCT. It is the same size as RGBW LEDs. In addition to the three colored chips, it has two more white chips: one is warm white, one is cool white. In this sense, it is also called 5-in-1 LEDs. The two white chips can produce tunable white. Because the white chips are very close to the colored chips, the 5-in-1 RGBCCT LED is the best LED to make RGB Tunable white LED strip light. It has much better white and colored light mixing effect than other types of RGB Tunable white LED strips.
In summary, the size of 2216 LED makes it perfect to make tunable white LED strip lights. 2835 LED has bigger heat dissipation base and lower height, and is perfect to be used to make white led strips. 5050 LED has bigger light emitting surface and multiple chips inside, and is widely used to make white and colored strip lights.
2216 LED has the smallest and ultra slim body, perfect for high density LED strips, such as tunable white. It is also the best LEDs to make ultra slim light strips to fit small grooves.
7. Color rendering index (CRI).
CRI is the measure that indicates the light source's ability to render the original colors of objects lighted by the light source. The original color is defined by the color when the object is illuminated by sunlight.
The closer the color of an object rendered by a light source is to the color of the same object under sunlight, the higher CRI the light source has. CRI has a value range running from 0 to 100. By definition, sunlight has the perfect CRI with the value 100.
Note: The higher the CRI value is, the better the quality of a light source in the sense of its ability to render colors. This is important to lighting applications where color matters.
For example, we take a look at the produce area where a supermarket sells vegetables and fruits. When high CRI light is used, the produces appear in natural and saturated colors, looking juicy, glossy and fresher. Hence, they are apparently more attractive to customers.
Same with fresh meat. Under light of high CRI, the meat is in purple red that looks fresher. If CRI is lower than 80, the colors of the object illuminated are distorted in such way as if they were covered with a gray veil. The object looks gloss-lacking and dull.
From the perspective of protecting vision of human eyes, light strip intended to be used long time need to have CRI higher than 80. Light with CRI lower than 80 will affect human eyes' ability to differentiate colors. Long time exposure to light with CRI lower than 80 may cause various vision problems.
All our LED strip lights have CRI 85+. For your professional needs, we also carry high CRI 97+.
8. Length and width.
The length is usually 5 meters(16.4 feet), or 10 meters(32.8 feet). Why they are made into 5M or 10M long? It is because of the voltage drop along the strip. For a 12V LED strip, if it is longer than 5M or 16.4FT, the LEDs at end will look noticeably lower in brightness.
When purchasing LED strips, pay attention to the length noted by sellers or manufacturers. There are ones in 2 meter or 3 meter long. Be aware that with the money you paid, how long the light strip you are getting.
The width varies from 5 mm, 8 mm, 10 mm, 12 mm to 20 mm or more. The 5 mm ultra slim version is designed to meet the needs of special lighting projects.
Note: If you use LED strip channel, need to consider if the inner width matches the light. Also if you used LED solderless connectors, the connectors are usually wider than the LED strip. Need to check if the connector's width fits the inner of the aluminum channel.
9. Choose LED strip power supply.
Should I choose power adapter or switch power supply?
1. Power adapter is easier to install. What you need to do is just plug the power adapter into LED light strip. Usually a power adapter can power one to two strips, fit for small installation.
2. Quality power adapters are UL listed. Make sure you are buying power adapters with real UL certificate.
3. For medium to large installation, choose professional brand name power supply. LED Power supplies usually can provide power for many strips.
4. Quality power supplies and power adapters can provide full indicated amperage for continuous operation. Inferior power supplies provide less amperage than indicated. When put into continuous operation, inferior power supplies will become too hot, and usually fail in short time.
6. Voltage and Wattage of LED strip power supplies
Voltage. LED power supplies should provide proper voltage for light strips. 12V and 24V LED strips should use 12V and 24 power supplies respectively.
Wattage. Power supply should be able to provide enough power for the lights. The power or wattage needed is determined by the wattage of the light strip to be installed. Wattage calculation formula: Wattage= Length x wattage/meter. For example, if you are installing a 3.5 m light strip with 16 W/m output, the total wattage is 3.5 m x 16 W/m = 56 W.
Then we calculate the wattage of power supply needed. Rule is that power supply should not be used to its full capacity, because full load will cause too much heat and shorter lifetime for the power supply. 20% more capacity is recommended.
For example, for above installation, the power supply should be: (1+20%) x 56W = 67.2W. There is no such a power supply with this exact wattage on the market. We choose the next level of output, which is 72W. A power supply with higher than necessary output won't harm the strip lights. It will provide only necessary output needed.
LED Strip Light Installation Guide： Step by Step Installation Instruction
LED Strip Light Installation Guide： Step by Step Installation Instruction
LED strip lights have many advantages. They operate on 12V or 24V DC, a very safe low voltage. They are flexible to form various shapes of lighting design and to be able to be applied on curved surface. With thin and flat low profile body, it is unique for strip lights to create lighting without seeing the lighting fixture.
Strip lights are cuttable and linkable, and come with 3M double-sided back adhesive, making them very easy to be installed for indoor or outdoor applications. No matter for commercial or for residential, white LED strip lights are great for ambient lighting, accent lighting or tasking lighting. RGB and dream color strip lights are often used to create atmosphere. In summary, strip lights have a wide range of applications and are perfect for DIY lighting projects.
Due to the above advantages, LED strip lights have become more and more popular. Many users want to install strip lights by themselves, so they can actualize their great ideas of strip lighting. It will be easy to do so after reading our LED strip light installation guide.
This strip light installation guide includes three parts:
First part: the basic theoretical knowledge for installation. This part explains the basic principles for understanding strip light installation, and the wiring layout of LED strip lights and power supplies. It will help you have a clear plan where to put the strip lights and where to install the power supplies, etc.
Second part: the supplies and tools needed. The installation layout in the first part tells what major supplies you will need, such as how many feet of strip lights, and how many controllers and power supplies. We explain in details those major supplies in this part. This part also covers some supplies that the layout does not mention, but are nonetheless important for installation, such as LED connectors, and strip light aluminum extrusions.
Third part: the actual installation steps. We discuss the installation steps in practical order in this part. Follow us step by step for the actual work of installation, such as how to cut let strip lights, connect led strip lights to power supply, and more.
How to connect LED strip lights to power supply?
First let's take a look at the installation basic theory, so we have an understanding for the wiring relationship among light strip, LED power supply, and LED strip controller.
Simple installation
1 .Connect one LED light strip to one power supply
A simple installation would need an LED light strip, a proper power supply, and, in some cases, LED wires. Connect one end of the power supply to the low voltage 12V LED strip or 24V LED strip, and the other end to the 110V home electricity. Power supply should provide proper voltage and enough amperage for the light strip.
When connecting power supply to light strip, be sure to pay attention to the polarities(+, -). Connection between wrong polarities could damage LEDs. 12V and 24V LED strip lights are not direct wire strip lights. Do not connect them directly to the 110V electricity.
The picture below is a simple installation for one light strip and power adapter. Just need to plug DC male connectors into the female, don't need any other connectors. As long as it plugs in, you don't need to worry about the + or - polarity.
2. Connect two LED light strips to one power adapter
One power adapter can provide power to two light strips. You only need a two-way power splitter to connect to the two light strips. Please note the light strip wattage cannot exceed the output of the LED strip light adapter. A power adapter is usually under 120W. So each light strip can be 50W at most.
3. LED Strip light installation with controller.
3-1. Install single color strip lights using LED dimmer.
To adjust the brightness level for single color LED strip lights, you need to use an LED dimmer, which is placed between light strip and power supply. Single color strip lights include white, red, green, blue, UV black etc.
LED dimmer is sometimes called LED switch controller. Most controllers can be operated with a remote. Some controllers have control buttons or keys on them as well. As usual, it is important that voltage and max amperage are proper for the strip lights.
3-2. Install tunable white LED strips using tunable white LED controllers
Tunable white strip lights require a tunable white LED controller. Both warm white and cool white LED nodes are surface-mounted on tunable white strips. Tunable white LED controller tunes the relative brightness level of warm white and cool white nodes, the mixture of which generates white light of various color temperatures.
Tunable white controller installation is similar to a dimmer, except for that it has one more negative channel.
3-3. How to connect RGB LED strip to power supply?
RGB LED controller is required for RGB LED strip lights to work. RGB controllers take control of color management for RGB strips, including color selection and change, color-changing modes, as well as the brightness level. To install RGB strip lights, you also need a proper power supply. Similarly, you would need a RGBW controller for RGBW strip lights to work.
Large installation: how to connect multiple LED strips to one power supply.
In above picture, two tunable white LED strips are installed continuously and connected to one power supply through a controller. The power is provided through two feed points. It is installed this way because voltage drop along the light strip would make the rear part of the light strip not as bright as the front part.
Due to the voltage drop phenomenon, strip lights are designed to a maximum operating length when powered from one end. 12V strip lights run up to 16.4ft (5m). 24V version can be 16.4ft (5m) or 32.8ft (10m), depending on its wattage of unit length. To put in other words, the length of a light strip is related to its designed voltage, current, and wattage.
Two major factors that determine the maximum operating length of LED strip light
1. Voltage drop. Most commonly seen strip lights operate on constant voltage. Voltage drop exists on the light strip from beginning to the end, and accumulates along the strip.
A light strip works fine before the voltage drop adds up to a threshold. Beyond the threshold, the brightness level of LEDs drops so much that it becomes noticeable to the naked eyes. The longer the light strip is, the larger the voltage drop.
LED strip lights with constant current devices resolve the voltage drop issue, to certain degrees. The constant current devices maintain the current steady for LEDs along the strip, so the strips can run 10m or 20m long. The type of strip lights are referred to as current controlled strip lights, or constant current strip lights. But even this type of strip lights cannot exceed certain operating length due to the factor below.
2. Electric current overload. Electric current adds up along the light strip because LED strip segments are designed to operate on parallel circuits. One segment is a cuttable unit. The flexible print circuit(FPC) board is designed for electric current up to a limit.
If the lights strip is too long(the segments are too many), the current will add up to exceed the current limit that the FPC board can handle, causing current overload. Current overload will cause too much resistive heating and hence the LED strip damage. This is also why 12V strip lights are made for 16.4ft(5m) in length.
Our current controlled strip lights are also designed up to the length under which the strip can safely handle the current. The reel being sold is in the maximum length that can be installed for a continuous run. If you want to install longer than the designed maximum length, extra electricity feed points would be needed.
Therefore, our recommendation is to provide power for every 16.4ft(5m) 12V strip lights if installed continuously. Otherwise the conductors on the light strip will be adversely impacted by too large current flow.
If you install 12V LED strips up to 32.8ft(10m), the power can be provided from the middle point, in such a way that the light strip runs within the 16.4ft(5m) limit on both directions. Use LED wire with larger current rating for this installation.
How to set up LED strip lights?
Here we'll explain how to set up LED strip lights for the situations where 16.4ft(5m) and 32.8ft(10m) strips are used for installation. The setup or layout of installation is checked against the 16.4ft or 32.8ft rule. The rule states: when powered from one side, a 12V or 24V light strip cannot continuously run longer than 16.4ft or 32.8ft. Beyond that point, the light strip will have issue of less bright LEDs and current overload on the strip.
But indoor indirect lighting projects often requires installation of light strips longer than 16.4ft or 32.8ft. For example, a 15ft x 15ft (4.5mx4.5m) room has a perimeter of 59ft(18m).
How to set up LED strip lights for this room? Some useful wire layout methods can resolve this issue. A common installation practice is to use room corners as power feed points, no matter it is to install an extra power supply or to extend power cords from the existing power supply.
Why use room corners? It is because in most cases, LED strip lights cannot turn 90 degrees by themselves at room corners, and must be cut and connected by way of soldering or using solderless LED connectors.
How to wire LED strip lights.
The below examples for layout LED strip light installation illustrate how to wire LED strip lights in different ways. The wire setup for LED strip lights explained in the examples below can be utilized as setup guide or rules and with adjustment, be used for installation for projects or rooms with different layouts.
Because the unit of power wattage for many strip lights is specified in w/m, for your convenience, we provide units in both foot and meter. The conversion rate is 1 meter = 3.28 feet.
1. A room measured 15ft x 15ft (4.5m x 4.5m). High lumen output 24V LED strip lights, 5.5w/ft (18w/m).
The use of LED strip lights at ceilings as indirect lighting is an aesthetic design of main lighting for a room. Usually indirect main lighting uses strip lights of high output. It is important to plan installation in such a way that every side is under the length limit of 16.4ft(5m).
For the 15ft x 15ft (4.5m x 4.5m) room, we connect four LED wires to a controller, and extend one LED wire to each corner of the room, with each wire connected to a 15ft(4.5m) long LED strip. This wire layout easily sets each side under the 16.4ft(5m) limit.
The current load for each LED wire is 3.44A. So the layout would use an LED controller with four output channels, with larger than 3.44A current for each channel. Our classic LED controllers of 4x5A, 4x6A, or 4x8A have enough output power and are perfect for this installation.
The strip lights we use have 5.5w/ft (18w/m) high lumen output, great for indirect main lighting for room.
Light strips connected to different channels of a controller are not to be connected together. You want to make sure that the channels of a controller do not connect one another in any way.
2. A 11.5ftx15ft (3.5 x 4.5m) room. 24V LED strip lights, medium lumen output, 3w/ft (10w/m).
This is another LED strip wire layout for indirect lighting. The strip lights have an output for 800-1000lm/m, a medium output light strip that usually requires the maximum continuous run to be less than 16.4ft(5m). We choose the light strip with 3w/ft(10w/m).
Considering the layout as 11.5ftx15ft (3.5m x 4.5m), we divide the room by the diagonal line into two sections. With a long wall 15ft and a short wall 11.5ft, each section has a total length of 26.5ft(8m), which is longer than 16.4ft(5m). So we feed the strip lights from the corner where long and short walls meet. The maximum length of light strip powered from one side is 15ft along the long wall, less than 16.4ft(5m).
In the above wire layout, each power feed point has a current load 1.44A+1.88A=3.32A. Current load for the whole installation would be 2 x 3.32A=6.64A. We choose a classic controller of 1 x 8A output. The controller has one channel, which can be connected with two LED wires from the two feed points. Or we can use a block terminal to connect both LED wires.
3. A room with irregular layout. The perimeter is 82ft(25m) in total, as below. Use 24V RGB LED strip lights, medium output, 3.66w/ft (12w/m).
With this irregular layout, we are going to plan a classic large installation RGB strip lights. The strip is 24V, with 3.66w/ft (12w/m) medium output. The maximum continuous run for this light strip is designed at 32.8ft(10m).
As illustrated in the wiring layout above, we power the strip lights from three feed points: A, B, and C, with each side has a length of 15ft(4.5m), 24.6ft(7.5m), 24.6ft(7.5m), and 18ft(5.5m). None of them exceed the designed length of 32.8ft(10m).
Because RGB LED wires are 4pin, we can split each channel of the RGB controller by using splicing connectors or terminal block connectors. Four harnesses of 4pin RGB wire cable are extended from the splicing connectors and placed at the three feed points, with two harnesses being placed at point B and one harness at point A and C.
Choose the right RGB controller. It is important to calculate the largest current load at the feed points. Point B has the largest current load, 3.75A for each wire harness. Therefore, controllers of 4x5A, 4x6A, or 4x8A would work for the installation with no issue.
Second Part: The Supplies and Tools Needed for LED Strip Light Installation.
In this part we discuss the supplies and tools needed for LED strip light installation, including light strips, power supply, LED controller, LED connectors and wires. Strip light aluminum extrusion profile is optional for strip light heat management. Tips and guidance are provided for choosing supplies. You can refer to their respective categories for more detailed information on the supplies.
1. Choose LED strip lights(single color, tunable white, RGB, RGBW, RGB+CCT etc.)
Whether it is for living room, kitchen, office or commercial spaces, LED strip lights now can provide pleasant lighting for anywhere. The little LEDs can not only provide accent lighting for an area, but also can light the whole room beautifully. Modern LEDs are absolutely bright enough for any projects.
There are many factors to be considered before buying LED strip lights. For white light strips, you need choose color temperature, brightness, CRI etc. For colored light strips, there are red, green, blue, or multi-color changing RGB, RGBW, RGB+CCT, etc. How to choose the best strip light for your project, please refer to the article in the strip lights category.
2. 12V, 24V power supplies, including power adapter and switch power supply.
LED power supply is also interchangeably called LED driver, or LED transformer. Power supplies are connected to the 110V home electricity and provide LED strip lights with 12V or 24V DC power. A proper power supply should have not only proper voltage(12V or 24V) and current output, but also enough wattage to be able to power the light strips.
In order to choose a proper LED strip light power supply, the wattage of the strip lights to be installed is calculated first.
Formula: Strip light wattage = strip light length x wattage/meter.
The power usage of the LED strips to be installed equals LED strip's length times wattage per unit length. For example, for a 5m 24V LED light strip, 10w/m, what power supply should we use? The answer is 60W.
The power usage for the LED strip is 5m x 10w/m = 50W. But, power supply is not supposed to be used in full load. Usually a 15-20% more capacity should be set aside. So the power supply should be 50w*1.2=60W.
LED strips work on direct current(DC), so only DC power adapter or power supply can be used. AC to AC power transformers are not appropriate. They will destroy LED strips.
3. LED controller.
LED controller can adjust brightness level, and manage LED colors. As discussed, LED controllers are optional for single color strip lights, but are required for tunable white, RGB and RGBW strip lights.
Do not underestimate the importance of matching capacities of different electrical parts when installing strip lights. Some users connect too long strip lights on a simple LED controller. It will damage the controller. Please use the formula below to calculate the current drawn by strip lights:
Current in amperage(A) = Total wattage of LED strips connected(W) / Voltage(V)
For example, if a 18w/m RGBW LED strip is installed for 25m long, the total power adds up to 450W(when all colors and white LEDs are on full brightness). 450W divided by 24V, the current is 19A, which is almost 5A for each channel(R ,G ,B ,and W)! For a simple controller, the current would be too large.
4. LED strip connector and LED wire.
Choose the right solderless LED connectors according to the type and width of your LED strips. There are two important specifications when choosing LED strip connectors.
One specification is the number of the conductor pins of the connector. LED strip light installation commonly uses light strips that are single color(2 pin), tunable white(dual white, 3 pin), RGB(4 pin), and RGBW(5 pin). So LED connectors also have 2 pin, 3 pin, 4 pin, and 5 pin.
The other specification is width. The width for commonly seen LED connectors is 8mm, 10mm, and 12mm. For the width of waterproof LED strip connector, please read the specification carefully to see what the matching width of LED strips.
When buying LED connectors, make sure the number of pins and the width match those of the LED strip. Otherwise the connectors won't work. LED connectors are suitable for both 12V and 24V LED strip lights.
Common LED types include 3528, 2835, 2216, and 5050. Although LED types are different, the strip light wiring method is similar. So, the connectors are the same for LED strips of different LED types.
During strip light installation, there are many types of connections, including strip to strip connection, strip to power supply connection, strip to controller, controller to power supply connection, etc. In general, we connect through two methods: by soldering or by using solderless LED connectors.
Using solderless LED connectors. Due to the rapid development of LED strip lights, solderless LED connectors have made fast advancement accordingly. As of today, solderless LED connectors are able to help you complete most projects.
Different connectors are developed to assist you in fast installation of different strip lights. Quality connectors will establish steady and long-lasting connection, without worry about loose or falling off.
For more information on how to choose LED connectors and LED wire, please refer to the LED connector category.
By soldering. If you consider soldering, it would be great as well. Solder connections are permanent, providing perfect bridge for current flow. It is not that hard to solder LED strips and wires. The tools, parts and materials for solder job can be easily found. With a little practice, you will be able to establish the best solder connection.
For more information on how to choose LED connectors and LED wire, please refer to the LED connector category.
By soldering. If you consider soldering, it would be great as well. Solder connections are permanent, providing perfect bridge for current flow. It is not that hard to solder LED strips and wires. The tools, parts and materials for solder job can be easily found. With a little practice, you will be able to establish the best solder connection.
It is also important to choose LED wire, which will make your installation smooth and fast. Quality LED wire should meet your installation needs, and have satisfying features such as enough current rating, well-insulated, fire resistant etc.
5. Aluminum extrusion profile for LED strip light installation.
LED Aluminum profile is optional for installing LED strip lights. It has many advantages to use aluminum profile for strip lights.
Serve as a heat sink for better strip light heat management.
Works as a mounting bridge providing better mounting surface for strip light installation.
Provide better light diffusion through diffuser cover.
Protect LED strips from dust, impact, etc.
Like any LED lights, LED strip lights generate heat during operation. LED is sensitive and overheat will cause decrease in its brightness as time goes by. Especially for development in recent years, LED strip lights have developed higher output models to meet different needs of application. These strip lights are in special need for better heat management.
To avoid overheat, all high output LED strip lights are recommended using cooling system. Anodic oxide aluminum is the best choice. Not only it cools down LED strips, but also its anodic oxide film can prevent possible short circuits incidentally caused by any bare metal on LED strips.
6. Typical list of supplies and tools for strip light installation.
LED strip lights.
Power supplies or power adapaters.
LED controllers or LED dimmers.
LED connectors.
LED wire, cable, wire nuts.
Measuring tape.
Wire strippers.
Black electrical tape.
Sharp scissors.
Screw drivers.
Third Part: The Actual Steps of LED Strip Light Installation.
In this part we explain the actual steps of installing LED strip lights. The steps discussed include prepare mounting surface, measure and cut light strip, connect strips together, connect strips to controllers and power supplies, etc. It covers the practical installation knowledge as well as common mistakes to avoid.
Step 1. Test supplies to be installed.
Before installation, it is recommended testing the supplies including LED strips and controllers. The test assures that the strip lights is ready and functional, the color and color temperature are what you want, the LED controllers work well and can bring up the lighting effects you want.
Step 2. Prepare mounting surfaces.
Well-prepared mounting surfaces will facilitate fast and secure mounting of strip lights. To obtain optimum adhesion, the mounting surfaces or bonding surfaces must be clean dry and well unified. Surface preparation includes removing dirt, oil, and other contaminates.
A typical surface cleaning solvent is isopropyl alcohol(IPA) based solution, 70% IPA and 30% water. For oily substrate, use acetone instead of IPA. Use proper safety precautions for handling solvents. Apply adhesion primer to promote stronger bond. In some cases, abrading the substrate surface can help remove oil layers and other contaminates. While waiting for the prepared surfaces to dry, we can continue onto next steps.
Step 3. Measure length.
Previously, in the first part when planning layout of strip light installation, you may have measured the total length of light strips needed. Now we need measure the length for each leg of installation. As mentioned before, most times the strip lights need to be cut where it makes turns. Take notes of your measurements as you will need them when cutting LED strips later.
Step 4. How to cut LED strip lights?
Cutting LED strips is the easiest thing. Anyone who can use a pair of scissors can do it. Cutting lines are marked by each cuttable segments on LED strips. Most common LED strip lights can be cut every three or six LEDs.
Our 5050 white strip lights are specially designed to be cuttable in very short increments, every LED or every two LEDs. The short cutting increments are perfect for accurate length of installation.
Cutting should be exactly along the cutting line, which ensures both cutting ends of the strip have enough size of copper pads. Copper pads work as soldering base for soldering connection, or as connection points for solderless LED connectors.
As you cut, you can clearly see the electrical polarity marks + and - for single color strip lights. For tunable white, RGB and RGBW strip lights, the marks are usually positive mark + and color marks, G(Green), R(Red), B(Blue), WW(Warm white), CW(Cool White). The color marks are negative polarities.
+ and - on single color LED strip lights
+ and color marks on RGB LED strip lights
Step 5. How to connect LED strip lights together?
Connect linkable LED strip lights mainly for making 90 degree turns or straight strip to strip connections. 90 degree turn connections are common for corner installation.
1. Fast solderless LED connectors. LED strip lights can be fast connected using solderless connectors. To use LED strip to strip connectors:
Loose the lock pad on the connector.
Peel off a small section of the release liner film of 3M tape on the back of light strip.
Insert the light strip end into the connector, making sure the copper pads of the strip line with the conductor pins of the connector.
Close the lock pad to secure the connection between the strip and connector.
2. Repeat the above steps to connect another strip on the other end of the connector. Please make sure the polarities match correctly for light strip and connector. Wrong polarity connection can cause damage to strip lights and connectors.
3. Where light strips need to make turns, don't twist LED strip. If there is trouble making turns, it is better to cut off the light strip and use flat and short LED connectors to make turn connections.
4. Soldering is sometimes necessary to connect strip lights together, especially when there is difficulty using solderless connectors. When you cannot find a suitable connector, you can make a professional connection by soldering. Solder connection is more aesthetic.
5. Specialty waterproof strip connectors are designed for quick connecting waterproof strip lights(IP65, IP67, IP68).
Step 6. How to connect LED strips to power supply?
For single color strip lights, you can connect LED strips to power supply directly, connecting V+ to V+, V- to V-. Must pay attention and correctly match the electrical polarities. Wrong polarity connection can destroy the strip lights. Optionally, an LED dimmer can be place between LED strip and power supply to adjust strip brightness level.
It is easier to connect power adapter to LED strip. Both have a coaxial DC connector. Just plug the male DC connector with female DC connector. For more information on how to connect power adapter to light strip, please refer to the power adapter category.
Connect RGB LED strip to RGB controller.
RGB LED strips must operate with the help of RGB controller, which takes care of the color management function. Connecting RGB strip lights to controller can be done in different ways, depending on the type of RGB controller.
One type of controllers have wire connecting terminals, marked with +, G(green), R(red), B(blue), similar to the marks on RGB strip lights. In this case, wire the RGB LED 4 pin cable to the terminals, positive wire to terminal +, G wire to terminal G, R wire to terminal R, and B wire to terminal B. Then we connect RGB controller to power supply by power cable or DC connector. The positive cable of power supply connects with positive input terminal on the controller, and the same with negative connection.
Another type of RGB controllers have 4 pin connectors. Its connection with RGB strip lights is easy, by joining the 4 pin connectors on the controller with the 4 pin connector on light strip together.
How to connect LED strip lights in series?
LED strip lights are designed to run continuously up to a certain limit due to voltage drop and current load issues. This limit put challenges for connecting LED strip lights in series to achieve longer installation. In former parts we create some example wiring layouts to work around the issues. Now we have a look at the actual wire connections.
We use RGB strip light installation as example because it is the most complicated among the strip light installations. RGB strip lights are set to run 16.4ft(5m) or 32.8ft(10m). For longer RGB strip light installation, RGB LED amplifiers are used to amplify control signals. Below are wiring illustrations for installation with RGB controller and amplifier.
How to Install LED Strip Lights?
How to Install LED Strip Lights?
If you want to decorate your rooms or make them look different, LED light strips are a good choice. Led strip lights can be used in a wide range of places, indoor and outdoor. And it has various advantages, energy-saving, environmentally friendly, safe, and easy to operate.
Today we will take you to understand the led light strip installation. Hope this article can help you.
• LED lights with indoor applications: ceilings, corridors, kitchens, bedrooms, cabinets, bathrooms, stairs, etc.
• Outdoor applications of led light strips: gardens, parks, building outlines, advertising signs, outdoor steps, roads, swimming pools, etc.
Adhesive installation for IP20 and IP65 led strip lights
Led strip light has a 3M adhesive backing, bringing great convenience to the installation. You can also apply a adhesive tape to the strip light by yourself if it supports.
Installing led strip lights with adhesive is much simple. You just need to peel off the adhesive tape and press the led strip to the place where you want to install.
However, you should pay attention to keeping the installation surface clean, so as not to affect the installation effect and prevent the led strip light from falling off.1. How to choose the right led tape?
Although the led light strips have a adhesive backing, different adhesive tapes have different functions.
The backing of the led strip light is attached with adhesive, suitable for most working environments. For complicated installation, you need to choose a spacial suitable led tape.
►Blue adhesive (glass fibre cloth thermal conductive double-sided adhesive) is heat-resistant and can be used for high power led strip lights.
►Yellow glue (double-sided adhesive) has good durability, high temperature resistance, strong adhesion, waterproof, and is generally used indoors. It is suitable for wood, paint and many plastics and fabrics.
►The red glue (dark gray acrylic glue) is more viscous it is a solid foam and completely extruded to achieve seamless connection with the wall. It is used for waterproof led light strips.
►Transparent silicone sealant organic solvent has neutral, non-corrosive, non-polluting, anti-aging and electrical insulation properties. After the rubber is cured, it has good adhesion to metals and most plastics, and has excellent resistance to alternating cold and heat.
Check if there is something special about your led strip lighting. DC low voltage or AC high voltage? Do you want to use it indoors or outdoors? Do you want to install with a light diffuser? Find your answer according to the characteristics of different adhesives.
2. Can non-waterproof led strip lights be installed outdoor?
Led strip light with the low-profile LED channel has a very high degree of design freedom and strong decoration, and it is widely used in various creative designs. Suitable for ceiling, cabinet, kitchen, furniture and exhibition.
The role of the led aluminum profile is to protect led strip lights from external force damage. It has greater heat dissipation, no light spot, and provide better and uniform LED lighting. The led strip light is inside and it has a good dustproof effect.
If you want to put the led light strip to outdoor use, you have to choose waterproof led light strips placed in the LED aluminum channel, or choose the waterproof led light channel series. And you can also choose the flex LED neon tube which is IP67 waterproof rating to installed with your led strip lighting.
Mounted clip installation for IP67 and IP68 light strips
Why IP67 and IP68 led light strips don’t use adhesive? IP67 and IP68 are waterproof led strip lights, they are too heavy and teh adhexive backing is difficult to support the weight.
Using mounting clips to install waterproof led strip lights is more reliable than adhesive. And the installation is easy too.
Step 1. Fix the led strip.
Step 2. Put the mounting clip, the location of the clip is up to you.
Step 3. Tighten the screw with a screwdriver.
In conclusion
Installing led strip lights successfully can bring you a great sense of accomplishment. You can choose adhesive installation, mounting clip installation, led profile linear installation, and flex silicone led tube installation.
Adhesive installation
Mounting clip installation
LED aluminum profile installation
Flex silicone led tube installation
For IP20 and IP65 led strips
For IP67 and IP68 led strips
For all IP rating led strips
For IP20 and IP65 led strips
Easy installation
Stable and reliable installation
1. Linear and uniform light diffusion
2. Protect led strips
3. Dissipate LED heat
1. Soft light diffusion
2. Great flexibility
3. Outdoor waterproof
Each installation method has the characteristics of each installation method. If you don’t know how to choose which installation method, compare their respective characteristics and your needs to get your answer.
