LED strips

Your interiors to the next level with LED strips

Monday 03 October 2022

No modern interior is complete without some LED strips that provide accent lighting in just the right places. So if you're remodeling your home, be sure to include lighting, and LED strips should not be missing from this! Many corners, shelves, cove areas, or other hard-to-reach spots can benefit from accent lighting. This can be in a regular color like white or warm white, but you can also add some more color by using RGB LED strips with multiple colors. When applied correctly, these can provide a great contrast to your other lighting and be a very nice addition. By playing with the color you can get any atmosphere in your interior that you want. You can also provide all other areas in your home with LED strips, think of your terrace, garden, stairs, or for example your bathroom or attic. The possibilities are endless and you will be amazed every time by the result!

Controlling your LED lighting: some options

Your LED lighting and strips can be controlled in different ways. You can work with separate remote controls or wall panels.

However, it is also possible to use a smart home system. In many homes, such a system is already in place and has, for example, a smart thermostat or sunshade connected to it. It is possible to expand such a system to include your lighting and also control it from your smart home app. If you use a bridge, any strip can be connected to your smart home system without any problems. This ensures that you can control your smart LED strips from the same trusted app you use for your other smart devices.

Technical choices

There are many designations for LED strips and LEDs. Often, to start with, a number indicates the type of "package" the LEDs have, in terms such as 5050, 3528, or 5630. This number only says something about the size of the LEDs. For example, 3528 means that the LEDs have a size of 35 millimeters by 28 millimeters. In most cases, you can also use these designations to find out how bright the strip is, as this is the same with most suppliers. Also keep in mind the number of LEDs per meter, as this also affects the light output.

 

For example: A 5050 LED usually has a wattage of 0.2W. A 3528 LED is often 0.08W. So possibly a 5050 LED strip with 30 LEDs per meter is brighter than a 3528 strip with 60 LEDs per meter. To avoid confusion, it is always advisable to look carefully at the specifications of the LED strip and compare them. The amount of LEDs per meter also affects how diffuse the light is. So if this is an important requirement, you should select an LED strip with as many LEDs per meter as possible. For example, if you are installing accent lighting where the LED strip is placed close to a wall, or if the LED strip is placed in a profile with a diffuser hood, this is definitely important, as the light may otherwise "stain." The rule of thumb is as follows: the distance between the strip and the surface should be approximately equal to or greater than the distance between the LEDs. For example, if you place an LED strip at a distance of 2cm from the wall, it is therefore necessary to use an LED strip where the distance between the LEDs is also a maximum of 2cm, or 50 LEDs per meter or more.

Stripping LED strips yourself

You can cut an LED strip with pliers or scissors. In most cases a cable is already attached to the LED strip, but if this is not the case or if you cut off a part, it may be necessary to solder a new wire to the strip. For this you will need a soldering iron and soldering tin.

An LED strip is dimmable if an LED strip dimmer is used. It is also possible to use a dimmable transformer, these are transformers that you can simply connect to your traditional 230V wall dimmer so that the LED strip can be dimmed together with the other lighting.

Type of light color

Finally, you need to decide what the light color should be. LED strips are available in all possible colors. White or warm white, but also RGB, RGBW, RGBCCT or RGBWA. These designations respectively stand for red/green/blue, red/green/blue/white, red/green/blue/white/warm white, and red/green/blue/white/amber(yellow). With strips that can display RGB colors as well as white or warm white, you have the most possibilities, because these can be used to create soft atmospheric light, but also to display (bright) RGB colors.

 

Applications for LED strips

The spaces where you can apply LED strips are very varied. For example, do you want to enjoy your garden in the evening during the summer? Then you can use waterproof strips in the garden, the canopy, or for example in the terrace.