I'm in a bit of a DIY home improvement mood. I'm setting up my daughters room and want to make it less boring. I picked up a bed with lots of storage and that can extend when we have guests. I'm thinking about running an RGB light switch behind it. There is a plug near the left read corner. Would it look better with a single strip on the rear or one that wraps around the three side. How do I tell good from crap strips, any advice? It is better to buy a package, or a roll of light strip and other parts separate. How well do the light strips handle right angles? Bias lighting - 42" TV I've seen this in some videos and watched a few reviews of products that connect to the USB port on the back of the TV. Is it a gimmick, annoying or improvement? Should I go RGB or with a 6500k white light? Kitchen cabinet. I would not mind putting some LED lights under the kitchen cabinets. It looks better, lights the room and is great for grabbing a drink at night. Is there anything I need to watch out for? Would this work well with a motion sensor, is it easy to set up? Yes, I could go with a smart system but they are very expensive. I may invest in some Xiaomi products in the Yeelight line the next time I'm in China but for now, I'm looking for a budget solution to make my home more comfortable and less boring.
You can buy 5m rolls of RGB led strips on eBay for under £20 that come with a controller and a remote control too. Definitely give that a go before you splash out on something pricier. The main issue for me is brightness. It can be distracting (for the TV) if it's too bright. I built myself simple pwm circuits to control the colour range and brightness, and they work great.
You can also knock up an arduino to control RGB strip of various flavours relatively easily, if that tickles your fancy.
I can find a set on ebay that has a controller with a dimmer. I don't need an overly sophisticated controller, but how do I tell the difference between quality and crap light strips. I want the strip to have uniform brightness, no dead LEDs and to not dim after a few months. Are they all 5050 stips pretty similar or is their a noticeable difference when paying more?
You can also hax a philips hue lightstrip controller to drive off the shelf lightstrips - hue gives you slick control and integration, 3rd party strip means it's not a million pounds, win on both sides
LED Dimensions Chip Surface Area Lumen Flux Power Draw 3528 LED 3.5 mm x 2.8 mm 9.8 mm² 6-8 lumens 20-30 mA @ 2.8-3.4 Volts 5050 LED 5.0 mm x 5.0 mm 25 mm² 16-22 lumens 60 mA @ 2.8-3.4 Volts 5630 (5730) LED 5.6 mm x 3.0 mm 16.8 mm² 45-50 lumens 150 mA @ 2.8-3.4 Volts some useful information Link It seems I can also get non-waterproof IP20/65/67/68
I'm looking into the Yeelight Lightstrip and lightbulbs, but that won't be in my budget for a while longer. I wouldn't mind doing some with motion sensors though.
I definitely included some detailed of what I done in my project log, starting here - https://forums.bit-tech.net/index.p...vation-project-log.276519/page-9#post-3728364
That answered a few questions. I noticed the standard budget strings are 30 LED per M, they also come in 60 (like the Hue) and 120, topping out at 20 for 5M of 600LED full kit. Based on the Hue, I think that 5M 300 LED IP67 Certified with RF remote for £13.99 should do the trick [Link]. It seems that I will need an L connector to make a right angle Did you have any trouble wrapping the strip around corners?
The closest I get to a corner with mine is 135deg - see ceiling here - https://i.imgur.com/Oqeq7lR.jpg If you're getting it around 90deg corners, I'd suggest a minimum bend radius no lower than ~30mm (flat). If you want to do it like the image above, you'll need the connectors. And for any other joins in strips I'd recommend the connectors as well. I soldered a few together and it was quite delicate and prone to failure, whereas the connectors have been perfect.
I would like to avoid using connectors with the two bends going around the edge of the bed. I don't mind using one for the right angle when I run the remainder of the strip to the floor.
5M 5050 SMD RGP waterproof 300 LED light strip with wifi, IR remote and 60w adapter for £21.99 (It took a long time to find) I'm guessing that it is IP65, which is good enough to protect my daughter from a shock. I think I found the same kit for £18.99 on eBay as the Prime isn't next day shipping. They also offer 10M for £21.99 which is tempting. I think this is the best budget deal for a connected RGB light strip that comes close to the Philips Hue.
Instead of making a new thread, I decided to bump this one. I ordered with Kit of 5m 5050 RGB IP65/67, I don't remember which one but it was waterproof with a thick coating on the strip that. I wrapped it around the bed in the configuration above and it looked great ... until it started peeling off, fell on the floor and was damaged. Now I have a dead light strip and I'm thinking about how I hang a new strip. I want to hang it in a very similar way without worrying about it falling off. Do I need to go with and IP65/IP67 for it to be childproof? I'm thinking that the ones with silicon tube will be much heavier and harder to manipulate. What is the best way to hang it? Hot glue gun, clip with a screw? It would be preferable to not damage the bed too noticeably. IP20 : non-waterproof. barely PCB. IP65 : Water resistant. “Protected against water jets from any angle” *Do NOT submerge IP65 LED lights, these are not waterproof. IP67 : Water resistant plus. “Protected against the events of temporary submersion (10 minutes)”*Do NOT submerge IP67 LED lights for extended periods, these are not waterproof. IP68: Waterproof “Protected against the events of permanent submersion up to 3 meters”
