Having a hard time understanding which strips I should go with. I’m planning to configure something similar to what Rob describes on the hook up…
I’d like to have two separate channels (1 Inside cabinet / 2 under cabinet). However, I’m not sure what LED density I should go with ? Has anyone done something similar ? My runs are not very long with the longest being 35" (~1 meter).
Since the runs are short should I go with 60leds/m or 100leds/m ? The goal is to have a warm white the majority of the time and color change during holiday seasons to incorporate with decorations…
That was specific to those strips, but more generally I’ve seen the recommendation that if you can see it and want a “strip” then 90+ is the target. If it’s indirect then 60 LED/m is probably ok, depending on the distance from the surface, though given the short runs I’d probably go higher.
I will say that for white you probably want CCT (correlated colour temperature), so that it can be anything from cool white, through daylight, to warm white. Once you’ve experienced that you’ll not want to go back to simple single white
Looks like amazon doesn’t offer the 6812 WWA option though. I’m ok with to be honest as I only plan on using these during the evening for background lighting so warm white would fit the bill.
Does the additional LED require a separate data channel ?
I recently installed worktop light so I can share a bit experience.
do you really need rgbw? I chosen CCT stripe. I’m not sure I could achieve the same result with RGBW. Watch out, there are different warmth of W in RGBW strips. Maybe go for CCT + RGB if you need colourfull effects
light emmision: tech specs list emmision power for all colors fully lit. Which is unlikely to happen irl. For example with cct, you will use only half of emmision capabilities (if you want to maintain intensity across whole warmth range)
2… I bought COB CCT because I though it must give superbright wall of light. But it does not. Configured to 50:50 mode gives nice light. My wife said it’s enough but… then I found on other pages it has 1100lm/m (when both colors turned on for 100%). I meadured it drains 27W at the same time. So… if you need more light, chose sprips more carefully in regard of emmiting power
Do I need it ? No, probably not but since I’m going through the trouble of installing it I just figured I might as well include the RGB if ever I want to integrate them into holiday decor. The main objective is warm white for night time when main lights are off.
For the under cabinet I haven’t verified power draw but my total length is just shy of 2 meters (4 cabinets in total of approx 30" each strip) so I suspect I won’t have to worry about power injection if I go with 60LED/m with 5v.
My second zone will be inside tw cabinets with a total of 5 meter’s. This one I may have to worry about power injection but I’m considering not doing this one and including in phase 2 to keep things simple.
I mentioned power in regard of light intensity, not power draw.
Just keep it in mind to be not surprised that light you get is not bright enough. When choosing LED strips, check out their light intensity. Note spec sheets usually refers to intensity achieved by all colours lit at once.
Avoid 5V led strips for general lights. Go for 12V or 24V. 24V is better for longer strips (5m is considered as limit for 12V connected from one side of the strip). @Tinkerer did mention the reasons.
Considering RGB vs CCT. I understand your motivation. But keep in mind, main light needed to work in the kitchen is white one. Likely with warmth following dayhours (circadian light) to some extend. I’m not sure the results given by RGBW.
Thanks for the input, you’ve convinced me to change my direction here…
I’ll stick with 12V warm white either COB or FOB as it makes the most sense and less risk of not having the proper white which will be used 99% of the time. My longest run is (~1m) so 12v should be plenty. This will simplify the layout a lot not requiring ESP8266 as I’ll just control the on/off and dimming using smart switch which will be wired directly to the power supply.
Personally I would go for something 4000-4500K which is closer to daylight but still not sharp blue. Actually it’s still little yellowish. Even at night looks fresh but not disturbing.
3000K is too warm to me. It’s good for bedroom rather than for workspaces. I went for CCT just because you never sure what warmth is the one you love to work with. Also I like to apply gradual changes to the warmth during a day
But of course it’s matter of personal preferences. So chose what fits your needs best.
IMO chosen PowerSupply might be an overkill for your installation. Not that this is bad device. But it’s almost 200W while your 1m of led will take only 14W. Maybe are planning to power more strips from this single power supply.
Then maybe you figure out that pulling all those cables around is not worth buying only one device.
Consider buying several “smaller” power supplies. Note, it’s advised to ensure about 20% headroom. So if your strip draws maximum 14W so you should buy something about 17W (or bigger). OF course 14W is for one meter. The longer strip the higher power draw.
BTW while I’m buying some stuff on AliX, I bought powersuplies in local store, which is specializing in LED installations. For similar power supplies I’m getting very similar prices in local stores. But it’s not matter of price. Rather a feeling that power supply is an important/critical part of installation and should be covered by local guarantees.
I chose 3000k because that’s what we have in the ceiling for our 4" pot lights but maybe 4000k would be best for that added light during the day and can bring them down at night.
As far as P/S yes I was looking for later expansion. I plan on adding LED in two of our cabinets that have glass doors but run the power ahead of time to avoid running cables twice. Total length would be approx. 10m @ 70w per 5 meters = approx 140w total + 10% = 150w total
OK I imagine you’re fairly decided now, but I wanted to throw in my recommendation for the SK6812.
I used to do under-cabinet lighting using the WS2812B. RGB has an awful CRI, so food looked ridiculously artificial and gross. Yellow cheese became orange. Orange cheese became red. Pizza looked like acne.
Thanks,
I decided to stick to white 4000k FOB for my under cabinet to keep things simple but I plan on running 22/4 wire so I can add RGB+W for inside of the two glass door cabinets at a later time. I’ll be sure to check out your guide then!
Hi @Jonathanese and all, would you say the SK6812 being 5V provide enough power/brightness for a kitchen underlight? I was initially thinking of the 6812s but the comments above about going for higher voltage when possible left me undecided.
My plan is to achieve something like the image below, it’ll have about 3.5 meter (11.5 ft) lenght.
