Anybody knowledgable about LED strip lights?

[Snal~]

I know nothing about this kinda stuff, but here's what I'd like to do.....
We'll be using 4 x 12 wood beams to span 20' as the floor joists to the loft of our cabin build. these will be exposed to the first floor. I'd like to route out a groove in the bottom
of the beams, and run a length of adhesive backed LED lights in that groove. The light strip will then be covered with translucent white plexiglas (or ?) and trimmed with brass
angle. We're talking about 8 beams with every other beam light being on one circuit, and the other 4 on another circuit (switch).
Can anyone recommend a brand, type, candlepower, for such an application?

 

[Tim]

I have a couple clients that are LED manufacturers, I'll pick a brain tomorrow.

 

[mj1angier]

Are talking 12v or 110ac?

if 110ac, this would work for you:
http://www.lampsplus.com/products/led-warm-white-16-4-foot-tape-light-kit__3f953.html

 

[Snal~]

I have a couple clients that are LED manufacturers, I'll pick a brain tomorrow.

Thanks Tim! I'd like to have "enough" light with half of them on.....and plenty of light with all on. Ideally they would be DC powered off grid, but that's another project.

 

[Snal~]

Are talking 12v or 110ac?

if 110ac, this would work for you:
http://www.lampsplus.com/products/led-warm-white-16-4-foot-tape-light-kit__3f953.html

See my comment bellow.

 

[Short Fuse]

I have bought some dc powered ones off of amazon for uses like undercabinet lighting and disply cases but have never run more than 8 feetcat a time. They can be bought in rolls for cheap in just about any color. You just cut them to length, they are marked where to cut and clip on a connector. Very easy.

 

[Snal~]

I have bought some dc powered ones off of amazon for uses like undercabinet lighting and disply cases but have never run more than 8 feetcat a time. They can be bought in rolls for cheap in just about any color. You just cut them to length, they are marked where to cut and clip on a connector. Very easy.

Thanks! My biggest concern #1 is longevity, #2 is getting enough light. Since this is an exposed beam and board ceiling....we're trying to minimize exposed wiring/conduit associated with standard lighting.

 

[mj1angier]

I think, not sure 100%, just going by the ones I messed around with, that they all are dc and just use a transformer to use 110ac.

I got a few strips about 3 years ago off ebay out of China. I take them and hook to a small 12v sealed battery to use camping or when power goes out. I think they are 16 ft long. They give off a fair amount of light- enough to see to get around with but not bright enough for task light. Again they are 3-4 years old and I am sure the lights have made big leaps in that amount of time. I know they lasted 30 hr off 1 battery charge. We used them during one of the hurricanes

As cheap as ebay one are you can get a few to try and see what works best.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-300Leds-...427503?hash=item58d557ddef:g:~QsAAOSwJb9WsNVb.

 

[Sp00ks]

In your application I would wait on Tim response.

My experience is only with the cheap Chinese stuff. Under cabinet lighting the power supply gets hot and will shut off if not properly ventilated. We did some rope style lighting out side and they didn't last a year before the LED's started burning out.

However, i have started replacing light fixtures in the house with LED fixtures. Love the stuff. I like the quality of light, power consumption etc. You also might consider dimmers on your beam lights, just be aware there are specific dimmers for LED.

 

[Bailey Boat]

Stay away from EBay and Amazon.... cheap crap... Go to www.superbrightleds.com and you'll be happier. Great customer support and great products...

 

[bigfutz]

All LED's are ultimately DC. I would feel more comfortable with having a hefty quality power supply with built in short curcuit protection mounted somewhere convenient, then running low voltage wiring to the lights.

 

[Jp8819]

I used these people on my kitchen cabinets and workes very well and very bright about two years ago. They did offer two diffrent number of leds per foot and I ended up with the lower number and it still plenty of light to light up room and would not want it any brighter. If you want to see it I may have some left somewhere.

http://armacostlighting.com/

 

[htperry]

I have used this LED tape and industrial supply before for similar projects. You can cut the tape every 3rd LED to the length you need and solder on new power leads. This LED tape is sold by the roll. Use an industrial LED lighting power supply. All very inexpensive. Not sure if this fits your needs.

 

[Goofyfoot2001]

I have used this LED tape and industrial supply before for similar projects. You can cut the tape every 3rd LED to the length you need and solder on new power leads. This LED tape is sold by the roll. Use an industrial LED lighting power supply. All very inexpensive. Not sure if this fits your needs.

And I even like the colors. (you can do colors. Think about that when you want to get your funk on and play Roxanne.

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CeKN0ObXIAE9_pD.jpg"}[/IMG2]

 

[htperry]

And I even like the colors. (you can do colors.

I've never used the color ones, but the white are bright and easy to use.

 

[Kokopelli]

This is the way you want to go IMO.. application wise, I would want to do the install in a fashion to accommodate a easy strip replacement.. If a strip goes down you'll want it easily replaceable.. for future updates as well.. JMO

I have used this LED tape and industrial supply before for similar projects. You can cut the tape every 3rd LED to the length you need and solder on new power leads. This LED tape is sold by the roll. Use an industrial LED lighting power supply. All very inexpensive. Not sure if this fits your needs.

 

[rdinatal]

I have used this LED tape and industrial supply before for similar projects. You can cut the tape every 3rd LED to the length you need and solder on new power leads. This LED tape is sold by the roll. Use an industrial LED lighting power supply. All very inexpensive. Not sure if this fits your needs.

Do you have a URL for this company?

-R

 

[htperry]

I have used this LED tape and industrial supply before for similar projects. You can cut the tape every 3rd LED to the length you need and solder on new power leads. This LED tape is sold by the roll. Use an industrial LED lighting power supply. All very inexpensive. Not sure if this fits your needs.

You can buy the "LED tape" many places, such as eBay or Amazon. The same for the "LED lighting power supply". There are many options, so use some Google-Fu to search your specs.

Below are examples.

LED tape, 16', $10.59 US shipper
http://www.ebay.com/itm/16ft-5050-L...as-Outdoor-Waterproof-Warm-White/351845380948

12 vdc power supply $19.98
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D7CWSC...TF8&colid=39LKT1IPIKJ57&coliid=I3JIOU0AJZ3KEL

 

[bigfelipe]

I do a good bit of this stuff in bar/club lighting and kitchens. I've had bad luck with cheap stuff. Environmental Lights is the company I use. They are very helpful too. You can call them to discuss the project and they'll talk you through your needs and put a package together, even talk you through issues. These folks know their products for a change. If you were closer I'd bring over my sample and show you. I have a bunch of their stuff. I use it so much I bought some of their demo stuff to visualize ideas to clients. They sell track/trim in various shapes with covers for mounting LED tape. Might be the ticket for you... Keep it as simple as you want or go all out...

Spend a little time browsing their website. Lotta cool stuff on there...

http://www.environmentallights.com/?...SeAaAm4l8P8HAQ

 

[NicerInPerson]

Late to the party, but I did LED undercabinent and uplighting for my kitchen renovation in 2011. I used a company out of Arizona for the lights and probably could have come up with a less expensive solution on my own, but didn't know enough at the time. I used SuperBrights for task lighting above a sink and purchased an led driver off ebay to control that. I did medium brightness for the undercabinent and the lowest brightness for the uplighting. Both of those are on dimmers and used dimmable transformers which are quite expensive. I would do it differently knowing what I know now. The difference in the brightness is due to the spacing between the led elements.

This was the company I used.
http://www.inspiredled.com/

I recently did a deck renovation and got led uplights from China out of a company in Gastonia through ebay. I used their power source and purchased a remote controlled dimmer to go between the leds and the power supply. Works like a charm. Dimming after the power supply is a cinch, dimming before the power supply costs big $.

 

[Exile_D]

Stay away from EBay and Amazon.... cheap crap... Go to www.superbrightleds.com and you'll be happier. Great customer support and great products...

Also late, but we have used these guys for years at the shop and I have also used their stuff at home. Rewired three safes (one with RGB) with strips, power supplies and connectors from them. It took about 5 years (~43,800 hours) of constant "on" to start losing a few LEDs on our shop sign, which was about 30' worth. Although I do suspect many of these online retailers get their supplies from the same places, superbrightLEDs does have pretty good customer service.