LED strips allow us to personalize our rooms, furniture and decorations in a simple way. There are many models depending on our needs: from the simplest ones that only give white light to the most complex strips with RGB systems and compatibility with intelligent voice assistants. If you are looking for information on which strip to buy for each case, or you need help to install one in your home , keep reading, because you are in the right place.
How can I use an LED strip?
There are several ways to use an LED strip. The most common are these two:
Setup decoration
This may end up getting old badly, but these days, you don’t have a good studio without a few colored lights . LED strips can improve your room both at a decorative and personalization level and at an ergonomic level as diffused light behind your computer screen. There are many possibilities: from illuminating your shelves or your table to even placing strips inside your computer case.
indirect light
Whether used decoratively or not, LED strips are always used as indirect lighting . If we do not bounce the light or it reaches our eyes directly, the LED strips will generate an ugly and even quite aggressive light for the eyes.
You can place LED strips under (or behind) the furniture , inside a showcase to highlight what you keep inside, on or under a shelf or behind a screen . This last case is one of the most commonly used. It is much more comfortable to look at the television at night if we have a diffuse light source behind it than to look at it without this type of light. If you are handy, you can even make your own Ambilight system with an LED strip and little money.
What should I take into account when buying an LED strip?
- White or Color – There are white strips, RGB strips, and even single color strips. The simpler, the cheaper.
- Control : Even the simplest white strip allows you to control the brightness. It can be done using a remote control or with commands from a smart speaker, although in these cases, you will have to invest a little more money.
- LED Type – Each LED model has a specification (SMD). Depending on the type of SMD you choose, you will have a strip capable of making more or fewer colors, as well as your installation will have better or worse energy efficiency.
- Resistance : a strip installed on your desk will not be the same as one designed for outdoors or for a bathroom. Each manufacturer has its recommendations regarding resistance to humidity and water.
- Extension : In general, you will almost always be able to cut or extend your strips to make the perfect setup. But there are exceptions. Find out well before making the purchase.
- Ecosystem : there are very complete strips that can be associated with other services such as music or your computer to change their colors depending on the content you are enjoying.
Best LED strips
Philips Hue Bluetooth Smart Lightstrip Plus – The smart LED strip
Philips lighting products are not cheap, but they are outstanding. This strip measures two meters and is capable of giving 1,800 lumens of intensity. It can be cut to your liking and is expandable up to 10 meters . They have their own adhesive and adapt very well to any wall.
This Philips strip is compatible with Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit via Bluetooth, and can add to your smart home ecosystem as well as sync with your music or gaming system.
Govee LED TV Strip – Smart “Ambilight”
If you’ve always wanted an Ambilight system , but don’t have a Philips TV, this strip from Govee is just what you’re looking for. Although there are quite a few tutorials to build a system of this type, this product allows you to mount your own colored backlight without the need to program anything.
Basically the strip is paid to the back of the TV. On the panel we will place a small camera that will record the color changes to reflect them on the wall. Of course, it is compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant .
Govee LED strip 10 meters – the affordable option
This strip is sold in 5 and 10 meter formats , but we will save a lot of money if we get the latter. This is a basic color strip with six different scene modes and remote control .
This model is one of the best sellers on Amazon and is a good option if you do not have a smart speaker to control them.
In case you want to use Alexa to turn on, turn off or change the colors of your LED strip, there is a model that includes compatibility with Google Assistant and Alexa for a little more price:
Lepro – The best option if you are looking for a white LED strip
If you are not interested in colors, then look for a white LED strip. In general, these types of strips have color temperatures between 3,000 and 6,000 Kelvin. If you are only looking for cold white or warm white, you can get a strip that does not allow you to regulate the temperature and thus save a few euros.
However, this Lepro model allows you to regulate the temperature and intensity for a very interesting price. It’s not smart, but you can pair it with a smart plug to control power on and off. This strip is quite interesting to place in a kitchen.
How is an LED strip placed?
LED strip layout
Unlike a light bulb, LED strips are usually installed slightly hidden. In general, it is not ideal to use them to give direct light , but to project diffuse light on a surface.
Ideally, stick the strip to the back of a piece of furniture and avoid direct light. If we are going to place the strip inside a showcase, we will stick the strip on the shelves so that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. If we are going to place it on our desk or on the TV cabinet, we will stick it in such a way that it projects the light towards the wall . In this way, we will get that soft and pleasant colored light that will mainly serve so that our eyes do not tire so quickly while using a screen.
Place several LED strips together
Unless you buy a closed kit, LED strips can be extended as long as the power supply allows it .
Just as we can cut a strip from a point, we can also splice them, as long as we respect the polarity. They can be joined by soldering, using a soldering iron or with a splice tab for LED strips , which is the ideal solution. There are many models depending on the number of pins your strips have, and they are really cheap.
Adhesives for LED strips
Many LED strips come with their own adhesive. However, it may happen that, in certain positions, the glue is not strong enough to support the weight of the strip.
If this is your case, the first thing you need to do is invest in a quality double-sided tape . In addition, you can facilitate the installation by passing a bit of sandpaper over the surface —only if it is possible and we are not going to destroy it, of course—. Also, it is quite important to clean the surface with isopropyl alcohol before applying the adhesive.
Install an LED strip like a pro
If your goal is to make a more ambitious installation, the ideal is to use aluminum profiles to install the strips. You can install them on the skirting board if you want to place the lights at ground level or in the angle between ceiling and wall or wall and wall.
With the aluminum profiles you will achieve a much more professional and personalized installation. They significantly raise the final price of the assembly, but it is a long-term investment, because, even if the LED strip ends up being damaged, in the future you will be able to reuse the profiles.