Saturday 09 December, 2017 |

Buying LED Strip lights at ledstripcabinet

Now that we have gone over some of the basics of buying LED strip lights, it is time to take a look at the specific strips we carry. In the rest of the post I will go over each strip in order to help you decide what strip is best for your application. This is the most important section of this post as it will help you find the strips best for your needs and will have all the info you need to set them up and complete your project.

We’ve got two types of these strips, Standard Density and High Density. The density basically means the LEDs per length. Standard density gives a softer, more dim accent light where the high density doubles that for those applications that need brighter light. If you’re still debating on which one is for you, read below for a full description of both.

Standard Density LED Flex Strips

Our best selling strip is great for accent lighting both indoors and outdoors as it has a clear layer of Cut Lines for LED Flex Stripssilicone over the LEDs and components to waterproof the strip. This flexible LED strip comes with 3M double sided adhesive backing for easy installation in tight places as it is just 10mm wide and 3mm tall. We sell these strips in 3 ft. increments up to 16.4 feet but they can actually be cut every 4 inches along the cut lines for more custom and accurate measurements.

These led strips have nine 5050 SMD LEDs per foot (30/meter) that come in warm white, neutral white, cool white, red, yellow, green, blue and RGB. Their lumen outputs are as follows:

As you can see from the pictures below, these whites give off great light for accent and cove lighting whereas the colors are great for adding a cool color effect to your space. The colors aren’t meant for bright lights but more for bars or game rooms to add a small amount of colored light to really add to the ambiance of the room.

These strips DO NOT require a driver as they have built in resistors so that is sure to save you some money. All they need in order to run is a 12VDC power supply. We have many switching power supplies on our site in a variety of sizes for projects both big and small. In order to calculate the total wattage you would be using know that these strips run at 2.2 Watts/foot (7.2/meter). Take note that for these strips there is a voltage drop so you cannot run these strips in series (daisy chained together) longer than 32 feet. If you have longer lengths you will have to either add another power supply or run a length of wires back to the power supply so you run the extra length in parallel.

The standard density flex strips are for you if you are working in tight spaces and would like some indirect or accent lighting. They are not as bright as the High Density Strips so they are perfect for applications where you might not want a really bright light. They are great for ceiling coves, bookshelf lighting, under the dash lighting for your vehicle and many other applications. The easy installation, great price point and low wattage are key advantages these have over our other strips as you can build a pretty low cost system that doesn’t use much electricity and gives off a great quality light. If you need more light from them, or want to use these as a main source of light for a space you will want to look below at our High Density Strips.

High Density LED Flex Strips

The High Density LED Flex Strip has all the same qualities as the standard density: a waterproof silicone layer, 3M adhesive backing, 10mm wide by 3mm tall and they are available in 3 foot increments. They actually can be cut to even more precise measurements once you get them as they have cut lines every 2 inches compared to the standard density which can only be cut every 4 inches. We do not offer the high density strip in as many colors but still provide our warm white, neutral white, cool white, red, blue and RGB options. The biggest difference, however, is the number of LEDs on the strip which in turn affects wattage, voltage drop and the technical specifications of the strip.

The high density strips have double the amount of LEDs, 18 per foot (60/meter). Remember how we talked earlier about how the higher LEDs per foot means a more steady, high quality light? That is what the high density strip gives you over the standard, tighter LED spacing. This will not only make for a steadier light but also a much brighter light. These strips provide a 45% increase in lumen output as they give off 360 Lumens/foot (1080/meter). That is a pretty significant increase for those projects that need more light.

These strips run off of 12VDC as well but the increase in LEDs makes the wattage increase over the standard density. These strips run about 3.7 watts per foot (12/meter), so you will have to account for that when picking a power supply to run them. The voltage drop is also greater among these strips so unlike the standard density strips where you can run about 32 feet in series, for these high density strip lights you can only run 16.4 feet (1 reel) in series. This just means you will have to plan out where you want to put your power supply or how you will run lengths back to the power supply if you go over the 16.4 feet. You’ll find sometimes it helps to place the power supply in the middle of your application so that you can run lengths in two different directions.

These strips are a significant upgrade from the standard density if you are looking for more light output. They are double the price but you will definitely get your moneys worth for the quality of light. These are mainly for those applications that have higher ceiling coves and you need more light or if you are actually trying to use these as a main source of light in a specific area. I’m pretty sure you will have no problem with the light output and will probably even want one of the dimmers below in case they are too bright.

by Aaron

News for Wednesday 06 December, 2017

• Your Ultimate Guide on Buying Flexible LED Strip Lights

View all news for Wednesday 06 December, 2017 on one page

Recent News

• Tuesday 05 December, 2017
• Sunday 03 December, 2017
• Friday 01 December, 2017
• Thursday 30 November, 2017
• Wednesday 29 November, 2017

News archive