LED Strip Lights
Discussion
I will need to get about 10-15 meters of those LED strip lights that create an up light effect on the walls/ceiling. The type you can change the color with a remote.
I had a quick look on ebay and there are loads on there prices from about £20, are these any good and will they light up the walls. Does anyone know what to use?
I had a quick look on ebay and there are loads on there prices from about £20, are these any good and will they light up the walls. Does anyone know what to use?
This is my supplier of all things LED: http://www.wholesaleledlights.co.uk
will be more than £20 though.
will be more than £20 though.
If you can stretch your budget, Hue is what you want, we've had it in for around 12 months and I'm always adding to it, it's brilliant.
http://meethue.com/
http://meethue.com/
Skodasupercar said:
LED ones from ebay should be fine. the SMD 5050 are brighter than the other type, but not sure if you can get the 5050 ones in colour change.
I used warm white, 400lm/m 5m for £8 for various things and well happy with the price and performance.
You can get 5050 in colour change, if fact I think they're the best type to have as the others don't do the fades quite so well.I used warm white, 400lm/m 5m for £8 for various things and well happy with the price and performance.
I bought a 5m set (5050s) of eBay with a view to adding some mood lighting to a cabinet, haven't got round to fitting them yet but seemed pretty good when I tested them. Another thing to watch with the 5050s is the number of LEDs per metre. They come in either 30 or 60, you want 60 for brightness. Better to be too bright with the option to dim.
skilly1 said:
Cut them and solder wire to go around the corner part.
Or use these if you can't be doing with soldering: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-x-Solderless-L-Shape-9...Neil - YVM said:
I have used the cheap ebay stuff several times, looked great when first installed, buy has faded badly over time. Have had to go back and replace for 2 customers. Lesson learnt, wont use the ebay stuff again. cheap but not cheerful!
I was of the impression that pretty much all the LED strips came out of the same factory in China and different retailers mark them up accordingly. It would be great to know if there are some manufacturers that are better than others and how to identify their products?No not at all, you want ones manufactured with Cree LEDs, they're the rolls Royce of LEDs and glow bright for years.
http://www.cree.com/
The problem with Chinese stuff is that they all make the same claims, it's a lottery what you get sent to you. They're good if you want cheap and cheerful, but if you looking for longevity your not going to find it.
http://www.cree.com/
The problem with Chinese stuff is that they all make the same claims, it's a lottery what you get sent to you. They're good if you want cheap and cheerful, but if you looking for longevity your not going to find it.
C0ffin D0dger said:
I was of the impression that pretty much all the LED strips came out of the same factory in China and different retailers mark them up accordingly. It would be great to know if there are some manufacturers that are better than others and how to identify their products?
I can understand why people think that. There are a lot of Chinese 'agents' who claim to be manufacturers but in reality are simply a middle man. We've had experience of these but ultimately, there is no substitute to getting on a plane and visiting the factories directly.It's very, very difficult to tell different products apart visually from pictures or even in your hand as they look so similar but I assure the differences are there and there can be many of them. For example, the 'bin' of the LED. Hi bin will ensure colour consistency and output along the whole length. Then there is source of the LED itself as has been said - CREE is a very good source but is by no means the be all and end all. Epistar, Bridgelux, Zicato are all just as good but not all of them make little chips for strip. Then there is the quality/grade of the copper used for the printed circuit board to which the LEDs are attached, the quality of the resistors and capacitors as well can vary.
Advice as always is to buy from LED specialists who actually manufacture other things rather than web sellers who are importing. The former will hopefully have their strips made to a very specific spec which they dictate (as we do). You can buy it horribly cheaply but there is a good reason for that. As I have said many times before buying cheap is to be avoided.
E36GUY said:
I can understand why people think that. There are a lot of Chinese 'agents' who claim to be manufacturers but in reality are simply a middle man. We've had experience of these but ultimately, there is no substitute to getting on a plane and visiting the factories directly.
It's very, very difficult to tell different products apart visually from pictures or even in your hand as they look so similar but I assure the differences are there and there can be many of them. For example, the 'bin' of the LED. Hi bin will ensure colour consistency and output along the whole length. Then there is source of the LED itself as has been said - CREE is a very good source but is by no means the be all and end all. Epistar, Bridgelux, Zicato are all just as good but not all of them make little chips for strip. Then there is the quality/grade of the copper used for the printed circuit board to which the LEDs are attached, the quality of the resistors and capacitors as well can vary.
Advice as always is to buy from LED specialists who actually manufacture other things rather than web sellers who are importing. The former will hopefully have their strips made to a very specific spec which they dictate (as we do). You can buy it horribly cheaply but there is a good reason for that. As I have said many times before buying cheap is to be avoided.
Sorry, thread hijack........E36GUY have sent you an emailIt's very, very difficult to tell different products apart visually from pictures or even in your hand as they look so similar but I assure the differences are there and there can be many of them. For example, the 'bin' of the LED. Hi bin will ensure colour consistency and output along the whole length. Then there is source of the LED itself as has been said - CREE is a very good source but is by no means the be all and end all. Epistar, Bridgelux, Zicato are all just as good but not all of them make little chips for strip. Then there is the quality/grade of the copper used for the printed circuit board to which the LEDs are attached, the quality of the resistors and capacitors as well can vary.
Advice as always is to buy from LED specialists who actually manufacture other things rather than web sellers who are importing. The former will hopefully have their strips made to a very specific spec which they dictate (as we do). You can buy it horribly cheaply but there is a good reason for that. As I have said many times before buying cheap is to be avoided.
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