LEDs (light-emitting diodes) are fast becoming the new normal in lighting. They are energy-efficient, don’t support heat, are extremely durable and can be made to light up at a very low voltage – making them perfect for residential and commercial applications.
So you want to learn how to connect led strip lights, but you don’t know where to start? Well, this guide can help you!
We’ll cover everything you need to know about led strip lighting, from materials to installation.
You can get led strip lighting in a variety of sizes, colors and light output levels. Depending on the application, you’ll need to choose a type of led strip light that’s right for your lighting needs.
Led strip lighting is a great way to add bright and warm lights to a number of different applications. You can get led strip lighting in a variety of sizes, colors and light output levels.
Depending on the application, you’ll need to choose a type of led strip light that’s right for your lighting needs.
First, let’s talk about led strip lighting and its many variations.
What is led strip lights?
Led strip lighting is a great way to add bright and warm lights to a number of different applications. You can get led strip lighting in a variety of sizes, colors and light output levels.
Depending on the application, you’ll need to choose a type of led strip light that’s right for your lighting needs.
Led strip lights are a type of LED lighting strip that is extremely popular today, and has been for many years.
These types of lights are generally used in the home, and are available in a variety of different colors and sizes.
The main advantage of these lights is the fact that they are easy to install, but top-notch quality and brightness are usually important, too.
LED strip lights are a type of lighting that is based on the traditional light bulb with the advantage of being flexible, thin, and versatile with a variety of different lighting applications.
LED strip lights are often used in garage lighting, back yard lighting, landscaping lighting, and house lighting.
LED strips are a great way to add colour to your life and allow you to control it from your smartphone, but for some users this can be a little trickier than for others.
Can You Connect LED Strip Lights Together?
A common application of LEDs is to connect them together in strips to create a decorative light source, such as a Christmas Tree or a string of lights.
Generally, the more LED strips you connect together in series the brighter the light. You can connect a number of LED strips together with the upper limit depending on the strip’s power output and your power source.
Strip lights can be connected using connectors, cables or by soldering the connection joints.
You can easily connect two LED strip lights together, considering they come in reels with marked dotted lines for cutting the strips into the size needed.
These strips can then be joined in two ways: Using connectors or soldering the strips’ copper pads. There are a lot of different ways to connect LED strips together.
Some people have used addressable LED strips with a microcontroller to make an endless loop of lights. There is also the option of using a strip multiple times to produce a bigger effect.
LEDs can be combined in different ways to produce different lighting effects.
How to wire the power supply for a single-colour LED strip?
LED strips are a great way of adding colour to your life, but if you want a strip that’s less bright than the usual red, green, blue or white, then you’re going to have to make some adjustments to your strip.
One of our most popular LED strips is the single colour strip. It’s great for those who want to give their current window light a makeover with something special, without changing the current setup.
It’s also useful for someone who wants to add a little colour to a room without changing the existing light.
There are many different ways to use LED strips: directly to the wall, under cabinets, on shelving, and of course, on the ceiling.
Since a large surface of a ceiling is not covered with a single LED strip, the route of the wires is always hidden by the other wires.
What materials do you need?
The lines between lighting and electronics are now blurring, as LED light strips are becoming a popular way to add cool lighting effects to your home.
Before you can start deciding which light strip you want, you need to figure out what size you want, where you want it, and what effects you want.
If you’re going to build stuff out of LED lights or other components, you should know how to use a tool and make sure to prepare everything before you start.
1. Soldering Iron
2. Wire Stripper
3. Combination pliers
4. Heat Shrink tube
5. Electrical Tape
6. A power supply
7. Rubber Cement
8. Screws
9. Wireless remote
10. Extension Cord
11. Led Strip Lights
12. Connectors
How to Connect LED Light Strips to Power Supply
LED strip lights can provide a lot of benefits when it comes to lighting. They are more efficient, provide more precise control options and, most importantly, are more cost effective than standard lights.
There’s a lot of ways to power your LED strip lights. You can buy a power supply or you can use your own. Then if you want you can buy an expensive multi-port strip light adapter.
Or you can go the cheap route, and just use extension cords. But if you want to turn on your LED strip lights from anywhere, then you need to rely on a power source.
A power source for LED lights are commonly known as power supplies. The best way to ensure you have enough power to power your LED strip is to use a power source with a higher wattage rating.
A 100 watt power supply has enough power to power an LED strip that is up to 4 feet long. A 250-watt power supply can power an LED strip that is up to 20 feet long.
No matter what way you choose to connect your LED lights to the power supply, there are certain steps you have to take beforehand to ensure you’re making the right decision.
1. Calculate LED Strip Wattage
You should already have an idea of how much power will be required to run your LED light tapes. However, there might be some additions or subtractions in the number after you’ve cut and connected the tapes together.
Calculate the overall wattage required to power your flexible LED light strips again.
Another consideration when calculating strip wattage is the voltage requirement for the strip. Generally, LED strips have a 12V or 24V voltage requirement.
You have to choose a power source that is compatible with the voltage of the LED light strip, otherwise, it might not work.
2. Find Compatible Power Supply
You need to choose a power supply that will use only 80% of its overall power to run the LED tapes. This is important for the longevity of both your power supply and LED strips.
You needed:
- Sockets
- Hardwiring
- Batteries
3. Connect LED Strip to Power Supply
You can connect your LED ribbon lights to your power supply via power socket or by hardwiring. The first is to connect each length of the strip to a single desktop power supply that can then be connected to the socket.
The second is to connect parallel LED ribbon lights together using a wire clip and connecting the wire clip to the socket. Both of these ways will help you light your space without worrying about Voltage Drop .
You can also use LED light strip plug connectors to connect your strips to power sources directly.
Connecting LED strip lights to an arduino board
Arduino boards are a great way to get started in electronics. However, most of the LED strip lights that you may find in a hardware store are not compatible with an Arduino board.
This is because the LED strip lights use a digital control system that are not compatible with the analog input system of the Arduino.
Connecting a LED strip light to an Arduino board isn’t an easy task. You’ll need a shield, which is basically a PCB designed to attach to the Arduino board.
The shield needs to be flashed with the correct software, and a few wires need to be connected.
One of the nice features of the Arduino IDE is that it allows you to control gadgets using nothing but your laptop’s browser
Should You Connect LED Strips In Series Or Parallel?
LED strips can be used for all sorts of lighting applications, from illuminating signage to lighting up a hallway. But which one is better: series or parallel?
It depends on the application, so if you’ve got a LED strip, you may want to try them both and see which works best for the type of lighting you want to achieve.
To get the most from your LED strip, you should connect them in parallel, which means that all the LEDs on your strip are powered by the same power source.
The number of LED strips you want to use is going to be the key factor in how much current you need to supply to support them—and for the best possible brightness.
But don’t be confused between series and parallel connections—the terms only refer to how the strips are connected, not whether they’re on the same or different channels.