How to choose an LED strip: advice from professionals. ¡ — Experience in using LED strip to illuminate the entire room

When they first appeared, LED strips immediately made a splash among designers and architects. The use of LED strips made it possible to create lighting effects that were very difficult or even impossible to achieve in other ways. True, few could afford such decor and lighting - prices for the first LED strips started from several thousand rubles per linear meter.

Fortunately, the development of technology has reduced the prices of LED strips several times, and now they can be found in any interior.

LED strip design.

Features of installation of LED strips.

Characteristics of LED strips.

Light intensity of each LED, together with their number, determine the total brightness of the tape, which can be determined by multiplying the length of the tape by the brightness of each LED and the number of LEDs per meter. So, 1 meter of SMD5050 120 LED strip with a brightness of each LED of 15 Lm will give a luminous flux of 1800 Lm, which is slightly higher than the luminous flux of a 100-watt incandescent lamp.

Supply voltage. Most LED strips are powered by a 12V DC source, so you will need a power supply to connect the strip. The power of the power supply is selected so as to cover the total power consumption of the LED strip with some margin. A reserve (about 20% of the total power is recommended) is necessary in case of a discrepancy between the actual and expected power of the power supply or tape. 220-volt LED strips can attract buyers because they do not require a power supply. But, firstly, they require a constant and stabilized voltage, so simply plugging such a strip into a socket will not work anyway - at a minimum, a rectifier is required. Secondly, the use of such tape in interiors increases the fire hazard and the risk of electric shock - for interior solutions it is better to choose low-voltage tapes.

Tape width may be important when installing it in structural grooves or in special gutters. It should be borne in mind that most gutters are designed for a tape 8-10 mm wide, and when purchasing a wider tape, select the appropriate gutter. For example, waterproof tapes have a larger width (due to the silicone shell).

LED strip is one of the most popular solutions today for the manufacture of decorative lighting or economical main lighting systems. It could be light in an apartment or lighting in a car, a luminous strip under the ceiling or near a bookshelf, finally, a festive decoration of the facade of a house or New Year's lighting of a composition on the street - anything you like can simply be decorated with LED strips, you just need to choose the right strips for one application or another.

In this article we will talk about choosing LED strips for various purposes, note important aspects of the choice, and warn the consumer against possible mistakes.

Single color or RGB tape

First, you need to decide whether you want a single color or multi-color LED strip light. Single-color ribbons shine in a specific color: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet or white. One ribbon - one color. Or another option - .

No, this does not mean that there are several LEDs of different colors installed on the strip, it means that special three-color LEDs are installed on the strip, each of which can, in principle, give any shade, depending on the mode of power supply to it from the RGB controller.

Such multi-color tapes are well suited for making iridescent decorative lighting for shelves, architectural compositions, ceilings in a bedroom or living room, in a car, etc. If you need to set up a general lighting system, then it is better to choose a single-color white tape (warm yellowish light for the bedroom or cool bluish tint for the garage).

Selecting brightness and power

When the issue of choosing a color has been resolved, the next step will be to determine the expected brightness, and, accordingly, the power of the tape. The determining factors here will be: the standard size of the LEDs installed on the strip, as well as the density of their installation along the length of the strip.

The most popular sizes of LEDs are: SMD5630 - for a luminous flux of 18 Lm, SMD5050 - for 15 Lm, SMD3528 - for 5 Lm. The numbers after the letters “SMD” are, as you may have guessed, the size of each LED on the strip in tenths of mm: for example, 5630 is 5.6 mm by 3.0 mm, etc. The larger the LED, the higher it is power.

And the more densely the LEDs are installed on the strip, the higher the brightness of the strip will be, the higher the power of the light source thus obtained will be. Typical mounting densities are: 30, 60, 72, 120 or 240 LEDs per meter of strip.

As for power, 15 watts per meter is usually enough to form a general lighting system, and here the smaller the LEDs, the more densely they should be installed on the strip.

For example: SMD3528 with a density of 60 pieces per meter will give approximately 300 Lm of luminous flux per meter of tape length, and from SMD5050 with a density of 30 pieces per meter of tape we will get 450 Lm. The order of the numbers is now clear.

power unit

Without a power supply, the LED strip will not work, so next you need to select a power supply. When choosing, proceed from the supply voltage and the total power of the connected tapes. The rated power of the power supply should be taken with a margin of 10-20% compared to the total power of the connected tapes.

As for the strips themselves, depending on the type of LEDs on the strip and their density on it, the power of a meter of strip will be strictly defined.

Let's say you need 4 pieces of 2 meters of tape with single-color white SMD5050 LEDs, and with an LED density of 120 pieces per meter of tape. The supply voltage for the tape is most often chosen to be 12 V DC.

A strip with LEDs of this size and density consumes 25 W per meter. Therefore, 4 pieces of 2 meters are 8 meters - 8 times 25 watts, that is, 200 watts.

So, with a power reserve of 20%, we will choose a network stabilized AC-DC power supply for a constant voltage of 12 V, with a power of 240 W. What if we were talking about colored ribbon? In this case, you would also have to choose an RGB controller with the appropriate power and the same supply voltage as the unit.

Tape quality

When calculations regarding the power and size of the tape have been made, it’s time to purchase the tape. And here the main thing is not to go wrong with the quality of the product. You shouldn’t chase cheap prices and immediately go to a Chinese online trading platform.

In cheap tapes, wanting to get maximum brightness and , manufacturers install resistors that are underrated, for example, instead of the required 150 or 300 Ohms - only 100 Ohms. It is better if the resistors are of a higher value.

In addition, the base of the tape should not be very soft - the conductive tracks will have to withstand the operating current and not overheat.

Finally, installation: the LEDs must be installed evenly on the strip, not crooked. It's better to pay a little more, and then you can be sure of quality for many years. Otherwise, if you save money, you end up with bad soldering and overheating. The miser pays twice.

Where do you want to install this LED strip? Will it be placed in the bathroom, where there is regularly high humidity, or is it intended for a dry living room, or maybe even for the outdoors? This is where you need to think about the degree of security of the tape.

Silicone or epoxy coating with a shell protection rating of IP65, IP67, IP68 will protect the tape from precipitation, moisture and dust - this is practically an analogue of duralight. If the tape is placed on a shelf or in a closet, where it will always be dry and clean, then you can get by with the most ordinary IP20 tape without a protective coating.

The same applies to the power supply. The power supply to provide light to the bathroom is installed either in a separate room, or its housing must be protected from moisture.

Andrey Povny

10078 0 3

LED strip for the kitchen - choose wisely, install quickly

Do you want to add LED lighting to your kitchen, but don't know how? Let's go through all the stages of this simple path together. I will tell you in detail which tape to choose, where it can be attached, and most importantly, how to correctly install all this equipment with your own hands.

We choose, we calculate, we buy

In fact, hanging such lighting with your own hands is quite easy; for an amateur, it is much more important not to make mistakes when purchasing components.

Choosing an LED strip

LED strips differ in several parameters and the first characteristic is the number of diodes per linear meter:

The minimum here is 30 points per 1 m/p. Next comes 60 and 120 diodes per meter. But the SMD3528 model has a double strip with 240 LEDs per 1 m/p.

Naturally, the more lighting points, the more powerful the luminous flux. As for the kitchen, I recommend choosing models with 60 diodes and above. If you need intimacy and twilight, you can easily adjust this using a dimmer (more on that later).

The next characteristic is the dimensions of the diodes themselves, they can be determined by the first digits of the marking. So in the SMD3528 model the size of the diodes is 3.5x2.8 mm, and the SMD5050 tape has 5x5 mm elements. There are also SMD5060, SMD5630 and SMD5730 models on our market, but they are not very popular in everyday life.

Now let's talk about the degree of waterproofing. There are 3 main directions in this niche:

• IP33- an unprotected tape at all, with completely open conductive paths and LEDs. Designed for dry rooms, installation in kitchens is not recommended, but I install IP33 in a closed box and it works fine;
• IP65- this tape is filled with silicone on top. Such models were developed specifically for kitchens;
• IP67 and IP68- completely sealed illuminators. That is, silicone is poured both from above and from below.

Silicone protection is a good thing, but it is advisable to mount such tapes on a metal base, because closed LEDs overheat greatly and quickly burn out.

Now let's look at the intricacies of marking. For example, I took the standard LED 12V RGB SMD 5050 120 IP65 marking; this model is used more than others for kitchen lighting.

If you want to install lighting with a full color spectrum, then take models marked WRGB - these are the most powerful strips, but they are also the most expensive.

Selecting a power supply and control system

Such lighting is considered low-voltage and requires a step-down transformer or power supply, as it is commonly called. The vast majority of such tapes are supplied with 12V; previously, 24V units were used, but now they are rare.

It’s easy to calculate which block you need: any tape comes with instructions that indicate the power consumption of the product per 1 m/p; you need to multiply the number of meters by the design power and add 20-30% to the reserve.

By the way, the control unit (dimmer) is selected in the same way, only the current is taken into account: find out from the instructions how many milliamps go per 1 m/p, multiply by the number of meters and add a reserve.

When selecting tapes and power supplies for them, keep in mind that 1 tape cannot be longer than 5 m; if you need more, you will have to connect the next tape, but they are not connected in series, but in parallel, and so on ad infinitum, the main thing is that the power of the block and dimmer enough.

Below I give the 3 most common schemes:

1. This scheme is considered the simplest; here the connection goes directly from the power supply to the LED strips. Such a system will be inexpensive, but it turns out to be unregulated, the diodes will shine at full power;

1. In this case, you will have the opportunity to adjust the level of light flux, because it includes a dimmer. Although there is a full-fledged regulator with a control panel, there is no point in buying a rather ordinary rheostat attached in a convenient place. The ribbons used are monochrome, that is, one color;

1. This is how full-color RGB systems are connected. Including amplifiers in the circuit is not necessary, but it is desirable, especially if the length of the tapes is taken to the maximum (5 m) and there are several such tapes.

We install the tape under the cabinets with our own hands

Most often, an LED strip is installed in the kitchen under the cabinets, this results in simultaneous illumination of the work area and illumination of the apron. Although, using the same principles, this lighting can be mounted anywhere in the kitchen.

Illustrations	Recommendations
	Tool and material: Screwdriver; Soldering iron; Side cutters; Solder; Rosin; Heat shrink or electrical tape; Voltage indicator; If you plan to embed the tape into the bottom of the cabinet, you will need a router.
	Accessories: The photo shows the connection order: The power supply converts voltage from 220V to 12V; This voltage is then supplied to the controller, which in this case simultaneously serves as an amplifier; The controller also receives a signal from the control panel, for this it has an IR sensor, in other words, an antenna; From the controller, power is supplied to the LED strip itself. Power supplies, controllers, amplifiers and tapes may be different, but the connection principle does not change.
	Light box. Of course, the tape can be glued directly to the base, for example, on the bottom of a kitchen cabinet, but it will get warm, plus not everyone likes exposed tape. Therefore, we will hide it in an aluminum box covered with a translucent cover. The aluminum box will act as a radiator and cool the LEDs; Such a box is easier to clean, and the tape is protected in it, therefore, you can take an inexpensive IP33 model.
	Selection of boxes. The box can be selected for any installation location - in a corner, on an edge, internal or external, and you can also choose a smaller or larger angle of illumination. At the market, I bought a regular box for 350 rubles. for a 2m bar, in the store the price for the same bar is 90 rubles higher.
	We measure and cut the tape. The tape is sold by the meter, but it needs to be cut only in places intended for soldering; on many models, scissors are drawn there.
	Tape extension . If you need to go around a corner or extend a longer section of lighting, then at the cut points the contacts are cleaned and soldered with jumpers. It’s hard to make a mistake there: you connect plus with plus, and minus with minus.
	Multicolor ribbons. In RGB tapes, 4 wires are soldered according to color (there are designations on the tape): R - red; G - green; B - blue; V - general. The main thing for you then is not to confuse the connection of the plug from the LEDs with the plug from the controller, for this there are arrows on them.
	Using the connector. The connector is a kind of clamp; the contacts are inserted into grooves and clamped with a strip. These adapters allow you to do without soldering, but I don’t use such things and don’t recommend them to you. In the kitchen, the contacts may oxidize, and then you will get tired of looking for the point where exactly the break occurred; nothing better than soldering has yet been invented.
	Pre-check. It is advisable to connect the wires from the very beginning, so as not to climb into inconvenient places with a soldering iron later. Do-it-yourself installation begins with assembling the circuit and connecting it to the network, you must make sure that everything works correctly. If you plan to install a stationary switch, then remember - it is placed before the power supply.
	Box fastening. When installed externally, the box can be glued to a kitchen unit or wall using liquid nails or double-sided tape. But it’s better to take special grips and attach them to them. Everything is simple there: the grip is screwed to the base with a self-tapping screw, and then the box is inserted into the grooves.
	Inset option. Outdoor installation is much simpler, but the LED box can be cut directly into the furniture, although you will need a hand router for this. Of course there is more work, but the effect is much better.
	Installing the internals. It is better to hide the power supply and controller. The photo shows the option of placing it in a cabinet above the hood, but you can choose any location. The only thing I don’t advise you to do is throw the control group onto the roof of the cabinet. In the kitchen, after a couple of months, all the appliances will be covered with a sticky coating and it will be difficult to clean it.
	The finished result. The job is done, now you can use it. I talked about the option of installing a small backlight in a box, but this is far from the only way of arrangement. Below in the video in this article there are alternative and, by the way, quite easy to install options.

Conclusion

It doesn’t matter whether you are planning lighting for a work area, an apron or a stream, using the recommendations outlined above you can easily cope with any of these tasks. If you have any questions, write in the comments, I will try to help.

If you want to express gratitude, add a clarification or objection, or ask the author something - add a comment or say thank you!

LED lighting for the interiors of apartments and houses is gaining increasing popularity. There are different ways to approach issues related to lighting. Some prefer to turn to specialists for the selection of suitable equipment and its installation. Others decide to show their creativity and do it themselves. Due to the relative ease of installing LED backlighting, this is quite possible, but to achieve the desired result, you need to take into account some features. The first question that arises is how to choose a strip that suits your desires among the large number of varieties of LED strips? We will talk about this in this article.

1) Installation location of the LED strip.

First you need to decide on the room where the LED strip will be installed. For LED lighting of the ceilings of rooms, kitchens, hallways and corridors, an open LED strip is suitable. To illuminate bathrooms, due to high humidity, only sealed LED strip is used. To illuminate the working surface of tables in the kitchen, as well as when installing an LED strip at a small height from the floor, for example, illuminating stair steps, floor lighting, it is also recommended to use a sealed LED strip, because During wet cleaning, water may get on it or it may be damaged mechanically. We will talk further about the selection of LED strips for specific rooms.

2) Type, brightness and power of LED strip.

The next step is to select the LED strip according to the required brightness. One of the factors affecting the brightness of the strip is the type of LEDs. The most common LED strips are SMD3528 and SMD5060 (sometimes also called SMD5050). LEDs of the first type have a body size of 3.5x2.8 mm and contain one semiconductor crystal. LEDs of the second type are larger in size - 5.0x5.5 mm - and contain three crystals in one housing. Accordingly, SMD5060 LEDs are almost three times brighter than SMD3528 diodes. Also, the brightness of an LED strip depends on the density of the LEDs on it. There are standard density LED strips, double density (2x) and double row double density LED strips (2x2). For strips with SMD3528 LEDs, these are 60, 120 and 240 LEDs per meter, respectively. For strips with SMD5060 LEDs - 30, 60 and 120 LEDs per meter. The table below shows the most common tapes in order of increasing power and, accordingly, brightness.

It is also worth noting that the luminous flux of 1 W of LEDs is approximately equal to 100 Lm, i.e. LED strips with a power of up to 10 W per meter are well suited for lighting. And LED strips with a power of more than 10 W per meter are already suitable as the main light or for illuminating dark surfaces with low reflectivity.

3) Color of the LED strip, type of its connection.

We decide on the color of the backlight - do we want the backlight to be white or one constant color of the glow. Or do we want to change the color of the backlight depending on our current desires and preferences?

If we need white backlighting, then we also need to decide which one. The fact is that white light can be of different shades (with different so-called color temperatures of the glow): cold white (10000K-6500K), white (6500K-5500K), daylight white (4500K-4000K) and warm white (3500K- 2700K).

For decorative lighting, a colored LED strip is more suitable; it can be monochrome (one color) or multicolor (RGB). Note that the RGB LED strip can only be equipped with large SMD 5060 LEDs.

To connect a single-color LED strip, you only need a power supply and the strip itself. If you want to adjust the brightness of the light, you will need another additional device - a dimmer for the LED strip. To connect a multicolor LED RGB strip you will need not only a power supply and a strip, but also an RGB controller that controls the color and brightness of the RGB strip.

The power supply must be selected in accordance with the supply voltage of the LED strip (12V, 24V, 36V), its power and length.

To calculate the required power of the power supply, you need to multiply the length of the tape connected to the unit by its power consumption per meter and add a power reserve (10-25%). The reserve is necessary for reliable operation of the system. For example, (10m x 7.2W) x 1.25 = 90W. Since there is no power supply for an LED strip with a power of exactly 90 W, a unit with a higher (but by no means less) power of -100 W is suitable.

How to choose an LED strip for a room.

Typically, LED lighting for different rooms in an apartment or house has different purposes, for example, room lighting is mainly decorative, and kitchen lighting is practical.

The most common option for using LED strip in a room is curtain or stained glass ceiling lighting, lighting of walls, floors, niches or curtains. Such rooms have normal humidity, so LED strip without moisture protection is used here. The purpose of such lighting is most often decorative, so almost any type of LED strip can be used and the choice depends only on the required brightness and color. Backlighting using an RGB LED strip and an RGB controller will look impressive.

How to choose an LED strip for the kitchen.

The use of LED lighting in the kitchen is quite widespread. It is not only decorative, but also practical. In addition to all the applications in ordinary rooms, which we wrote about above, lighting of cabinets and kitchen worktops is used. An interesting and unusual option for using LED strip in the kitchen is LED lighting of the lower (floor lighting) and upper parts of the cabinets. Base cabinets are typically mounted on legs, which are then covered with a panel or left open. An LED strip is attached to the bottom of the cabinet and illuminates the floor. For such lighting you need to use a sealed LED strip, because... Water may get on it, for example, during cleaning.

To illuminate the top of the cabinets, you can use an open LED strip, because... it is attached to the top of wall cabinets and is practically not exposed to external influences.

Well, now let’s talk about practical and functional LED lighting. You can highlight not only the space above and below the cabinets, but also inside them, which is not only beautiful, but also functional. An LED strip for illuminating cabinets from the inside can be connected so that it turns on along with the main kitchen lighting, or it can be used together with special sensors. There are several types of sensors, including sensors that respond to opening a cabinet door, to touch, and even contactless ones - to turn the light on or off, you just need to move your hand next to them, which is very convenient if your hands are wet or dirty.

Even more practical is illumination of the work surface. Usually, when cooking, the light source is behind your back, so the work surface is closed from light, so LED lighting of the kitchen work surface will come in very handy. It is installed under wall cabinets. It is important to position the LED strip so that the light falls straight down, or at an angle and does not hit the eyes directly.

There are several ways to organize work surface illumination:

1) Sealed LED strip, which is simply glued to the bottom of the wall cabinet.

2) Ready-made LED. They are simply mounted using clips or double-sided tape, have a touch switch and are easily joined together to form a chain of lamps. There is an LED line inside the lamp; the top is covered with a plastic screen, which can be matte or transparent. We recommend choosing a matte screen, because... with it, the LEDs are not so visible, the light is more diffused and will not irritate the retina.

3) Assembling an LED lamp with your own hands. To do this you will need an LED strip (or LED strips) and. Our catalog contains a wide selection of aluminum profiles of different shapes and screens for them.

A white LED strip is used to illuminate the work surface. But it is worth considering that products look as natural as possible when illuminated with daylight white light, and when illuminated with warm white light they look even fresher and better than they are. Cold white food looks less appetizing.

How to choose LED strip for the bathroom.

Due to high humidity and the risk of water ingress in the bathroom, sealed LED strip is usually used.

LED lighting in the bathroom is most often used to illuminate the ceiling and walls. But there are other options, for example, lighting niches and mirrors. Mirror lighting can be either background lighting (a backlit glow behind the mirror) or illuminating the space in front of the mirror. In the second case, the illumination made behind the mirror, on which the amalgam layer (reflective surface) has been partially removed, looks impressive.

How to choose LEDs for a nursery.

When choosing a design for a children's room, parents usually strive to create an environment that will bring an atmosphere of joy, warmth and comfort into the child's world. In this case, much attention should be paid to the lighting of the nursery. For a child’s room, bright but soft light is best, psychologically comfortable and at the same time not harmful to the baby’s eyes. And if you have chosen LED technologies for lighting your apartment, pay attention to white LED strips in warm and moderate tones. To adjust the brightness of the glow, you can use a dimmer - an electrical power regulator. There are devices of both the classic model (a mechanical regulator built into the wall in a standard switch size) and modern dimmers that have an electronic control system and remote controls.

Colored LEDs can be a special joy for your baby. If instead of conventional white LEDs you use multicolor RGB+W LED strips as the main lighting, the possibilities for decorative lighting of the room will be truly limitless. By experimenting with the RGB controller, you and your child can create a variety of color combinations, turning the room into a children's fairy tale. And white LEDs, also present in the LED strip, will help you use it for its main purpose. Also in the design of children's rooms, monochrome color LEDs are widely used, which can be used to illuminate furniture and interior elements.

LED strips for corridors and walk-through areas.

Places in the house such as corridors, hallways, and staircases do not need constant bright lighting. After all, people are not in these places all the time. However, often residents of a house or apartment have to cross such zones in order to get to a particular room, kitchen or bathroom. And it’s quite inconvenient if an unlit corridor awaits you every time on your way. What to do in such cases? Some prefer to keep lights on in walk-through areas around the clock, while others usually leave these areas dark.

However, the best solution to this problem is to use energy-saving LED technology. LED strips are the most economical light sources; they consume several times less electricity than conventional incandescent lamps. Place a moderately bright LED strip along the corridor or along the perimeter of a walk-through room, creating uniform illumination of the entire area. And to save even more energy, use a dimmer. This device will help reduce the brightness of LED lamps to a barely noticeable glow, which may be suitable for night lighting in an apartment.

Bedroom lighting with LED strips.

When lighting a bedroom, LED strips can be used both as additional lighting and as main lighting. To create a cozy atmosphere, many use colored LEDs as wall lighting, backlighting for mirrors and wall decorations, as well as for lighting the ceiling area hidden under eaves or using multi-level ceiling architecture. You can choose a variety of colors for lighting, limited only by matters of taste - modern LED technologies today make it possible to produce light sources operating in almost any spectrum. Using LEDs you can also create original furniture lighting or built-in cabinet lighting.

You can use a chandelier as the main lighting in the bedroom. However, why not use super-bright LED strips for this purpose? Today, LEDs can create comfortable, natural lighting for the bedroom with flexible settings. These are both white LED strips and multi-color RGB LED strips. Using dimmers and advanced RGB controllers, you can control the lights in your bedroom as you wish.

LED technology for the living room.

The living room is the heart of your apartment, the place where the family relaxes, relatives and guests gather. That is why many approach the design of their living room especially carefully. As a rule, this is the most spacious room in the house, so a variety of interior design ideas find room here. This also applies to the issue of lighting.

If you decide to use LEDs for lighting your living room, know: you made the right choice! With their help, you can create a powerful stream of natural white light, and fancy lighting hidden in the depths of a multi-level ceiling or under a system of cornices. It would also be a good idea to design interior lighting using LED strips. And if you use the living room as a room for family celebrations, you should think about purchasing multi-color LED strips for this room, which, if desired, can easily create a party atmosphere in the living room, being under the control of the owner, which he does using an RGB controller. For white LED strips, you can also use dimmers so that you can control the brightness of the light, choosing your comfort zone yourself.

The invention of LED light sources in the form of flexible strips has contributed to the emergence of many lighting solutions. Today, with the help of LED strips, they organize complex geometric shapes for the advertising industry, decorate signs and building facades, create lighting effects in fountains and swimming pools, and add coziness to quiet cafes and restaurants. Using an LED strip in your home, you can create beautiful lighting for a stretch ceiling or provide excellent lighting for the kitchen work area.

The presence of a large assortment of products poses the average consumer with the question: “How to choose an LED strip to get the most benefit from its use?” Any consumer can answer this question, but to do this you need to become more familiar with this type of LED products.

Decoding LED strip markings

LED strips are made of a dielectric with a thickness of about 0.2 mm, onto which conductive tracks are applied with contact pads for chips on which SMD components (LEDs and resistors) are mounted. The standard tape consists of individual modules from 2.5 to 10 cm long, connected in parallel. Each module contains from 3 to 22 LEDs and several resistors that limit current consumption. Thus, an LED strip is a set of modules with a rated supply voltage of 12 or 24 volts. Finished products are usually supplied in reels 5 meters long and 8 to 40 mm wide.

The marking is applied to the packaging or reel of the product, adhering to international standards. An explanation of the tape markings using the example of LED 12V RGBW SMD 5050 120 IP65 is presented in the table below.

Points to pay attention to

Color shade and number of colors

Choosing an LED strip begins with determining the color of its glow. Modern single-color LEDs are produced with one of four crystal glows: white (W), blue (B), red (R) or green (G). Other colors are obtained by applying a special phosphor to the crystal or by installing several LEDs of different colors in the crystal at once, which operate simultaneously. Thus, a single-color LED strip can be produced with any color of luminous flux. In specialized stores you can even choose specimens with an orange, crimson, purple or turquoise glow. But white light LED strips, which are divided into three groups: warm, neutral and cold glow, are in great demand. You can accurately select the desired option only visually, comparing several samples.
In addition to single-color LED strips, multi-color analogs are available for sale, marked with RGB symbols. They contain LEDs consisting of three crystals: red, green, and blue. As a result of the simultaneous glow of several crystals with different intensities, any light shade can be obtained. Typically, such lines are chosen for decorative lighting. It is worth noting that using LEDs R, G and B it is impossible to obtain pure white light. If you need a multi-color LED strip with the ability to glow with white light, then you should choose a product marked WRGB. The LED chips of the WRGB strip have built-in additional white crystals.

Luminous flux

Today in retail stores you can purchase a piece of any length. In this case, the density of SMD elements in one linear meter of tape should be taken into account. In a single-row strip, the density of LEDs is a multiple of 30, and in a double-density strip - 60. The maximum number of installed LED chips in 1 meter of a product is 120. When turned on, such a segment resembles a solid luminous strip. Also on sale you can find double, triple and even quadruple width tape with LED elements placed in several rows.
Particular attention should be paid to the size of the LED chip. Initially, two chips were most widely used: 3528 with one crystal and a standard size of 3.5x2.8 mm and 5050 with three crystals and a total chip surface area of ​​5.0x5.0 mm. Later, the LED industry introduced new types, among which on the Russian market there are standard sizes 5060, 5630 and 5730. The size of the element directly determines the magnitude of the luminous flux - the amount of light energy emitted per unit of time. In theory, the luminous flux for LED SMD 3528 is 5 Lm, for LED SMD 5050–15 Lm. Multiplying these values ​​by the corresponding number of elements in the segment, we obtain the total brightness. For example, the luminous flux of a five-meter tape 3528–60 will be about 1500 Lm.

Supply voltage and power

In order for the LED strip to start glowing, it must be supplied with suitable power (usually 12 V). For these purposes, 220-volt power converters, called drivers, adapters or power supplies, are used. An important parameter of any power supply is the power it can provide to the load. The power of the converter is selected based on that indicated on the packaging. If there is no documentation, you can calculate it yourself. For example, every three 3528 LEDs connected in series consume 20 mA of current and 0.24 W of power. Multiplying these values ​​by the number of triads, we get the total value. For frame size 5050, a current of 60 mA and a power of 0.72 W should be specified. Thus, a meter piece of SMD 3528–60 tape consumes 4.8 W, and SMD 5050–60 – 14.4 W. Below is a table of the power of the most common LED strips.

Degree of protection

The correct choice of LED strip is impossible without taking into account the degree of protection (IP - Ingress Protection). The designation consists of two numbers, the first of which indicates protection against the ingress of solids, and the second - protection against the ingress of liquid into the product. Some manufacturers, instead of the generally accepted designation, indicate their own abbreviation, the explanation of which is on the manufacturer’s website.

LED strips of class IP65 - IP68 have better protection from moisture, but worse heat dissipation due to the silicone shell. They should be chosen only when clearly necessary, since they have a significantly higher price due to the additional silicone coating.

Build quality

The quality of LED strips is determined solely by the manufacturer. Two points are worth noting here: the build quality of the final product and the quality of the components of the tape itself. The second is impossible for the average buyer to determine, since SMD components are very small. The problem is that the robotic system cuts and installs a smaller crystal into the LED, which leads to its gradual overheating and loss of brightness. As for assembling the final product, it’s easier here. Low-quality LED strips have unevenly soldered SMD elements and, as a rule, there are no special cut marks on them.
When making a choice in favor of low-quality Chinese products, you need to take into account three nuances:

• the real value of the luminous flux will be less than the theoretical one;
• the service life of such a product may vary less;
• The adhesive base will lose its properties over time.

In order for the LED strip to please the owners of the house with long and stable operation without loss of brightness, you need to choose a branded product. LED products from dozens of companies are sold in the Russian Federation, most of which are stamped in China without appropriate quality control. You can avoid trouble by adhering to the following principles:

• do not choose too cheap a product;
• pay attention only to well-known brands;
• inquire about the warranty of the LED strip.

Leading manufacturers of LED products have official representative offices in Russia and the CIS countries. On their websites you can familiarize yourself with the assortment and find detailed information about each product. Such leaders are: Feron, Camelion, Dreamled, Navigator, Arlight, Era. In the catalog of these companies you can find related products, for example, mounting profiles and ready-made lamps. Which LED strip is better is up to everyone to decide for themselves. After all, in addition to the brand, the buyer’s choice is often influenced by the opinion of the seller, the price range, and the visual effect during testing.

Which LED strip to choose for lighting the ceiling, kitchen work area and other purposes? First you need to answer the question: “What functional load will be assigned to it?” Maybe a shade that's pleasing to the eye should highlight the beauty of the pattern on the closet mirrors or create an intimate atmosphere in the bedroom. Or vice versa - become a source of diffused white light.

In any case, every person, with a little thought, can find a use for it in their home. In organizing LED lighting from strips, an aluminum profile lamp plays an important role. There are many photos on the Internet with various variations on the design of kitchen ceilings and various other rooms. Lamps can be used to create creative geometric shapes that harmoniously blend into the overall design. Cool white light flux will emphasize the shine of kitchen appliances and complement the main lighting.
To illuminate a stretch ceiling, it is recommended to install the tape at a distance of about 5 mm from it. The light emitted by the LED strip, in the absence of built-in white crystals, distorts the colors of objects in the room. A particularly strong effect is observed with blue radiation. This fact must be taken into account so as not to be disappointed after the first turn on.

The color of LEDs for decorative lighting is selected according to individual taste. RGB strips are often included as part of a comprehensive lighting design. They look original on plasterboard ceiling ledges. Liquid wallpaper applied around camouflages it with the overall style.

The implementation of LED strip lighting must have an integrated approach, starting with competent technical calculations and ending with installation work. Each stage is an important link in the chain, the strength of which will be the key to trouble-free operation of the entire system.

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