How do I find the right LED strips?
LED-strips have many different features where it is not always easy to find the right one for you and your application.
To give an overview of the choices, we have described the most important features for you here:
Overview
Which design is the right one for me?
Which version should I choose?
Which lightcolor do I need?
Which supply voltage is necessary?
Which assembly density makes sense?
How bright does my LED strip need to be?
How do I calculate the power of the LED power supply for my LED strips?
Which design is the right one for me?
You can choose between 2 different basic designs: rigid and flexible.
Flexible LED strips are particularly suitable in places where the LED strip must adapt to curves or other curved contours. Even very tight curves or angles of almost 90° are possible. An additional advantage is the self-adhesive back, which allows easy and quick installation. Rigid LED strips are suitable for places where flexible strips cannot be mounted or an exact straight mounting is necessary. In addition, rigid LED strips are easier to screw to the substrate, which ensures an even more stable connection to the mounting Location.
Which version should I choose?
Now the question arises about the version. LED bands as indoor version can be used everywhere, if there is no danger that it comes into contact with splash water or other liquids.
As soon as there is the possibility that the it comes into contact with moisture, you should try the outdoor version IP67.
Another advantage of the outdoor version is the smooth surface of them, as single LEDs do not stick out due to the waterproof coating.
Which lightcolor do I need?
The specification of the light color also called color temperature is given in Kelvin. The higher this value is, the colder (bluish) the light is. Lower values produce a warmer (more yellowish) light. In general, only one recommendation can be made here.
- for living rooms we recommend a warmer colour temperature similar to a classic light blub with approx. 2700 Kelvin.
- A neutral white light with approx. 4000- 4700 Kelvin is suitable for work rooms, offices, medical rooms; this also promotes concentration.
- Accent lighting and colorful effect lights can be realized with RGB(W). With this version the color can be set freely.
- LED bands in RGB-W version are the most flexible solution, because an additional white LED is not only able to show accents but also lighting tasks can be fulfilled too.
Which supply voltage is necessary?
This is noticeable in the length restriction. The higher the supply voltage, the longer the lighting band can be.
The length restrictions can be found in the data sheets of the respective bands.
For low powers 12V DC are usually used. For medium to high powers, however, 24V DC are often used. For longer stripes up to 30m long, very efficient bands with 36V DC supply voltage are used.
Which assembly density makes sense?
As higher the LED/m component density and thus the number of LEDs per meter, as more uniform is the light output. Especially with reflective surfaces it is advisable to choose a higher component density to achieve a homogeneous light distribution. When using diffuse cover profiles, an assembly density of at least 30 LED/m is recommended.
How bright does my LED strip need to be?
For rough orientation:
- 100-300 lm/m - Colour effects/ambient lighting, not suitable for room lighting
- 600-1000 lm/m - can be used for room lighting
- more than 2000 lm/m offers maximum brightness for highest requirements
The data always refer to one meter.
As a rough value without consideration of the external factors it is possible to say that 100 lumens correspond to a 10W light bulb.
We are especially happy to advise you on the question of brightness, as several factors have to be taken into account. What colour temperature should be used, how strongly do the surfaces reflect, what colours do the surfaces have, is cooling on aluminium profiles required , how long should they be, is dimming desired? Often completely new favorable solutions result with the discussion.
How do I calculate the power of the LED power supply for my LED strips?
Basically it is very simple. The LED strips have a power rating e.g. 11W/m. If 10m are installed, the total power is 110W. But attention
Special feature for multi-channel LED strips e.g. RGBW:
Please read the data sheet carefully. The power per color is not always identical. For example, RGB can be specified with 7W/m, but the white channel with 10W/m.
This is important if, for example, the RGBW dimmer reaches the limit of its current carrying capacity.
This is explained with a LED strip with 12V and assumed power as described here.
The dimmer can e.g. per channel 6A at 12V, that would be per channel 72W. So it would be no problem for RGB to operate a length of 10m, but due to the 10W/m at the white channel max. connectable length is limited to 7m.
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