Guide to Using LED Light Strips

If you’re looking for a new way to add some much needed ambiance to your home without breaking the bank, you should definitely consider jumping on the ever-trending LED light strip train. The reason why LED light strips have gained so much popularity in the last few years is that they are a flexible, multi-functional, stylish, and cost-effective light source that improves the look, feel, and functionality of the home. They are being used for kitchen improvements, staircase features, office fit outs, ceiling features, and more.

Curious but not sure how to start taking advantage of these trendy yet practical and affordable lights? Read on to get the scoop on LED light strips and how to use them. 

What you need to know about LED light strips

How do LED light strips work?

LED light strips are long, thin, and flexible circuit board strips populated with numerous light emitting diodes. The underside of the strip often has an adhesive for sticking the light strip onto surfaces. They are incredibly flexible and multi-functional as they do not require a light fixture in order to work; they can simply be adhered to or mounted onto a surface and plugged into a power source. They usually have highly adjustable dimming, color, and strobe settings, all controlled with a switch, remote control, or even an app for some products. Some of the most common LED light strips uses include accent lighting, mood lighting, decorative lighting, and task lighting.  

What is the lifespan of LED light strips?

LED light strips lifespan is exceptionally long as light emitting diodes use the process of electron excitation as opposed to conduction in order to function - it’s technically impossible for LEDs to burn out, but over a period of about 50,000-100,000 hours they will dim to a brightness of only 70% which is when manufacturers advise changing them. 

Electron excitation is the process of stimulating a condensed group of electrons with a small amount of electricity to the point where they move rapidly, which consequently creates light. This process greatly improves the lifespan of a light source because it doesn’t rely on any finite light emitting materials. On the other hand, conduction and convection, the processes used by halogen and incandescent light bulbs, rely on heat to illuminate filaments that are inoculated with compounds that will be used up and burnt out over a much shorter period of time.     

Do LED light strips use a lot of electricity?

Compared with other kinds of light sources, LED light strips and LEDs in general don’t use a lot of electricity, only around 7-35 watts per hour, depending on the particular product. To put this into perspective, a MacBook uses about 96 watts per hour when charging.  

The reason for this low energy consumption goes back to the process of electron excitation. Simply put, it’s an extremely energy efficient method to create light as it doesn’t involve the generation of heat.   

Are LED light strips safe?

LED light strips are very safe, especially compared with other types of light sources. As previously mentioned, they do not require much electricity to function and don’t generate heat, which are two of the biggest fire hazards related to lighting. Furthermore, there are plenty of waterproof options for LED light strips available now, so if you’re worried about a leak or spilled water on the lights causing any short circuiting, you could always go with a waterproof product.

If anything, LED light strips can actually improve your overall home safety, as they make for great and cost-effective outdoor security lighting which is more likely to deter thieves.  There are also motion-sensing LED light strips available - here’s an idea: set up some motion sensing RGB LED light strips on or around the doors or windows and set them to flash red and blue – like police sirens - when activated. Ideally, that will help discourage any wrongdoers.   

Types of LED Light Strips

The most common design differences are in how individual LEDs are controlled, specifically differences in color and whether or not each individual diode is addressable. 

• Single color, non-addressable: Every LED on the strand is a single white colour. This is the most basic kind of strip light and is ideal for providing subtle accent lighting. 
• Dynamic tunable white, non-addressable: Allows the user to adjust the color output from a single strip light. This type is manufactured with alternating LEDs of different color temperatures (for more information on color temperature and what it has to do with LEDs, check this out.).  For this variety, half of the LEDs are at a lower temperature and half are at a higher color temperature, allowing the strip to produce any specific color temperature between the two color temperatures of the LEDs. These light strips are commonly used for outdoor or patio lighting as they are well suited to adjust to the fluctuations of natural light. 
• Multi-color, non-addressable: Each LED is capable of displaying red, green, blue, or all three (white). All the LEDs display the same colour at any one time, but the colour can be manipulated by varying the voltage applied to each of the three power inputs. This variety is very functional when it comes to accent or decorative lighting. You can set the color to white for a warm and neutral ambiance and set it to another color to suit your mood or activity, such as a calming green when you are getting ready to go to sleep.
• RGB, addressable: Multiple colours and addresses. Each LED has its own chip meaning and they can be individually triggered for chasing, strobing, and colour changing. RGB lights are commonly seen in PC gaming setups but have a variety of other uses, such as mood lighting, costume design, and signage.

LED Light Strips Uses

LED light strips have a wide variety of uses and applications, but they typically provide a cost-efficient and stylish source of backlighting, accent lighting, or decorative lighting. Let’s go over some of the different ways you can complement the rooms in your home with LED light strips as well as some unique LED light strips tips and tricks.

LED light strip ideas for bedroom

• Ceiling Line Lighting – One of the most common yet coolest ways to use LED strip lights is by mounting them to the ceiling line - that’s the line where the wall meets the ceiling. This classic setup gives your bedroom a nifty and chilled out vibe and is very easy to set up as well.
• LED Art – Rope or tape LED light strips are designed to be manipulated to fit into or onto just about anything, so why not let your imagination roll with this concept and design your own LED art for your bedroom wall.  Just curl and curve the strip light as your heart desires and give your room a more customized and personal feel.

LED light strip ideas for living room

• TV LED Backlighting – Immerse yourself more into movie nights and gaming by mounting some LED light strips behind your TV. This is not only a great way to add a bit more style to your home entertainment system, but it also helps with eye strain when watching TV or playing games in the dark.
• Mood Lighting – The living room is one of the best places in the home to create ambiance with mood lighting. You can use LED light strips to make mood lighting by mounting them in the recessed parts of your living room walls. By doing this, you can establish a warm and mellow ambiance.

LED light strip ideas for kitchen   

• Kitchen Cabinet Lighting – You can give your kitchen a sleek café/bar/restaurant feel by mounting LED light strips just under your kitchen cabinets. A lot of establishments use this lighting technique to provide a diffused and mellow atmosphere that’s perfect for date nights.
• Kitchen Island Lighting – Highlight the centrepiece of your kitchen and install LED light strips under the lip of the counter of your kitchen island.  This application doesn’t do much for practicality other than provide a bit of guidance should you stumble into your kitchen in the middle of the night, but it certainly will add to your kitchen’s style points tally.

Those were some of the popular uses for LED lighting strips that can provide your home with some added depth, character, and functionality. Now let’s look at a few unique LED light strip tips and tricks.

Illuminate the staircase – You don’t necessarily need to drop a fortune on expensive decorations and art to give your home an air of elegance. A more subtle and unique idea to smarten up your place is to apply LED light strips just under the lip of your stairs. This will provide a sophisticated look to your staircase as well as a useful and inconspicuous source of light for climbing the steps at night.  

Up your photography – Lighting is one of – if not the most - important aspects of photography. Given how easy it is to manipulate LED strip lights, your photography can reach a whole new potential by taking advantage of the ambiance and customizability that comes with making use of LED light strips.

Glorified Camping – Having a reliable light source is essential for camping. We often rely on headlamps or flashlights; however, we will sometimes misplace these in the dark. With the use of a few LED light strips, you can conveniently create a lighting setup that would admittedly mark you as a “glamper”, but give a really cool and aesthetic campground with the added touch of convenience.

Showroom style garage lighting – One of the most tried and tested LED light strips hacks: spruce up your dusty and dank garage by cleverly mounting some LED light strips in the dark corners and recesses. If you also use your garage for a work or hang out space you can strategically set up light strips under your workbench, storage space, or in your hang out space. Regardless of what you use your garage for, you can make it look sleek and impressive with a whole other level of functionality simply by using a few LED light strips.       

Design a funky Halloween or party costume – We saved the most ostentatious use for last. You can be the highlight of the Halloween party, music festival, or other themed party and use RGB LED strip lights on clothing to create your own costumes reminiscent of Daft Punk, Tron, or Cyberpunk 2077.

And there’s our breakdown of LED light strips uses. Hopefully, this guide gave you the gist of how these discreet yet highly effective lights work as well as some inspiration for your home improvements. One of the best ways to get into using LED light strips is by using them for TV backlighting, as we mentioned earlier. Have a look at our LED strip lights that are specifically designed for this purpose to get started with using these super useful and stylish lights.