Planning your LED strip-lights!

Strip-lights Transform Spaces

By far, one of the most transformative pieces of lighting we can apply to a space is, believe it or not, not an extravagant pendant or an abstract piece of art; albeit those items are what makes properties and commercial spaces unique, it's strip-lighting. Traditionally, this method of strategic, decorative lighting was reserved for commercial spaces, but the trend has spilled over into the modern home and is now a common practice in residential design.

The basics...

Strip-lighting begins with four basic items: a strip covered in LED chips (which provides the light), connected to a driver that connects to a lead and plug. Finally, the strip is encased in a 'profile', also known as an 'extrusion'.

Some questions you may want to ask yourself when planning your set-up are: do I want my strip lighting to be dimmable? What colour tones do I prefer? How would I like to control my lights (remote control)?

Aside from the light's operation, a lot of preferences need to be decided with the profile. Do I want my profile to be a custom colour? Do I plan on mounting these on a surface (will I choose surface mounted?) or has my builder already allotted space for my extrusion to go so that it sits flush? This would be a recessed profile. Keep on reading to learn more about profile types, but for now, make sure you have a general idea of how you would like your lights to work. The answers to these questions come down to preference and may even change depending on the room or application.

Commercial

As you can see, strip-lighting in commercial spaces serves more than just a decorative purpose. Strip-lighting here is strategic: highlighting boundaries and products. When designing this commercial fit-out for Never Never Distilling Co (full fit-out write-up here), our commercial team knew that the highlight, in fact, the entire purpose of the space was going to be centered around showcasing the product: the gin. The strip-lighting encourages, nay, forces the gin wall to be the focal point of the room.

Residential

Much like in a commercial space, strip lighting can be used to showcase items but in a different way. Picture an LED striplight lining the outside of the mirrors in the picture above, or lining the shelves of your handbag or heel display, a figurine collection, a wine selection, or any collection worth showcasing for that matter.

The above image was taken from one of our residential fitouts (Newman Avenue). We could just as easily placed strip at the bottom of the shelving and mirror units as an addition or an 'instead of'. Again, it all comes down to personal preference. You really get to be creative here.

Using Striplights in Wet Areas

The Lampada striplights have a Nano-coating which allows them to be used in wet areas such as kitchens and bathrooms. If you aren't well versed in IP ratings (how water/dustproof an electrical item is), have a look at our blog here. But essentially, this model of strip-light has an IP44 rating, meaning a certain level of splashback is safe.

Your striplight checklist:

Lengths: how many mm of strip and profile do you need? We sell our profile by the meter, so if your required lengths are just below, we will supply to the meter and cut to your specifications. You will be provided with the leftover materials.

Colour temperature: warm white, natural white, cool white, or RGB (colours)?

Profile colour: white, black, aluminum, or a custom colour?

Profile shape: surface mount to affix on the surface, recessed if you've cut a space for it to fit into (it will sit flush to the surface), corner profile so the light is aiming 45 degrees (rather than downward).

Dimmable options: Your strip will run off a driver, if you want it to be dimmable you can either choose a dimmable driver or you can run it off a remote control kit. The benefit of using a remote control instead of a wall switch is you will not require an electrician when using it on a remote control.

Note: when choosing the right DC 12v driver to run your strip lighting, ensure you have enough wattage space plus an additional 20% to ensure you are not maxing out the driver. For example, if you have 5 meters of strip light that is 9.6w per meter (5x9.6= 48w) you would get a 60w driver to account for the extra 20% needed.

Have your selection for all of the above? Get started on your custom striplight order by clicking here!