Lighting up your home with LED strips is a quick and efficient solution. Several low-voltage LED strip lighting options include low-voltage, 12-volt strips. LED strip lights are suitable for your bedroom, living room, kitchen, and many other places.
If you plan to use LED strips in your project, you must figure out how you will power them. When powered appropriately, the lights will work at their best instead of blinking and not working.
To set your LED lighting up correctly, we will discuss how you should power your LED strips and how to wire them in this post.
First, Check LED Strip and Power Supply Electrical Compatibility
Many LED strip lights available on the market operate on low-voltage DC power. One of the most commonly used DC voltages is 12V, while the other is 24V.
Ensure the power supply is rated for the same voltage as the LED strip. Overvoltage will burn out your LEDs, while Undervoltage will reduce the brightness of the LED strip.
Furthermore, ensure that the power supply has enough capacity to power the LED strip. LED strip specifications sheets typically list how much power the LED strip draws per length, which is easy to calculate.
We are good to go electrically if both of these conditions are met.
Now Let’s Explore the LED Power Supply Options
Firstly, you can use a plug-in power brick to power the device. Two types of power supplies are available. The wall wart or the desktop power supply plugs into your wall outlet and converts the line voltage to 12VDC for the strips. It’s great if you need to hide an outlet out of the way or have a minor application. There is no need to connect wires directly to the main lines because it just plugs in and makes wiring easier.
Our second option is to use a hardwired power supply that outputs the safe, low DC voltage straight from 120VAC lines. Typically, these power supplies can be hidden within walls or anywhere else they are needed due to their discrete size. There are many different types of power supplies in this category. Caged power supplies usually fall into this category. They are beneficial as they provide many screw-in terminal ports for easy connection. If you want a more professional look, you must have main lines readily accessible near your lights rather than plugging straight into a wall.
Connect LED Strips to Power Supply:
Connecting LED strips to power are simple, depending on your power source. Power supplies with plug-in connections typically have a male barrel plug output with a 2.1mm diameter. If you have a concise strip length, you can use the screw-in terminal connectors below instead of the 2.1mm female plugs on full reels.
Wire leads are coming off rather than direct plugs regarding hardwired power supplies. A screw-in terminal connector (2.1 male) may be the easiest way to connect the power supply output wires to your strip with the 2.1mm female plug. Or, you can cut off the connector and make wire-to-wire connections using solder or wire nuts instead of the connector.
How to Avoid Voltage Drops in LED Strips:
Voltage drop is one of the most important considerations with these flex strips. The voltage in DC circuits decreases gradually with the passage of wire (or LED strip). In other words, the voltage available to each foot of wire drops along its length.
There will be a practical limitation on the length of Standard Density Strips. When they are greater than 32 feet and a limitation on the length of High-Density Strips when they are more significant than a whole reel (16.4 feet). As a result, you should only chain the strips together for 32 for standard density. And 16.4 for high density, as the strips, will be affected and not function correctly if you go longer than these lengths.
To prevent voltage drops, break up long LED strips into shorter segments. Using shorter lengths can provide parallel power over shorter distances.
Final Thoughts:
I hope now you get the idea of connecting the LED Strip lights to the Power supply. Make sure you check the voltage rating of the LED strip and match the power supply accordingly. Also, If you’re looking for high-quality LED strips, you must contact well-reputed LED manufacturers. One of the Chinese LED Manufacturers is Darkless LED. You can also contact them or visit their website (www.darklessled.com) to get your desired LED product. They provide LED products all over the Globe.
Also, remember that some LED strips need a unique power supply called an LED driver. You will have to use a LED driver for these LED strips.
If you need more clarification on the process, it is always best to seek the help of an electrician.
Interesting Related Article: “A Quick Way to Trim LED Lights“
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