What are LED Strip Lights?

From lasting longer to being highly energy efficient the benefits of LED strip lights are endless! So with all the hype what are LED strip lights?

LED Strip Lights that consist of surface mounted light emitting diodes that are mounted on a resilient circuit board strip. On the back of the led strip is an adhesive tape that makes for easy installation of the led strip lights. Because the brightness and efficiency levels of SMDS have continuously improved over the years LED strip lights have become today’s new standard for lighting.

Commonly LED strips lights have been used for:

IP Rated LED Strip Lighting

When designing and manufacturing a led strip, the following items are taken into consideration; water tolerance, color temperature, type of SMD LED chips, required voltage, and if it requires a constant current or constant voltage.

IP20 LED strip tapes that have no coating are typically low voltage, do not have any protection from water ingress, and are safe to contact with the skin but can be shorted out when in contact with metal items.

IP65 and IP67 LED strip lights are water resistant led strips that are coated with a heat regulated silicone or epoxy that protects the wiring from direct exposure to water and dust.

IP68 led strip lights to feature hermetically designed seals that allow for total submersion to water. Adding IP68 led strip lights to your pool for lighting would an example of how IP68 rated LED strips can be used.

LED Strip Light Color Temperatures

LED strip lights come in a multitude of colors, ranging from warm to cool shades of white to a myriad of colored RGB options. Color temperatures are rated using the Kelvin. Kelvin is a measurement system from the International System of Units.

2700K – warm yellow
3000K – warm yellowish white
4000K – neutral white
5000K – cool white
6500K – daylight white

RGB LED strip lights are available in many colors and can be used for various applications. RGB LED strip lights to contain one red, green and blue chips. When the three chips are combined they can create any color using a controller. When attempting to create a white color using an RGB LED strip, you will not get a true daylight white but rather experience a bluish purple hue.

RGB+W LED strips to contain that standard red, green, and blue-chip plus an extra white chip. The additional white chip allows for pure daylight or cold white.

Direct-Lit LED Strips are specially designed LED strips that broadcast the light directly up at a 90-degree angle to the surface it was mounted on. This form on LED strips is ideal for accent and decorative lighting, and illuminating signage.

Side Lit LED Strips to emit lighting directly out of the side of the LED chip. This kind of LED strip is used for under cabinet lighting, cove lighting, home lighting, and accent lighting.

LED strip light chip types

A LED chipset is a surface mounted light emitting diode. SMD chips are available in multiple sizes, shapes, and power levels. The two most popular LED strip light SMD chip sets are 3528 and 5050. In the past several years newer, more efficient SMD models have been released; 2835, 3014, 5630, and 3020.

3528 SMD

This LED strip light measures .13”x.09”, feature one LED per chip, and require little power operate. 3528 SMG LED strip lights are the most cost-effective. Since this chip contains only one LED chip, it is not typically the brightest when being compared aside other chip sets. When purchasing 3528 SMD LED strip lights always make sure to take into consideration how many LEDs are included per foot.

5050 SMD

This LED strip light measures .19” x .19”, features three LEDs per chip, and are incredibly bright. 5050 SMDs are called tri-chips due to the three LEDs per chip and are typically 3X brighter than 3528 LED strips. For RGB color variations the 5050 works well, but if you need single color lighting, the 3528 SMD LED strips to work great.

Power

LED strip lights require either up to 12 or 24 volts of direct current from a driver or commonly called a power supply. USB based strip lights require up-to 5-volt of direct current. For applications that require a consistent always lit LED main strip voltage LED strips are recommended.

Main voltage LED strips are not as flexible and more substantial in weight due to the higher required voltage and current ratings. The coating is typically thicker and rated for shock resistance and IP ratings. Additional power supplies are not required, but you will need a rectifier between the end of the LED strip and the main supply.

About LUXX Light Technology

LUXX Light Technology is a manufacturer of LED Strip Lights. From indoor to outdoor we have the industry’s best variety of UL Listed LED Strip Lights. All of our LED strip lights ship out of St. Francis WI and foresee in-depth quality control testing. We stock only Tier 1 ANSI Binned LED strip lights.

We offer premium LED strips in a wide variety of temperatures that range from 3000K-6500K. All of our LED strip lights come with 3M adhesive tape backing that makes the installation easy and efficient. All LED strips are rated for a min of 75,000 hours and comes with a 12-month warranty.

For more information or pricing send us any email anytime! info@luxx.com