LED strip lights for stair/step lights, etc.

Brand new noob here to this, but I'm figuring out the wiring for a house we just broke ground on. I am curious about using these along the top of the molding, for nighttime stair step lighting and for night lights/ambiance lighting. I see there is special molding made for this, and channels, but I'm looking for suggestions for something that's tasteful but also economical. Our builder is not doing any customizations for us and I am not replacing the molding. I was thinking just a matching-color white channel/diffuser mounted to the wall, touching the top of the molding. Hoping to blend it in.

I see there are strips that are made for wall washing/scraping, and I guess there are angled channels that can aim the lights downward (in this case). I don't want to see dazzling lights, just a nice glow on the floor/stairs.
I considered removing the molding, placing strips on the bottom of the wall, and reinstalling the molding on top, sandwiching it in there, but unless I do that throughout the room/area, that's going to look bad.

It probably doesn't matter, but I'm planning on a Raspberry Pi-based home automation system. I'm not sure about Arduino or what is controlling the lights, but I plan to make use of LED strips under the kitchen cabinets and addressable strips around the soffits of the house outside (for downlighting and maybe also for permanent Christmas lights,too).

strip lights suck.
no heat dissipation, weak output, plastic cover yellows over time, look cheap because they are cheap.
many better alternatives.

mercrazy said:

strip lights suck.
no heat dissipation, weak output, plastic cover yellows over time, look cheap because they are cheap.
many better alternatives.

Click to expand...

I don't have any experience to argue with you, but I have to figure there is a wide range of quality out there, from the name brand stuff to Chinese knock-offs, right? Also, they're relatively new but they're also getting better, no?

But what would you recommend? I'd like to put in some low-voltage LED lights for nightlights and stair step lights. I'd like to be able to dim them. The builder we are using wants another $200 just to process a modification but I can work out anything low-voltage I want, under the house's security/network/automation scope of work.

I am looking at a Raspberry Pi-based home automation system, so I am not afraid to code something and build it, somewhat, from parts. I have a background in electronics, I'm in the commercial fire alarm/security industry, and I coding is a big hobby. So all that said what would you suggest?

LED strip lights don't suck. Cheap ones do.

Philips Hue while expensive, have no reliability issues. I have them on many hours a day at full without any issues and don't expect any.

Even the cheap ones will last a very long time if you do not run them at 100% all the time. I have ones that are typically on at 10-25%, for 1/2 day, with the odd burst at 100% and 3 years in, they are just as bright as when I got them and have no expectations that will change.

Diffusers only yellow if they are exposed to UV. Never had a diffuser yellow on an indoor LED application.

In terms of looking cheap, exposed bare applications do, but doing it properly most certainly does not, and will solve most of your heat issues at the same time.

I have used these aluminum channels/diffusers and while the QC is not perfect, they are cheap enough to throw out the odd one. The aluminum is thin, but sufficient to provide added thermal dissipation and provides an adequate mounting surface. Just remember to clean well with acetone or glue before attempting to stick your LEDs. The spacing to the diffuser is adequate to remove almost all of the pixelation with typical LED strips. Don't use them with Philips Hue though, too wide. Hue is better for hidden applications as the LED spacing is large.

As noted, with the low cost ones, just don't run them 100%, 24/7, and since you mainly want "glow" running them 10/25% is going to be more than adequate most of the time. With the aluminum channel, 100% bursts are not going to be much of an issue. If you source online, check the reviews, and focus on what percentage get lots of 1 an 2s. That gives you a good idea of QC. I would accept a bit lower overall rating for a lower number of 1s and 2s. There are some commercial LED strips, obviously more expensive than typical online (2-3X), but you are guaranteed of the quality and they are designed to operate continuously on and meet their specs.

I have had good luck with Google/Amazon compatible WiFi controllers, though they tend to be weak on RGB\WW\CW control (strips with RGB + White LEDs). They will do it, but not nice, even the apps are not fantastic in this respect. Not all controllers are equal, and again look at the reviews. Make sure you have good WiFi. You can of course do you own PWM board. The Hue control is pretty much flawless and more featured. For my kitchen, I have Hue as feature lighting on the backsplash with a custom diffuser, then some quite bright strips on off the shelf channel that is operated maybe 2 or 3 hours a week usually at 100% for counter work lighting. I have a mix of Hue and cheap strips around the house.

Good info @JustAnOldFashionedLEDGuy !

Regarding Led strips, I have probably bought well over 10 different brands or unknown brands of 5m rolls of the stuff. I've also had many different impressions of the LED diodes themselves. I've found the 5630 LED chips to be the best out of what I've had.

The interesting thing is that the quality is very variable, but you sometimes can unexpectedly get a reliable bargain for very little. My 2nd LED strip was a very cheap 5m one from ebay for just £6.99. But it is probably one of the best ones I've had. I've had just over 2 metres of it behind my bed on a dimmer switch and it has lasted 3 years so far. And when I compare it to a piece of the strip that hasn't even been used, it hasn't even started going yellow. This is basically proof that it is possible to get very good strips at this price, but you have to be lucky. The colour rendering index isn't perfect though. It has an ever so slight slight pink tinge to it, but is better than any other cheap strip i have bought. The colour temperature was rated at 2700 kelvin and I'd say it is more like 3000k. Even the power output is realistic for this type of strip at exactly 12w per metre and it is very bright.

Since buying this one, I've never been able to get a cheap one that is this good. All the cheap ones admittedly have terrible sticky back tape so I always use some thin tape specially for LED strips if they are mounted face down. But when I got others, it looked like they used a random batch of LEDs. All were similar, but not the exact same colour temperature. The resistors and LEDs were almost all wonky, some not even contacting the blob of solder so not working. When you buy cheap, you are only sometimes lucky. The other cheap ones I bought have been a 4000k and 6500k one and both had awful CRI. Very greeny blue colour and even their light output was pretty poor.

The best LED strip by far that I've used is this one:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MARSWALL...Daylight-White-5600K-55-65lm-LED/183168288260


An interesting colour temperature of 5600k and is incredibly close to daylight and has a CRI of 95 +. I've used this one with 12 strips of 12 LEDs on a aluminium plate with a heat sink attached and used it as an up lighter by the window. This LED strip also has really good quality tape on the back of it so doesn't need any extra to help stick it. Used a remote and ran it around 90% brightness just to save the life of the LEDs but is still incredibly bright.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Single-C...926236?hash=item364383831c:g:OpUAAOSwM6FcHUqZ

This allows you to turn it off without having to go close to is as well as dim it. I just avoid using any of the flickering modes!