How to Use LED Strip Lights

How to Use LED Strip Lights

LED Strip lights are thin, flexible lights that can be utilised throughout homes and gardens. You can purchase both waterproof and non-waterproof lights and light strips can be cut to perfectly suit your project.

To affix non - waterproof lights simply peel off the adhesive strip and stick. Waterproof lights are affixed using screws and mounting clips.

You can choose LED strip lights based on colour, brightness and how moisture proof they are. Lights are generally sold in spools.

Most LED strips need to be used with a 12v power source so if in doubt check with the manufacturer and your electrician.

Where to Use LED Strip Lights

LED lights are fast, effective, eco-friendly and incredibly cheap to run. You can use them anywhere you want to, but they're most commonly used as a way to highlight areas in the home.

For example, you can place lights around the bottom of your kitchen cupboards or above your work surfaces. You can use them in your garden to illuminate a pathway or even place them behind a mirror in your bathroom to give a 'dressing room' effect.

What About Colours?

Light is a fabulous way to add interest and character to a home, but installing new light fittings can be expensive and disruptive. With LED lights, it's quick and easy to make a transformation and you won't need to start messing with wiring or drilling holes in your ceiling

LED lights come in a myriad of different colours and you can even find strip lights that change from one colour to another. Because they're so cheap to run, using LED lights around the home is a great way to provide enough light to get around and avoid having to walk into pitch black rooms, without having to fork out thousands on energy bills, which is what would happen if you kept your conventional bulbs on all the time.

Are they Safe?

The short answer is yes! LED lights don't get hot like normal bulbs. 90% of the energy they use goes into making light, as opposed to the 20% achieved by normal bulbs (the other 80% of energy is wasted producing heat).

This means that LED strip lights don't get hot, so you can use them inside cupboards and wardrobes, in bathrooms, to illuminate shelving or along walls.

Can I Fit LED Strip Lights Myself?

If you want to plug your LED Strip Lights into the mains then you can fit them yourself, but if you want them wired in then you'll need to employ the services of an electrician. However, most homeowners prefer to simply purchase and plug in, which looks just as effective as wired in strip lights.

Lee McIver invites you to save a little money and do your bit for the environment by replacing all of your traditional light bulbs with energy-saving LED light bulbs.

120V/110V led strip lights