LED strip and wrap lights are becoming popular over incandescent and halogen bulbs. They are more efficient, brighter, and long-lasting and do not produce much heat. LED lights are also easily controllable and programmed. 4ft LED light fixtures are becoming the most sought-after choice for these reasons. Such linear LED strip lights are affordable for commercial and residential applications alike.
If you plan to switch to LED linear lights, here is what you should know about them. These lights are extremely durable, resistant to shock and come in compact packages. It will help you to get the right type of light for your needs by knowing the important features of LED strip lighting.
Types Of Linear LED Strips
- LED strip lighting is a broad category that includes all types of LED strip lights suitable for unique applications. Let us see each one of them.
- DC LED Flex Strips: These are the ones that run straight from a low DC voltage, mostly around 12-24V. They are flexible and have an adhesive backing for easy mounting. These strip lights can be cut every two inches and are offered a wide range of light outputs and waterproof protection.
- LED Rope Light: These lights come encased and are omnidirectional but have a very dim output which can be used for accent lighting.
- AC Plug & Play LED Strip Lights: These are flexible strip lights that run straight from your outlet and can run in much longer straight-run lengths than DC Flex Strips.
- High Output LED Strips: High output LED strips are rigid and come mid to high-power. These lights can work straight with 24V DC input.
LED Strip Lengths
The number of LEDs per length is an important factor to look for when buying LED linear strip lights and wrap lights. Strip lights with the highest number of LEDs per foot will offer brighter output and higher light quality. If the LEDs are spaced too far apart, it can result in spotty lighting instead of a clean, constant line of light. The best thing to do here would be to stick to a certain measurement and then convert all other measures to find out what strips have the most LEDs per set unit of measurement. However, 4ft LED light fixtures could be the best options for many households as well as commercial applications.
Also, remember that LED density is one of many factors determining brightness and light quality. Strips with more LEDs per foot may also be low-output LEDs that produce only a fraction of the light produced by other strip lights that are spaced farther apart. Hence, always check the LED strips’ brightness and the number of LEDs per foot.
LED Strip Brightness
The brightness of LEDs is measured in Lumens. The level of Lumens required depends on how you will use the LED strips. If you want LED for accent lighting, anything less than 200 lumens per foot will be rough. However, this will also depend upon your personal preferences and the ambience you are looking for. For general lighting purposes within a room, the brightness needed will depend on the light direction, distance from your subject, and personal preferences. Hence, it is best to take note of the lumens per length along with the LEDs per length of the light strip if you want good light quality.
LED Strip Colors
LED linear strip lights come in a wide range of single and multi-colours like RGB or RGBW. The most common LED strip lights are single colors which emit only one fixed light color. These may come in neutral white, warm white, cool white, red, blue, green, pink, yellow, UV and many more. The multi-coloured LEDs allow you to change the colors according to your liking. The RGB strips are the color-changing strips which can display any Red-Green-Blue combination color.
However, these RGB lights cannot create white-coloured light. Hence, RGBW strips are used in cases where the LEDs on the strip alternate between RGB and white diodes. Such lights can create multi-colour effects and give normal white light when needed.
LED Strip Lights Color Temperature
The various white colors that LEDs can produce are differentiated based on the color temperature, as the temperature indicates how warm or cool the light appears. The higher temperatures (in Kelvin) represent cool colors like blue, while lower temperatures represent warmer colors like yellow. Tunable white lighting is also available nowadays that offers multiple CCT colors on one strip but requires a special controller. This lighting can transform the feel of a room from 2700K warm to 6500K cool.
Wrapping Up
So this is all you need to know about LED linear strip and wrap lights. The next is the strip wattage and installation, which you can take help from your electrician or seller, who will guide you through it.