Linear light strip installation & purchasing guide, extremely easy to understand

Linear light strips are soft and non-glaring, and can also greatly enhance the fashion and design of the space. With the popularization of lighting knowledge and the emphasis on lighting atmosphere, linear light strips are increasingly used in home spaces.

How should you choose linear light strips for your home space? Today, lighting designer will talk about: Which spaces are suitable for different types of linear light strips? How to apply? What installation details need attention?

PART 1.LOW VOLTAGE LIGHT STRIP

Applicable: ceiling hidden lights, curtain box hidden lights, bedside light strips, cabinet light strips

Our country's household electricity is 220V high-voltage electricity, and many LED lamps currently use low-voltage electricity such as 12V, 24V, and 48V. Compared with high-voltage lamps, low-voltage lamps are safer and have a longer lifespan. The size of the lamps can be made smaller. The most important thing is that there is no flicker and the light is healthier.

Light strips are also divided into high and low voltage. Home linear lights usually use low-voltage light strips.

The most common low-voltage light strip has a specification of 60-120 lamp beads per meter, a bundle of 5-10 meters, and a cutting position of 50-10cm. Usually it comes with adhesive backing and can be pasted directly into the light trough.

Some light strips are also equipped with PVC pipe sleeves for waterproofing and protection:

Bare light strip VS light strip with PVC pipe cover

Low-voltage light strips are widely used in home spaces, such as hidden lights in ceilings, hidden lights in curtain boxes, bedside light strips, cabinet light strips, under-cabinet light strips, under-bed light strips, etc. Low-voltage light strips can be used wherever lights need to be hidden:

To hide lights in the ceiling, you need to make a suspended ceiling and hide light strips around the suspended ceiling.

The curtain box hides the light. It is convenient and trouble-free to use the structure of the curtain box to hide the light.

The lights are hidden inside the cabinet and the lights are hidden under the cabinet, combining practicality and design.

The installation method of the light strip greatly affects the light output effect.

Take the most common ceiling hidden lights (partial suspended ceiling/light trough hidden lights) as an example. There are two most common methods: one is to install it on the inner wall of the light trough, and the other is to install it in the center of the light trough:

The two lighting effects are completely different. The former's light output is even and gradual, and the light looks more natural, soft, and textured, with an obvious "no light" feeling; and the light-emitting surface is large, and the visual effect is brighter. The latter is a more traditional approach, which will have an obvious light cutoff and the light will not look so natural.

A lighting effect that is close to the natural "invisible light" is the ultimate pursuit of space lighting design, so the former installation method is more recommended.

Two different installation methods are used, the former’s lighting is more natural and textured

There are two common ways to hide lights on the edges of curtain boxes or ceilings. One is installed on the top of the ceiling, and the other is installed in the center of the light trough. In the same way, if installed on the ceiling, the light will be more natural, soft and atmospheric. The former installation method is more recommended.

Left: Installed on the ceiling Right: Installed in the center of the light trough

In addition to the classic hidden lights in ceilings and curtain boxes, bedside light strips and light strips at the bottom of bedroom/kitchen wall cabinets are becoming more and more popular. Humanized lighting methods have improved the practicality of lighting and the comfort of home spaces. Spend

How to install bedside backlight strip

How to install light strips under wall cabinets

In addition to the installation location, the installation details of the light strip are also important. I would like to remind everyone to pay attention to two important points:

1. Low-voltage light strips need to be equipped with a transformer power supply. Since low-voltage electricity is powered by DC, the attenuation is greater than that of high-voltage electricity, and the light strips at the end tend to look less bright.

Therefore, generally a 10m light strip needs to be equipped with a transformer power supply. If the light strip is relatively long, multiple transformer power supplies need to be prepared and connected in series with the light strip to ensure uniform and bright lighting.

Low voltage light strips need to be connected to a transformer power supply

Standard wiring method

2. Since the light strip is relatively soft, it may not be straightened when installed directly. If the installation is not straight, the edges of the light output will be bumpy, which will be very ugly. Therefore, it is best to buy PVC or aluminum slots to fix and straighten the light strips, which will produce much better light effects.

Flat card slot VS 45° angle card slot

Part 2: Frameless aluminum trough light strip

Suitable space: seamless installation on ceiling, embedded installation on wall

As home spaces pay more and more attention to lighting design, aluminum trough light strips are increasingly used.

Aluminum trough light strips are based on low-voltage light strips, adding aluminum troughs and high-transmittance PC lampshades. Unlike ordinary low-voltage light strips that can only be used to hide lights, aluminum trough light strips can create a frameless lighting effect, increasing the richness and beauty of the lighting design.

Several different shapes of aluminum trough light strips

Aluminum trough light strips can be installed in the center of the ceiling and do not need to be hidden. After adding a PC lampshade, the light is bright, soft and non-glaring, and the frameless light strip greatly enhances the design sense of the space.

In many popular design spaces in European and American countries, aluminum trough light strips gradually replace traditional main lights and downlights and are used as the main lighting of the space, bringing a qualitative leap in home lighting. Taking corridor lighting as an example, an aluminum trough light strip is used to replace the traditional downlight, which greatly improves the texture and comfort of space lighting.

Frameless aluminum trough light strip as main lighting

However, a word of warning: European and American countries do not have such high requirements for light brightness and pay more attention to the atmosphere. Chinese residents are more accustomed to high brightness. When using aluminum trough light strips as the main lighting in the living room, they need to arrange light sources with sufficient brightness according to personal preferences and usage habits; or add other auxiliary light sources such as spotlights and floor lamps to achieve the ideal space. brightness

How to install aluminum trough light strips

The installation method of aluminum trough light strips is not complicated. After cutting the grooves on the profile, install the aluminum trough light strips, and then apply putty and paint to cover them. This is more advantageous than the complicated method of hiding lights with low-voltage light strips.

The aluminum trough light strip does not waste ceiling height, and the flat design makes the space look more open.

Various creative applications of aluminum trough light strips

Aluminum trough light strips can also be used in the inner and outer corners of the space. They have a very high degree of design freedom and are highly decorative. Therefore, they are very popular among designers and are widely used in various creative designs, accelerating the popularity of aluminum trough light strips. universal

Part 3: High-voltage light strips and T5 tubes

Applicable: commercial space

Low-voltage light strips and aluminum trough light strips are the most mainstream light strip products in current home spaces.

In addition to these two types of light strips, there are also old-fashioned high-voltage light strips and T5 light tubes. However, these two types of light strips are currently mainly used in commercial spaces, and are less and less used in home spaces. Let’s briefly introduce them.

High voltage light strip

High-voltage light strips are commonly used in outdoor municipal lighting

The difference between high-voltage light strips and low-voltage light strips is that they can be directly connected to 220V high-voltage electricity and do not require a transformer (but a driver is required). A bundle of high-voltage wires is usually tens of meters long, which is very long. Since the brightness will not attenuate, only one driver needs to be installed on a light strip.

Compared with low-voltage light strips, high-voltage light strips have the advantages of low cost and stable brightness. The disadvantage is that the brightness of the light is too high, it is dazzling, and it is prone to flickering. Therefore, although high-voltage light strips can also be used in home spaces, they are used less and less by people and are more used for outdoor lighting and municipal lighting.

T5 lamp

T5 lamps are also one of the traditional light sources for light strips. They have the advantage of uniform light output and easy maintenance. However, as the stability and lifespan of LEDs improve, the easy maintenance of T5 lamps is becoming less and less attractive. Moreover, the brightness of T5 lights is usually relatively high, and it is easy to be too dazzling when used in home spaces, so it is more suitable for commercial spaces.