Powering LED strip lighting
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Looking to run a few sections of LED strip accent lighting around my bar and home theater. I want to tie a few strands together, hide wiring, and power them from a hidden outlet as a permanent install.
What do you guys suggest in terms of wiring to connect between the strips? Roughly 20 feet of routing between one strip and 8 feet the other.
I plan to tie it to a MySensors relay and turn on/off via my Vera. Probably set to a scene, and tied to zwave led dimmer/switch.
These are the strips. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L74ROFC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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How much current does these strips draw?
I read it is 12 Volts but what counts for wiring is the current...
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I have read a couple of different draws for these strips, and current(ly) do not know for sure.
I have seen posted from 0.08 watts per LED, to 0.2 watts per LED.
eBay kits are sold with 5m strands, 300 LEDs, with 5A/12V power supplies though, making the draw 60W, or 0.2w/LED...
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0.2 Watt per LED seems reasonable, so 60 Watt or 5A @ 12 V per strip.
If you want to have not too much voltage drop over the 20/8 feet you should use a cable that has low resistance, only 1 Ohm gives 5 Volts voltage drop...
Maybe better to run 110/230 Volts to the strip and have the power supply there.
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@daulagari Indeed it appears they may be optimal to keeping the lights equal(or similar) brightness. I was hoping to use just one dc converter, perhaps Ill just have to bite it and install a few, all MySensors connected of course.
Thanks.
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for a standard 220V appliance cord with 0.75mm2 (square mm) you have a resistance of 1 ohm for each 43m
for 20 feet (6.1 meters), the resistance is 0.142 ohm, with 5A load, you have a drop of 0.7V..
for 8 feet (2.5m) the resistance is 0.06ohm, again with 5A load, you have a drop of 0.3V
So only 0.4V in difference...
/ Thomas
