3 Years Later: DIY Permanent Holiday LEDs - What worked, what didn't, and what's new?
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- čas přidán 2. 06. 2024
- A lot has changed in 3 years, but some things have stayed the same, start here if you're thinking about installing permanent LEDs on your house. This video is sponsored by the new Aqara G2H Camera and Zigbee Hub: amzn.to/31r7mDg Coupon code: HPG2HCAM
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Climate: Northern (Madison, WI, US)
Strip Type: WS2812B
Months installed: 11
Repairs needed: 0, just some "finishing up" of various shortcuts I took during initial install.
Thanks for the comment, I live in Milwaukee and have been wandering about this. I got all the supplies and parts, just have to mount it up. This gives me some certainty 👍
I tried to set up LED strips on my house a few years ago before I saw your videos and boy howdy what a nightmare that was. My experience with home automation, electronics, etc., is extremely limited. So glad that there are now resources to make this whole thing easier. I'm going to have to give it another shot this year.
2:03, with one sentence you saved me a strip of LEDs, thanks! I was going to throw them away but I kept them just in case. I cut the first LED like you said you did and re-soldered the rest and I have a working strip! Unfortunately this fix didn't work for another set of LEDs I have which are not working, but I'm still happy I could save one of them! Thanks Rob!
I'm building a new house and I'm an strongly considering doing this. My main reservation is the programing and controllers. Recently I managed to figure out adding a raspberry pi to a 3d printer with a camera and remote monitoring. This doesn't seem that much more complicated and with all the community support I think I'm going to give it a go when the house is complete. Thanks for all your Vids!
Great timing Rob - As I sit here water testing my Pixel controller box for this year - I feel a lot more confident that i'm "still" on the right setup and haven't made any major errors along the way! New year - more strings, more controllers, more power supplies, MORE LIGHTS! Ho ho ho!
Thanks! Im right in the middle of working on outdoor LED's. Glad to see the equipment I went with is still the best way to go.
Hey from Eastern WA. What system did you go with.
Climate: Colorado Springs; String type: WS2812B strips in aluminum channel with diffuser; Months installed: 33; Repairs: none; I ran them daily for accent lights plus all holidays. Replaced them this season due to painting the house. Installed ws2811 square strings under the eaves to wash house with color. I started this because of Rob's videos and have never turned back, and it is the hit of the neighborhood.
Fellow COS here. Thanks! I'm looking to do this on my place.
Where can you buy ws2811? All I see is ws2812???
You're the best! I've watched all of your LED related videos several times.
Climate: Northern (Eastern Idaho)
Strip Type: WS2812B
Months Installed: 4
Repairs: none
Notes: Using two DigUno boards with sync feature, 18ga thermostat wire for power injection, noticed diffusers yellowed after three month inspection despite spraying with UV resistant Acrylic prior to install. Colors still look great
Thanks for the update! My 1st order of pixels arrive today!
Making plans to try this in the coming year. Thanks for the update. 👍
Thank you SO much for this update. I was just wondering this question the other day. I probably won't get to this project tell next summer but have been considering it as I think about decorations this yere.
Today's the Day! Renting a boom lift as soon as they open. Mucho thanks to you and Dr.Zzz's for time, help and inspiration with this project. 👍
Awesome video. Can't wait to get my project started. Been wanting to do them for a long time now and I think I'm finally ready
Thanks ! video that I have been waiting for, perhaps for a year. Awsome!
Climate: Northern (Montreal,Canada)
Strip Type: WS2812B
Months installed: 14
Repairs needed: Updated to WLED on my node MCU this October. No cold weather related issues as of yet
Merci!
Thanks Alex for the update. Planning to do this in Ontario North of Superior
Thanks just bought our first house in 2 montagnes and planning for next year installation :D
Up there, it's less of a "freeze - thaw" cycle and more of a "freeze - freeze - ...... freeze" cycle :)
I installed ~1000 WS2815 LEDs a few months ago, it gets extremely cold in Regina, Saskatchewan for extended periods. People have them installed here for Christmas light displays and they handle the cold just fine.
That reverse progress bar for the ad is 🔥
I really would like to see like a beginner setup. I want to put on lights on my new house but instead of the traditional ones, i've been looking at these LED's that are programmable. But after watching a few videos the difficulty curve ramps up VERY quickly.
Oh wow thnx for including the links to the QuinLED-Dig-Uno and QuinLED-Dig-Quad, that's really appreciated! :D Awesome to see you sneaked a Dig-Quad in there to run some of the LEDs over multiple channels. :D
Scrolling through comments, I thought I recognized your name. Seen some of your other videos. Now subscribed so I don't miss any.
A note to the public here, this video is an amazing summary of the options that are available; 5v, 12v, strings, pixels, strips, power supplies, power injection, QuinLED, Dr Zzs, WLED. etc. It's all here and this should be your starting place if you are interested in permanent LEDs. Thank you to the Hookup for putting this together and mentioning the different climates and how they could potentially affect strips. I too am in Florida (Sarasota/Bradenton) and I'm planning on putting up the same strips in the coming month. Still waiting on some parts...
I live in the Northeast.... I am going with the lights..... my ONLY issue is how they look during the day....
@@TheCowboysdude what did you choose? 5v? 12v? Pixels? Strips? I installed 5v strips in aluminum channels. Can't see them during the day. Also, watch TheHookUps's latest video on permanent LEDs. And then when you watched all of the other videos watch them 5 more times. The videos are so dense, too much information for a single viewing. Also watch Quindor's and Dr Zzz's videos. All great content.
IP
I feel like I helped spur this video with my comments 3 weeks ago about issues with my 15 month old LED setup. I'm unsure what happened but after multiple resets, parameter checks, and even some strip replacement they just randomly started working the next night. As always, I appreciate the help!
Haha, not just you. As I said I’ve been getting 5-10 messages a day recently. Glad to hear it’s working again.
You are a legend. You answered all my questions
Its quite funny that I found this video. I will be retiring to Florida soon and I had contemplated doing accent lighting on my house and wondered if I could also make them do holiday lighting too..
Perfect timing!
About to trim my windows for Christmas :) (Halloween if I can get it done in time lol) great to have an update!
Big fan of the timer below the sponsored content part!
Climate: Eastern Mountains of Arizona (6200ft ASL)
Strip Type: WS2811 C9 Bulbs and 12mm Bullets
Months installed: 24
Repairs needed: Re-attached a couple diffusers that have fallen off from Ice.
I live in Colorado where we have really harsh sun and UV in the summer and lots of freeze/thaw cycles in the winter. I put up IP65 strips in aluminum channels and where I had problems was at the solder joints between the connected 1ft strips. I installed them for Halloween and by Christmas I already had one factory solder joint failing. Had to repair a number of them this Halloween to get everything working again. Planning a permatrack buildout with string pixels and DigiUnos some time between now and next Halloween, possibly by Christmas.
Hahaha...I just used the other vids to make my own setup. Was fun to get it together and learning to solder was great. Great updates, though!
Thanks for a great summary and all the links - it does make life a ton easier. One thing you did not include in your parts list is the weatherproof box you used to put the power supply and the controller. Those power supplies are really exposed and I would love to upgrade from the plastic container in which I have put it now. I have searched on Amazon but there is nothing obvious coming up as "weatherproof box". Also would love to know how you mounted the power supply in it. Thanks!
IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS
Was it good for you?
... for 3 years...
Also one other piece of advice. Share a common ground for the whole thing and just run 1 wire fornpower injection. In my track I ran one 18 guage wire along with the led. Works perfectly.
I prefer the "tube look" over the individual "pixel" look. What do you believe to be the better way to mount? Pixel type? Strip or pixel like Dr ZZZs
Starting to set mine up this year, I've got both 5 and 12 volt lights in Alberta climate, I'm using old computer power supplies as they are durable and supply both voltages in my case.
I am also in Alberta and looking at doing this. How have they been so far? How are they currently during the cold snap we are going through?
@@acedrew1 a few issues on some bad solder joins and more tie downs on power injection wires, next year I'll learn more once all done.
Great video!
Thank God no major changes because I already have all of this stuff ordered and delivered LOL.
Just haven’t had a chance to get started. I am doing a test run in my man cave first
Thanks for all of your support. I used your videos to guide me in the design and build of my permanent light display. I’m in Orlando FL and this will be my second season of using this setup with no issues except I’m bad at programming and so i tend to modify others code to fit my setup rather than creating it from scratch. I did wire up my own controllers but have not figured out how to make a wireless connection yet. Where is the best place to download some Halloween code? Thanks again for sharing your expertise!
WLED has some Halloween animations.
Great update
Thanks for sharing 👍😊
Man I just finished my install.
Climate: Northern (Quebec City)
Strip Type: WS2812B (1123 LEDs with WLED on a Node MCU)
Months : 2 ( will update after first winter)
Great video thanks! Cudos for sure on telling everyone your code is no longer the best option. WLED has become an extremely good piece of software and I've donated to Aircookie several times.
Note about 12v (2815) vs 5v (2812). I would love to see more on how often and what wires you use and how you hide them all work for 5v. I chose 12v because for 20m of LEDs I only had to inject power 2, and 2 source so 4 wires (I used two controllers and two power supplies to come from either end to reduce cable length). I used 16Awg outdoor rated speaker wire for power injection.
Initial cost of strips may have cost more, but I saved on wire and lots of time not having to splice into LED strips ever 1-2m. I just injected at each end/connection between 5m rolls.
I am using the IP67 strips mounted directly to eaves. I'm in Ontario Canada, so get from -20 to +40 C (-4F to 104F). Only issue due to poor heat dissipation i believe, is I've lost a couple pixels (2 out of my 1200Leds have lost a single color pixel). Only time this is noticeable is when I have a solid color selected. even then at 60/m its really minor.
How long do you expect this to last before you have to replace the strips? Also do you think this could be done with RGBWW strips and use warm white year round as accent lighting at night, or is it not recommended to have them on that much?
Climate: Coast VERY DAMP (Near Vancouver, Canada)
Strip Type: WS2815 DC12V IP30
Months installed: 12
Repairs needed: In the process of complete removal.. Not sure if bad soldering or water in the connection points but had constant flickering, had to cut out one LED at the end.. Worked for maybe 3-4 months without issue. Not sure I would do it again without a complete redesign. I spent a lot of time making sure I sealed the ends during the initial install.
Thank you Rob!!!
Climate: HOT Phoenix Arizona US. All equipment is mounted in the attic.
Led strip: WS2812b from btf
Installed: 15 month on the front of my facia boards.
Power Supply: cheap 5v power supply
Controller: Hand build Dig Uno's. I had to run 5 controllers. I had too many leds for the processor for e131 functions. Air cookie suggested around 300 leds per controller, if you are going to use e131. Otherwise it's fine with wled to have more.
Repairs needed: two leds had a single color die. I had to resolder a new one in. They are on year round, on white at 20% if it's not a holiday.
I'm in phoenix area too and I want to get into this hobby. Any suggestions on how to get started?
@@jaykuptake I used the the channels and noted on this video. Put the channel up, and drilled thru it and the facia next to the closet rafter so you can't see the wire. Then drilled a hole to route the 18ga into the attic. I routed all the wires next to the attic access, and have an outlet there. That way I can stand on the ladder to wire and diagnose. The controller is a dig uno by quinled. They are fused, and have temp sensors if you want to use them.
I'm in Phoenix and interested in doing something like this. How have your plastic diffusers held up against the sun? I'm just worried that I would have to replace the plastic constantly.
@@jaykuptake This video worked well for me to get started with the eve lights. I used 5v for my install but would do 12v if I did it again. Much less power injection. For the eve light controller, I used intermitech's diguno. Another great led channel. Don't put more then 300 leds on a 8266 based controller if you plan on running e131 for your display. For Christmas light shows, Canispater Christmas has a great channel for using show controllers, and scheduling with xlights also.
@@deity5555 The plastic diffuser is holding up so far. They have yellowed pretty good, but that matched my tan eves okay, lol. I think they are good to use here. But mine are also a bit shaded, as my house faces north. You only take them off for repairs, if you're careful I have no cracking yet. I lost one color in two pixels so far. Easy fix though, I used ip65 strip. So cut, pull back silicone from the strip, solder in the new one. Stick electrical tape to the channel under splice, to make sure it stays insulated from the strip.
Hey Rob, thanks so much for this video series. It's inspired me to not only get into this project, but so many other home automation project I never would have dreamed of beforehand. I do have one question though, when it comes to power injection, do you just run the one single wire from your power supply and splice it at each junction to inject power, or do you have multiple wires running from the power supply to each injection point? I can't really seem to find much on this topic, and I've never dealt with anything like this.
Thanks!
I ran a wire small gauge wire with the strip, and power injected at every splice. I then power injected every 100 leds with another 18ga back to the controller. I used 5v, I would use 12v if I did it again. I think you can get away without the small gauge follower power injection that way. Also run the power injection thru the controller power feeds too. That way they are fused as well, assuming you're using something like intermit Tech's dig uno.
I have been waiting for this video and you did not disappoint. Buy I have to say I disagree on the WS2812b vs WS2815b strips. I feel like with the 12v strips you don't need to power inject as often or at all in the case of 2 or 3 strips per section or you can get by with just injecting power at the end of a run. Compared to a professional install, the WS2815b strips are still super reasonable. I picked them up on AliExpress for around $25 a strip. To me, the additional cost of 12v strips is worth less hassle of wiring power injection every 5 meters.
I'm just hesitant to give that recommendation because I've never deployed a WS2815 permanent install and because I've seen lots more reports of failure with the WS2815 than I have with the WS2812B (again, this could just be selection bias), and I wonder if it has anything to do with the different circuitry required to regulate voltage (they are doing some crazy MOSFET inside those strips).
Thank you for these videos! You've saved me from some big buying mistakes! Maybe you can save me from a few more? I have a handrail on my deck that is roughly 120 linear feet and a squared-"W" shape. Around every 50"-78" of glass panel is a 4x4 that holding it and is either a 90 degree turn or just continues straight on.
Based on your videos, I was looking at the 5V SK6812's to have the option of a pure white. For a run this long, does it make sense to use 12V instead? Or is it enough to use a 5V power supply with power injection? (How many feet per injection?) The idea is to have the lights bright enough to give some light to the deck, but also have the color for music and/or holiday decorating.
I plan on attaching the aluminum channels to the underside of the handrail, pointing down. Did you attach yours using the clips? Or directly glue/screw them to your house?
Also, the controller would be outside under the deck as there really isn't an option to have it inside. Do you have a recommendation for a waterproof (or water resistant) case (like what you used in the videos) to store the power supply and controller? Do you have a video showing the assembly of the case, controller, and power supply?
Am I on the right track here with the equipment above and from your links?
Love the content. Do you ever wish you oriented your strips down so they would shine light on the side of your house?
Just a note about my experience. I needed to have the facia all around the house replaced so that meant all of the LEDs had to come down. That was months ago and they are still lying on the ground. A new installation is much less trouble than trying to re-do an old one. I am seriously considering just tossing it all and starting over. Putting the LEDs in channels with clips does no good when the clips are gone. Also soldering wires outside on a ladder is a serious pain.
I love these videos, thanks for all of the info! Do you have a link to the kind of project box that you housed everything inside? Yours fits the PSUs so perfectly that I'd love to find something similar.
Climate: UK weather, lots of rain. Rarely much below freezing.
Strip type: WS2811 IP65, not in a weatherproof channel. Two 5m strips with power at both ends.
Months installed: 20
Repairs needed: Multiple partial failures resulting in having to replace one strip entirely and also had to splice and replace a short section. Some failed within days of installation so weathering wasn't the cause.
I would do it again but would want much more reliable strips.
I started this year with NodeMCU and WLED/X-lights (but I am having connection issues and lagging issues). I love this hobby. I am thinking of "upgrading" and buying a Falcon F16v3 for next year. I know this is a generalized question, but what are your thoughts? I also want to add a mega tree.
Thank for all the great advice.
As I am getting older now, I want to make it easier and add permanent lighting to my house. By looking at all the options you get a head ache.
One big concern is "How will it look" from a brightness standpoint. I have look closer into the "Jellyfish" lights and this looks real good. I don't know what they use, but it
seems that theirs are so much brighter than what you got with yours. I this possibly just a difference in mounting or are their brighter LED's out there? I noticed that they mount them facing down, therefore you get that cool light effect also on the walls. (That's what I really like), maybe that is the difference. Thanks again!
Good Video: I want to add a few things, I know you mentioned the use of the channels as protection from the elements. I recently installed my own small setup after building DIY LED Whips from The Hook Up advice along with a few others. An alternative is the use of PEX white tubing as diffuser and elements protection. I built my UTV led whip with PEX and installed 2 strips back to back inside and they have been working amazingly with 144/m WS2815 strips. I decided since the whips impressed me so well, i wanted to do a small amount of LEDs on the house and i found the WS2815 strips are actually cheaper to purchase than WS2812b currently at least on ebay. I was able to purchase 5M sections of 30/m WS2815 for $14ea. I installed the LED strips inside 1/2inch white PEX and sealed the ends of the tube with hot glue. When i installed them to the house, i just pressed them in the corner of the roof/wall with hot glue and used heat gun to get any bends out of the pipe on install. As for PSU, i ordered a cheap 12v PSU off amazon, but it only lasted a month before it stopped working, so i pulled an old computer ATX psu out of an PC i had laying around collecting dust and jumpered it so it ran when the switch was turn on and ran my LEDs off the 12v rail of the ATX psu, something i noticed after switching to the EVGA 500watt PSU is the ATX PSU is consuming 17% less wattage from the smart plug as the cheaper amazon 12v PSU did running the same hardware. www.ebay.com/itm/WS2815-Upgraded-WS2812B-RGB-Pixels-Dual-Signal-Strip-Individual-Addressable-12V/353172939350?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=622373178019&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
Awesome setup and for 12v you indeed can go with an ATX power supply and they are very cheap for the wattage they deliver. But please please included some fuses in that setup! ATX power supplies have a different intended use and their OCP and other protection measures have been calibrated for it. It will no problem set fire to your wiring or LED strips and still not trigger if not probably fused. Other then that they are a great choice for larger 12v projects. :D
Hey, first off I wanted to say I really enjoy your videos. Not only are they step-by-step informative but everything ist really well explained so that even a beginner can keep up. Thank you!
I have a question regarding the LEDs that you use, you mentioned that you perfer the 30 LED/Meter versions for your permanent Christmas lights, is this also an option for indoor indirect lighting? or do you use a higher LED per meter version for indoors?
I usually use higher densities inside.
I just installed mine over the summer - August 2020 and I live in Alberta, Canada. We just started to experience our first week of negative temperature and they are still holding up fine. I didn't use aluminum channels. I have them facing downwards under my roof unlike yours which is on the outer side of your roof. No repairs yet. Will see if it holds up to christmas
How did they work out for you? Actually going to be setting mine up in the spring. I’m in NE PA so I won’t be as cold as you, but still curious! Thanks!
Also curious how they went, and what your final costs looked like. I’m in Edmonton and just got a quote for a third party to do it to compare, but if it’s not a huge amount of trouble to wire this up here then I’ll be considering the DIY way. Thanks!
@@foolsgoldenrod the front section of my house is still holding up fine. However, the rear has one section that the adhesive came loose which then got exposed and has started to have display issue in that section. I will replace that section this summer and hold it down with extra adhesive. We get a severe amount of wind gust in my city - Lethbridge Alberta.
So you used the strips? And just stuck them directly to the house with an adhesive ? Wanting to do this on my home in ON 👍🏻🇨🇦
@@Noonelson Yup. Although the ones on the back side of my house have fallen off. That was on me though - we get severe wind gusts here in Southern Alberta and when it popped loose slightly I just ignored until it got worse and then I just pulled what's left. The ones at the front are holding up fine still. Some of the LEDs are dead though. Govee has some new outdoor strips but It is not available in Canada yet just the US. I am waiting for those to be available then I will swap with those ones.
Great videos and in process of buying all the components... except for the cheap power supply. Ordered 1 from Amazon, it had concealed damage in the box, and the return replacement also had concealed damaged in the box. Amazon will only refund the 2nd return, so am now going with the Meanwell power supply and hope it's not damaged.
Thanks Rob.
Thanks for these videos!
I'm planning to install about 25m of WS2815 strips outside, and I'm really confused about what wire gauge to use. In your previous video you mentioned that you used 22 gauge solid core wire for your power injection. How many LEDs were powered via a single circuit?
I'd really like to run all 5 of my strips as a single series if possible, since that would greatly simplify the wiring, but I'm unsure how much power I can safely run along the power injection wires.
+1 to the quidLED recommendation, QUAD and OCTO from this video even.
Climate: Sub Tropic (QLD Australia)
Setup 20m x WS2812 , in channels with diffuser, 5v supply isolated by Sonoff Basic (controlled by HA) to cut power when not in use, D1mini running WLED
Installed 12mths
Repairs: Well, no repairs actually done, but I do have multiple failed pixels at random points, seems mostly the blue pixel that goes? I think possibly cooked them? They do get direct sun for a couple hours each morning.
Great video - two questions:
1. Do you have a link to the high amp smart plug you mention in the video that also measures power usage?
2. You say you use 18 gauge wire for power injection. My house is very long - I'll have a 90 foot run or two. Am thinking 12V to only have to power inject every 10 meters-ish, but still not sure how to tell what gauge I need to use to be safe.
Thanks for making these videos. You've helped a lot. Right now I'm hoping I didn't fry my LED strips tinkering around the other day.... Anyway I'll try to post a cold weather update. I live in Northern Minnesota/North Dakota. We usually win the cold weather race for the United States.
Hi…Can you please let me know how the LEDs are working for you in MN? I want to use strips but unsure about operating conditions
Same question! An update would be super helpful.
Thanks for your nice video. 👍
Thank you for this video. Thought I’d check and see if you recommend any other strips now since this video is a year old? I’m wanting to do this within the next 30 days and trying to figure out which strip lights would be best.
I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. I have some experience with putting the lights on the house. I did it with my parents place 10 years ago. I had frames for my windows and things, but they were made from some flexible pvc material that didn't really lend itself well to being used as a frame. I saw in the video that you use frames for your windows. What did you use to make the frame? Also, can you cut led string lights to length? Or do you have one string for multiple windows and just sequenced out to each?
Climate: UK
Strip Type: WS2811
Months installed: 36
Repairs needed: 0
Been through multiple iterations of controllers (Dr Zzzs, Hookups Holiday LED's 2.0 and now WLED)
IP67 or IP64? I'm looking to setup WLED and ESP8266s this year with IP64
I’m using the pixels rather than the strips. They are IP68.
First of all you did a great job with your lights. I was wondering if you had any input on the led rope lights? I don’t need all the programming for different light options. I just want to be able to do the regular lights options. Do you think I’ll need to do anything special running those rope leds or just connect and go?
I just sent you a DM on Twitter yesterday haha awesome.
Climate: Mild California coastal hills
Strip Type: Analog RGB 12V bus
Months Installed: 98 Months (no really)
Repairs Needed: None
I ran the bare outdoor rated strips under my eaves and held them in place with big staples. Large dedicated bus cable in the larger runs but otherwise injected in the middle of most runs. 6 PWM channels on an Arduino Mega board with a FET based power switching board of my own design. Strips have yellowed a bit but they never see direct sunshine so it's not bad and you have to go looking for them to see them. No failures except for the time I accidentally hit one with a hammer trying to drive a nail.
BTW: I used those 45 degree aluminum channels to light up my garage, hall closet, and pantry with white LEDs and I couldn't be happier with them
I'm finally ready to tackle this project. Has anything changed or been updated? Newer recommendations for parts etc.? Thanks.
following...
On my 3rd year of holiday LEDs and I have gone through so many iterations of custom code with FastLED and custom designed PCBs. This year I am finally tipping my hat and bowing out of those projects, instead using WLED code and Quin LED dig board design. Glad to see this channel agrees with my surrender and good to see The Hook Up give a shout out to Aircoookie and DrZzs
I also use AirCoookie's alexa local library, he's on a whole different level than me as far as coding.
Thanks for another excellent video Rob!
I have a question: is it possible to control the LED strip drivers in a more generic way using HA or Node Red, so that any installed lights can be part of generic year-round architectural lighting, not just in the holiday season.
Thanks :-)
Do you have a tutorial on how you built the PVC window surrounds for the LED strings shown in this video?
I’ve love to see this
ive seen someone else do it they get a slightly larger pvc pipe cut it in half so the smaller one snaps into it. you screw on those halves where ever u want and you have the smaller sections made with the lights in them so when the time comes you just snap everything on and pull everything off as one whole unit its a awesome idea but at the same time more junk to pile up in the attic lol
How much can you safely up the voltage of 5v strips? I’ve recently setup 23 meters with power injection thru 18awg and noticing significant drop at the end when I enable white. As long as I keep brightness down to around 30% no issue. Great video series, learned a lot and got me started in this process, but having a hard time figuring out how much I can safely turn up the voltage. PSU started at 5.2, I’ve recently upped to 5.5 and unsure how much more if any.
Hi Rob. Can you also provide an update on your house lights (zemismart, sonoff) that you incorporate into your show? Would you still take the same approach as your 2018 video on the topic?
I put up Alitove IP67 (no channel) around my porch last year and they still look great. I want to put more across the entire front under the drip edge using aluminum channels. This is south facing Texas sun, do I need to worry about IP65 turning yellow or should I also use IP67 in the channels?
I wanted to do some "under the cabinet" LED lighting and some accent lighting in the 3 large half-moon windows we have in our home. We are getting ready to completely gut/renovate our condo and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to wire everything up. I would like to control the kitchen cabinet lighting with a switch but the half-moon windows with an app. My idea was to install cat6 wiring from a "PoE switch" to each of the locations I wanted power but I don't know where to go from there. It looks like it's best to do what you do and just use a power supply? I can't find any PoE light switches. Do I just have to do all the controlling with an Arduino?
This is great information - do you have recs on best led strips to use inside and incorporate with existing smart things hub or another smart app?
Hey man, what would you do if you were to bring that entire setup indoors?
Like I have white base boards, maybe I could point the LEDs up for up lighting the walls? How would you do that?
Thanks for making this video. I was hoping you would do something like this. I followed your instructions last year and did 50m of 2812B strips running on 2 60A power supplies. California desert HOT and dry. 8 months installed, 0 repairs. I used the aluminum channels.
I had a bunch of 14 AWG romex, so I ran that from the garage mounted power supplies behind my facia board, and when I wanted to inject power, I drilled through the facia and aluminum channel and soldered 18 AWG wire from the romex to the led strip. I did this every 2.5 meters. My goal was to have less power loss than you at the farthest point from the power supplies. It doesn’t look any different than yours, the end gets yellow on full bright.
I moved 2 months ago so I get to start over. I got the holidaycoro long range boards and some receiver cards with enclosures. I’ll need to run AC to all of them, but I think it’s going to look great. I already received WS2812B strips so I’m glad you would stick with those. Thanks for your great videos.
When you say it yellows on full bright are you indicating some voltage drop or no voltage drop. Just curious. I’m looking for ideas. I’ll have 55 - 60m of 2812b I’m planning to run.
@@sammyhall7786 yes, some voltage drop. So what I did like Rob was lowered the max strip brightness so that didn’t happen, but the lights were obviously a little more dim then they could have been.
I had LED strips on my roofline at my old house with channels, I live in Chicagoland area, I will be going LED strings in my next move most likely. After 1 season about 1/5th of the strips needed repairing and replace. I don't know if it was the brand of strips, and also how my roofline would freeze for sure didn't help. If some how I could install them in a safer area where ice wont be an issue on my new home, I will maybe attempt strips again, or do a partial area and see how they hold up. My old house had icing issues all where I hung the channels. So I could only imagine the ice getting into them, and then breaking the seals on the strips making them not hold up anymore. The pressure was so strong the gap between the channel and my roof actually pushed the channel with the screws about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch in some sections. I noticed this when I went to repair the strips and the once tight channel was now lose and needed to be retightened.
Question - I am looking on some feedback or logic that would help me chose between strips or strings? Ive watched Dr Zzs video which recommended 12v WS2811, whereas you suggest the 5v on strings. I never considered strips as my assumption is that once you put them in a sleeve, the light would look diffused or blended with the colors next to it... instead of the crisp single point of strings. Thoughts, links? Thanks again for your great videos
Hello! I am a first timer in the synced christmas lights game, and have learned a lot watching all the videos. I have yet to find a video on how to actually play the music during a light sequence. I am hoping to start with a NodeMCU, but how do I get the audio to a speaker? Are there recommended speakers? Thank you
RGBW IS supported yes by falcon controllers. You just need to set the pixel count higher in the falcon configuration to account for 4 channels per pixel instead of 3. So 150 pixel 5m strip of RGBW would be set as 200 pixels in Falcon and 150 pixels of RGBW in xlights.
I pulled that info directly from the XLights page. I've never attempted it.
Thanks again for amazing content, do you have a amazon link to the box that you mounted the power supplies in?
Nice video! Im about to start the project but have one question regarding current and wire gage. Im to install 65 ft of stirps in series; to feed them ill be running the 3 conductor 18 AWG wire that u used. My strips are 30 led/m so im estimating 36Amps max. Question is... according to the AWG standard 18 gage can handle .92 Amps so im concerned ill burn the conductors. Is there something wrong with my math? Are the power injection wires carrying some of that current? Thanks for your help!!
I have the same exact fear/question. Hopefully someone can help answer
What do you think of Jellyfish lights? they sell the stuff as a DYI and it is pretty complete.
Hi Rob, what are you using to house your power supplies? I've been looking for something just like that but have so far come up short.
Thanks.
@Jay Huber I didn't and thank you for the link! I'd missed the recommendation by the Dr. It will be out of site so looks are too important for me.
I have a video recommendation - things you can do in home automation with a 3d printer (and good ones to buy at each budget). DIY shade gears and smart power cords sound great, but I think I need a little more nudging to make the investment, and it would be nice to have a central, easy to search for video.
For $170 for an ender 3 there’s no reason to not have one. Possibilities are endless and only limited by your imagination and the time you’re willing to invest. Printed 3 parts and the printer had paid for itself.
I would agree with the other reply. An Ender 3 is a great machine for a low cost (relative to the cost of other printers) there is a huge community on the internet (reddit and facebook have whole communities devoted to the Ender 3) plus, because of its design, it is really easy to modify and upgrade if you are so inclined. Hit me up if you want to discuss the pros and cons of a few different 3d printers, every one has different needs and requirements, so the ender 3 might not be for you, but i have other recommendations i can make based on what you might be looking for
I see that some of these Aluminum Channels offer a clear channel cover instead of the typical Milky cover. Would you still use the milky cover for more diffusion given the chance or would you use the clear covers? I can see an argument to use the clear ones for more defined light, but I'm not sure if it would actually look better or not. Thank you so much for your wonderful content!
Diffused (milky) is best. Note that the strips will yellow from Sun but the diffuser didn’t.
Are the channels facing outside? Is it the right approach to have channel/lights facing outside instead of inside as the inside will help with the reflection on the wall?
I understand it's quite budget friendly. Could you tell me how much you spend for this setup 2 years back?
Climate: Intermountain West (USA)
Strip Type: WS2812B
Hardware: ESP32 Node MCU w logic level shifter.
Software: WLED
Months installed: 5
Repairs needed: 1 (major)
I had Ice/snow penetrate the aluminum channels that I had used for installation. It was at the location of my 1st solder joint/power injection point. Additionally, the power injection at that point was sloppily done and I couldn't fully get the plastic covers on (which lead to the moisture penetration). I had done the work in the air on a cherry picker as it was near the highest point of my roof (about 30'/9 m). I had previously been able to get it working by gently rapping the connection with an extension pole). Eventually that technique failed as well. But hey, they survived Christmas! :)
As I was removing the aluminum channels to make the repair, the strip ripped in several places forcing me to solder in new groups of pixels in those locations. I also moved the power injection another couple of feet to the end of the pixel run on that pitch. That makes about 7 meters from one power injection point to the other, but I've found that between 30-50% brightness is more that adequate, so it shouldn't be a problem. I also only run every other pixel as I like that look better.
My repairs were more a manifestation of my own mistakes during installation than problems with the components.
So what I thought was noise from my power supply was actually noise from me using solderless breadboards. I went from solderless to building my own boards on a normal breadboard and it fixed all of my issues
Interesting! Lots of variables, I've seen and helped troubleshoot so many problems, it's hard to say which ones are equipment based errors and which ones are user error.
Hi - Great videos. Just wondering, do you have an instructable or tutorial about how you made the pvc tubes to go around your windows, specifically, did you drill through from one side to the other in order to be able to insert the pixels? I have pixel strings and am looking for some advice on the best way to mount them around windows. I live in Europe so the availability of pre made solutions is pretty low.
Thanks
Hey first of all, thanks a lot for all the details you give out on this project. It has given me the edge to dare to try it on my own, and so far let's say pretty successful it has been. However I have the following issue, any help would be greatly appreciated. I have installed 4 consecutive strips on my roof line, I use 5V WS2812B with the cheap power supply you recommended. Before starting the installation I tested all 4 strips (with that power supply) and were all working perfectly fine. I started with the first 2 strips and when turning power on, everything lit up just as expected no problems this far. But then I installed the 3rd strip and that's when the problems started. Now, immediately after installation, I turned them on and it worked great, I was really happy about it. But as I was showing my wife a few minutes later my work of art, I noticed that the last part of the installation, say about the last 15-20 led where fixed in a color, when I was actually running the WLED Merry Christmas effect, they were all are moving fine except that last bit. I turned it off and on again and now it was gone, simply that last bit would not come on at all. I waited a while, tried connecting only that last strip directly to the power source, nothing. While I was looking at it frustrated as I could not figure out the problem, it suddenly came on on it's own and started working again. I took the power source back to the original place I had it, hooked up everything as it was originally, turned it back on and viola!! it was all OK again. The next day, I went again at night to turn it on, started the Merry Christmas effect and all working fine, no problem. A couple of hours later I went out to check and when I look up I see only the first 15-20 LED at the very beginning running the effect, the entire rest of the strips where fixed in Christmas Colors, but not running the effect. I turned them off and on and oh! surprise the entire installation is off now, nothing comes on, not even one LED. Up until now I have not been able to restart it again, any suggestion pretty please? Thanks a lot.
Did you run power injection to each of those strips? With 5V ws2812b you'll have to inject power at the beginning and end of each strip. I just wired up my first run of about 500 5v ws2812b strips with power injection, but my lights are acting funky. My nodemcu + logic level shifter isn't panning out. I'm going to try the sacrificial pixel trick tonight.
@@thebruhhh I did inject power at every junction. I tried just bypassing the 1st strip that had the problem and Strat connection from the second one and it all worked as expected, I think the problem is that 1st strip for some reason which is really weird. I haver ordered a new one to give a try.
At about 9:25 you use pvc pipe to hold your lights. Do you have a video that shows how you did this. And would you still suggest this process?
Would a blueghozt controller work if I used the 12v strips that are segmented in sets of 3 leds? Including power injection as well
I am new to holiday lights. I want to wire 15 meter of ws2812b to the same power supply. If i understood correct the best way to do it is to run a separate wire from the power supply to each start of the strips and another pair of cables to the end of each strip and the connect ground and data of each strip together?
I just bought 9 ws2812b led strips 150 to put along my roof lining. What power supply do you recommend and what other pieces do I need as far as signal. Or is there a ready to go plug and play.