The rate of appearance of lighting in home decoration is quite high, it can not only enhance the space hierarchy, enrich the light environment, but also make the space more sense of atmosphere and mood. We can use the strip to present different forms according to demand, straight lines, arcs are no problem. And the strip can also achieve a kind of light without light effect, with the very popular design without the main light is very suitable. So how should the strip be designed and applied? Let’s talk about the topic of strip lighting today.

What is a light strip?

Light strip, also known as LED strip, LED flexible light strip, light strip, flexible strip, etc., refers to the LED light soldered on top of copper wire or ribbon flexible circuit board with special processing technology, and then connected to the power supply to emit light, named because of its shape. Its application is wide, involving indoor and outdoor design, advertising, signage, furniture and other fields.

The role of lighting: auxiliary lighting and decorative to create the atmosphere. There are more types of light strips, now more commonly used low-voltage light strips, borderless aluminum channel light strips, high-voltage light strips, T5 lamps and four kinds of these, their own features are as follows:

1. Low-voltage light strip

Low-voltage strip light has good flexibility, can be curled at will, can be cut according to the need for articulation, made of different shapes; energy saving and environmental protection, low heat generation, long service life, variable light color use flexible, small volume. With PVC casing of the strip, waterproof and moisture-proof effect is better, can be used in the bathroom and other spaces.

The input voltage of low-voltage strip light is DC 12V and 24V, in order to protect the normal use of general low-voltage strip light length in 5-10m or so is more appropriate. Low-voltage strip light requires the use of transformers, and the location of the transformer should be considered during installation.

2. Bezel-less aluminum channel light strip

Compared with the traditional low-voltage light strip, the borderless aluminum groove light strip has more aluminum grooves and high transmittance PVC diffusion lampshade, with uniform and soft light, no graininess and jaggedness, and better heat dissipation performance. When installing, after the groove is fixed on the gypsum board, scraping putty and paint can be covered.

3. High voltage light strip

High-voltage strip can be directly connected to the 220V high-voltage electricity, without transformers, so the length of high-voltage strip can be longer, dozens of meters to a hundred meters or so, higher power, cheaper, but the light is more harsh, the risk of electric shock is higher, and now basically not used for home decoration.

4.T5 tube light

T5 tube is a tube type light bar, uniform luminescence, brightness is also high, easy to install and easy to maintain, but the light length is fixed, poor spatial adaptability, high power and high energy consumption, not suitable for use as an ambient light. Commonly used in the kitchen dining room and other spaces that require high brightness, the bedroom is used with caution.

How to install the light strip

1. Embedded

Embedded installation needs to design the location of the light slot in advance, and then after the modeling is done, the strip is embedded in the light slot fixed, this installation method is suitable for low-voltage strip, you can achieve the effect of seeing light without lights.

2. Snap-in

Snap-in installation is generally done by cutting slots in the surface or panel of the top or wall, putting the corresponding light strip products into the slots and fixing them with snaps and screws.

3. Adhesive

This is the simplest way of installation, using the adhesive backing behind the strip of light comes with where you want to paste it, but the hidden effect is not very good.

How to design and apply the light strip?

The main applications of light strip design in the actual decoration are as follows:

1.  Ceiling installation

The suitability of the strip and the ceiling design is very high, it can be said that the ceiling shape and strip, down light, spotlight complement each other, more to create a soft and bright and moody home atmosphere. Especially in the scene without the main light design, the use of suspended design to highlight the overall simple and atmospheric visual effect, and clear layers.

The glow produced by the light strip gives a feeling of light flowing, soft and dynamic. There are many ways to design a ceiling light strip, and you can choose the right solution for you according to the size and design style of the room. The common ceiling is just these four kinds:

1）Traditional return edge top

Adding a light slot to the top of the return edge is a more traditional way to achieve the effect of a ceiling wash.

2）Suspended Ceiling

In the top surface around the edge of the groove, the ceiling is divided into two parts: the edge of the top and the middle of the flat top, the light groove is generally in the middle of the flat top around, in the visual formation of “suspended” feeling, the middle and the edge of the top can be flush, but also can be some height difference. Ceiling finish surface to the ground in the space below 3m light slot width is about 10-12cm, depth in 10-15cm or so, layer height is tighter in the case can be controlled at about 10cm; layer height greater than 3m can be made wide, deeper than 20cm, or the light will be affected.

3）Flat Ceiling

On the basis of hanging flat ceiling, the light strip is set near the wall to present the effect of wall washing.

You can not only add light strips above the back wall, but also can add light strips to the curtain box, which combined with the gauze curtain can make the light more hazy.

2.Wall installation

Wall strip lighting can outline the shape, regardless of the direction of light must leave enough space for the light to achieve the “halo” effect.

3.Floor installation

Strip can be used for ground decoration, usually used under the floor, under the stairs, skirting and other locations, whether to create an atmosphere or lighting effects are very good, good-looking and practical. Can also be combined with induction devices, the night becomes a night light, the use of very convenient.
Staircase retrofitted with lights can not only solve the problem of space lighting, but also enhance the artistic sense of the staircase, so that the original plain staircase becomes advanced.

4.Cabinet installation

Custom cabinets with lighted strip design is also very common with, especially more and more people choose to set up display-type storage cabinets at home, the combination of lighted strip and glass cabinet doors is very practical.

Cautions：

1.Lighting design should be planned well in the pre-design stage to avoid omissions in the decoration process.

2.Low-voltage light strip must pay attention to the location of the transformer to be able to effectively hide.

3.Although the main function of the strip is to create the atmosphere, but still with a certain role of lighting, it is recommended to buy a strobe-free strip products to reduce the damage to the eyes.

4.If the bathroom wants to install a light strip, be sure to choose a light strip with a waterproof and dustproof level, pay attention to check the IP protection level, IP67 level of waterproof performance can be ok.

5.The color temperature of the strip is routinely in 2700-6500K, according to the home decoration style and tone to choose, the more commonly used is 3000K warm white light and 4000K natural white, light color comfortable, warm effect. There are also color-adjustable ribbons and RGB color light ribbons, you can switch the color of the light at will to create different application scenes.

6.The brightness of the strip depends on the power of the strip and the number of lamp beads per unit length, the higher the power the brighter the light, the more the number of lamp beads the brighter the light.