How to install LED strip on the ceiling

Periodically, innovative materials for the construction, installation and decoration of an apartment appear on the market. Particular attention in the design of the room today is given to ceilings. Modern lighting fixtures are successfully used to decorate them.

New types of lighting

Modern fixtures include:

• duralight;
• fluorescent lamps;
• neon lamps;
• LED strips.

Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. Let's take a closer look at LED strips.

LED strip: what is it, advantages

The LED strip is a strip of flexible material itself, the base of which has fixed LEDs. As a rule, two main types of LEDs are used for its manufacture:

• SMD 5050 (5060);
• SMD 3528 (3028).

5050 LED fixtures cost an order of magnitude higher, but have higher power. From a visual point of view, the fixtures also differ from each other. They can be located in different ways, namely with different densities. With an increase in the number of diodes, the brightness also increases.

An important advantage of LED lamps is their ease of installation. Another characteristic feature is their low cost. It should also be noted that the market has a huge selection of LED devices of various colors and shades. The advantages include a long service life of the tape.

Preparing for installation

Installation includes such an important stage as direct preparation for installation. It is necessary to determine the density with which the lamps will be located. To create a basic lighting system, you need to choose LED models such as SMD 3528 (with a density of 120) or 5050 with a density of 60.

Next, we determine the footage and power supply of the system. For this, calculations are made of the perimeter of the area on which the backlight will be placed, the area is calculated. The next step multiplies the power consumed per square meter per illuminated area. What kind of power supply is suitable for installation in this particular case, sellers can tell at the time of purchase. Directly on the tape itself marks the places for the cut. Usually these are pieces of three LEDs.

The soldering of a simple strip occurs in accordance with "+" to "+", "-" to "-". If RGB models are used, the contacts are soldered in accordance with the marking.

The wires that come directly in the kit are considered not entirely reliable for installation, so they are often soldered. For these purposes, stranded lugs with a cross section of 0.75 mm are used with fastening at the opposite ends.

To install the tips, only special tools are used - clamps. The use of conventional pliers is highly discouraged.

This results in wires that will have better contact with the dimmer, power supply or controller.

Contacts are placed directly in the block, and they are fixed with screws.

For even greater security, heat shrink tubing is used, which creates additional strength and isolation of the contacts.

Installation

When installing most LED strips, two connection schemes are used:

• parallel connection;
• circuit with two power supplies.

Installation methods

One of the popular ways to install an LED device is one in which the tape itself is not visible, but soft and warm light comes from it through the stretch ceiling.

To make such lighting, you must:

The mounting kit, as a rule, has an adhesive tape with which the tape is fixed to the ceiling cornice.

You can see more details about the installation in a special video.

If there is a need to illuminate a large room, it is not recommended to use a strip longer than 15 meters. This is due to the fact that the lamps closest to the power supply will burn out in a short period of time due to the high mains voltage.

Do-it-yourself LED ceiling lighting: tips

When installing LED strip on the ceiling, there are a number of points, following which you can make the process and the result of the highest quality.

1. Mounting on the ceiling must initially have a project, that is, it is necessary to think through all the details before buying all the necessary components;
2. Installation takes place with Velcro. In this case, the sticky layer is located on the reverse side of the tape. In addition, it is protected by a special film. Before mounting, it is necessary to choose a PVC corner that is suitable in size to the slope and the shelf. It is attached to the niche with small screws. This is done on the basis that the sticky strip peels off from drywall over time, but it is finally attached to the PVC material. This is especially true of the stretch ceiling - it has to be removed even when minor repairs are required;
3. The wires must be soldered as carefully as possible. The basis is plastic, and the LEDs themselves do not tolerate overheating. Soldering flux paste is best suited for this purpose. As for the solder, POS-61 has proven itself well. It is important that the melting point is no more than 160 degrees. If you do not have a sufficient level of melting of small parts, it is better to entrust this work to a professional;
4. It is not recommended to connect more than three meters of tape together. A conductive track in a significant mass cannot always withstand a large voltage. Therefore, sections whose length reaches 3 meters are best connected to the controller with separate wires;
5. If the installation is done independently, it is imperative to observe the polarity and purpose of the wires;
6. It is necessary to trim and cut the LED strip exclusively along special lines. For convenience, they were originally marked by the manufacturer and it is better to use sharp scissors or side cutters;
7. Remember the importance of backlight color, because it has a significant impact on psychological perception. For example, yellow-green and green are able to calm and relax, red excites the psyche, and yellow is neutral.