Three steps to calculate the installation cost of LED light strip project

LED light strips are mainly used for decoration. Since many customers are not very familiar with them, they often miss some links when calculating the project quotation, which adds unnecessary costs to themselves. Here is how to calculate the project installation cost of light strips.

1. Number of light strips

Calculate the number of light strips required for the project. It should be noted that light strips can be cut into groups of three. Generally, the length of each group of 60 light strips per meter is 50mm, and the length of each group of 30 light strips per meter is 100mm. After understanding this, you can calculate the actual number of light strips required based on the construction effect design drawing. Generally, it is better to reserve a spare length of about one meter to avoid wasting resources due to excessive purchases.

2. Light strip power supply

Because the power supply is not included when you buy the light strip, after calculating the required length of the light strip, you need to calculate the power supply required, and then match the power supply. Different light strips have different power supplies, so you need to carefully choose the power supply that matches. The power supplies of the light strips are listed below:

0603 light strip: 12V, 60 lights per meter, 3.6W per meter

1210 light strip: 12V, 60 lights per meter, 4.8W per meter

5050 LED strip: 12V, 30 LEDs per meter, 7.2W per meter

5050 LED strip: 12V, 60 LEDs per meter, 14.4W per meter

For example, if you buy a 5050 light strip and the power supply is 12V, 4A, then one power supply can only support 6 meters of 5050 light strip. Because the power of 5050 light strip is 7.2W per meter, 6 meters is 43.2W in total, and the rated power of the power supply is 48W, it is generally not recommended to use the power supply at full load, because it will have a great impact on the life of the power supply. It is recommended to use only 95% of the power supply. If 100 meters is required, the corresponding 4A power supply needs to be equipped with at least 16.

3. Light strip controller

For RGB light strips, they must be equipped with a controller to be effective, and the length of the light strip that can be controlled by a controller ranges from 5 meters to 20 meters, mainly depending on the specification of the controller selected. Therefore, after purchasing the RGB light strip, you need to purchase additional controllers according to the control length of the controller, or purchase an additional RGB amplifier (each amplifier can extend 5 meters). Don't mistakenly think that one controller can achieve the control requirements of all RGB light strips, this is a wrong view.

For example, if you buy a 100-meter RGB light strip, and the controller you choose is a regular controller, that is, each controller has a control range of 5 meters, then the 100-meter RGB light strip will need to be equipped with 20 RGB controllers, or you can buy one RGB controller and 19 amplifiers.