I’ve been all over the forum, and I haven’t found anything quite like what I’m looking for. I want to put a set of RGB strip lights outside (possibly in direct contact with weather). What are folks using for controllers and power supplies? I know about the Fibaro RGBW Z-Wave controller and the Dresden Elektronik FLS-PP lp (I have several, and they work great). Neither of those is waterproof, as far as I can tell. And the power supply is another matter.
There’s no way I’m the first person to think about this, but I’m surprised that I’m not finding anything on the forum about it. I guess my search-fu is weak.
You can use the quick browse lists in the community – created wiki to search project reports for pool projects. There are a couple of lighting discussions there.
Haven’t done anything about it. Put osram gardenspots around the pool screen (on the outside), a nice three-head lamp post up front and lighting it for Halloween pool is on the backburner until I can find a suitable device
These work great with my led light strips. The led lights strips themselves are a different story. They are Weatherproof but 3 of my sets have now gone bad. These were taped with heavy duty 3m tape to my gutters. The power supply and zwave controller are inside my garage.
Lots of good suggestions! Thanks, folks. I do have GardenSpots on the way (arriving tomorrow), but they aren’t really what I’m looking for. I’ll run the GardenSpots under my shrubs along the front walk for effect, but I also want to run a few strips of RGBW LEDs on the inside of my porch railing and under the soffit. From what I can gather, there just isn’t a ready-made outdoor zigbee or Z-wave LED strip controller…
Yep, which is why I used the rubber borders for my backyard and bore holes into the border, the lights are sitting comfortably inside the rubber edge and the mower can drive over them. At no time can mower blades come above the lights though. And there should be no need to trim even if the grass is some 1.5" away from the lights. But those lights on the pathway are most likely touching the grass… how?
I have no issues with my lights running along my sidewalk. They are very bright and with lights on both sides my sidewalk is completely lit up. I use the plastic stakes that came with them and it works great for me.
So great discussion of GardenSpots. But just a reminder, I’m looking for outdoor rated power supplies and controllers for RGB(W) LED strips. Let’s try not to stray too far OT.
Here’s a picture of my setup so far. I want to add strips under the porch railing and under the porch soffit. Based on the conversation so far, I’m guessing nobody has any recommendations.
The only problem is that they are not controllable with ST. I have mine on a Samsung SmartThings Outlet and then attached to a motion detector to come on when someone walks into the kitchen. You could use the GE Outdoor Light Plug-and-Control Power Outlet to plug them in outside and then set up on a timer to come on when your colored lights come on. My Parents have the Sylavnia lights that @cdmobile shared and they are also a nice light strip, yet again you have to put them on a smart outlet to get them to work with ST.
Last, if you use the armacost or Sylavnia you will need to install a metal strip so they will stick to the porch railing. The Osram lights you have the ability to screw them into the porch and not worry about installing a metal strip to stick anything to. The Sylavnia strips have a connecter cord that is about 2-3in long to connect each light strip together. The Armcost connect to each other and use a 2-3in connector if you are wanting to change directions with the lights.
I had mine created custom by a LED strip supplier over here in Europe, so i could use them in water (IP68). You could specify not only the length of the strip itself but also the length of the control/power lines to the strip. The power supply can be in dry area (house/barn) together with the controllers (i just bought a couple of WIFI RGB controllers from Mi-Light, but these can be bought from different sources). if you connect ST compatible controllers it should wordk. Mine actually work via a Domoticz Gateway which i already had and which had build in support for Mi-Light)…
Yikes, $99 for 5 meters! Yeah, that’s a bit spendy considering there’s no shortage of (supposed) IP68 rated RGBW strips on Amazon of the same length for about $25. Then you still have to buy a power supply and controller, so…
pool is on the backburner until I can find a suitable device
and the mower can drive over them. At no time can mower blades come above the lights though. And there should be no need to trim even if the grass is some 1.5" away from the lights. But those lights on the pathway are most likely touching the grass… how? 
