I know this has been chatted about in various threads by others Inc mavis but I didn’t find anything that really helped enough.
Like others I would like to add under soffit rgbw strip lights to add wash lighting down my exterior walls with the ability to change colour for different times of year if needed and controlled via st.
My basic understanding so far is that I will need a controller and the best is the fibaro rgbw controller, that bit I can source with confidence
I will also need rgbw strip lights, power supply and strip light extending cable but I don’t know where to confidently source those and what type exactly
I have a large porch ceiling currently without a soffit which has power, it is central to the 2 areas which I intend to add the strip lighting too, I will need to extend from the fibaro out to the strip lights, is this an issue ? I’m not really gend up on what how and why yet so some advice would be much appreciated so I can get this up and running
I’m in the process of doing this too
I already have this around my front door as a dim glow before someone breaks a beam then it lights up white so we can see the door lock and any visitors.
I have already fitted the leds and run the cable - will complete wiring this week end. I’m using a second fibaro rgbw controller.
Ok… what do you need apart from the Fibaro?
LEDs
Power supply
Smartapp or webcore to control it all.
I also used an aluminium fitting to mount the leds.
These might seem like stupid questions but I am in the learning curve zone
Fibaro rgbw is 4 channel… does that mean you can hard wire 4 different items to it ? hope so because that would mean I could control 4 separate rgbw strips independently.
1 around porch ceiling
3 on exterior soffits
You just used cat5 to connect the fib to the led strips ? Solder or ?
If I use 4 separate strip lights what sort of power supply will I need, how does it all tie in, I’m not sure at mo where the psu’s come into play, is it power to psu, psu to fibaro, fibaro to strip light.?
Just need to get into my head how it all connects
The keersen psu looks ideal how hot does it run, it will be mounted in a large vented porch ceiling so hopefully it will be fine there but with Insulation temps in summer could get high
There is no such thing as a stupid question - we all need to learn from someone
And it’s @JDRoberts who is the fountain of all knowlegde here
Sorry to disappoint but 4 channel means just that…
One channel for each colour… you could use each channel individually but it would be something like 4x white.
I have not looked too closely at the spec but I don’t think the Fibaro could run more than 2 strips at once (wired in parallel) Both strips would show the same colour at the same time if wired correctly.
If you want different colours on each strip you will need 4 Fibaro controllers I’m afraid (around £200 just for the controllers)
The PSU I linked to is capable of 180 watts and each led strip that I linked to requires about 24w to run at full illumination so you can do the maths to work out how many strips the PSU would power.
I am currently using a different PSU to power the door leds so I have no experience of this one yet. I can’t comment on how much heat it generates until I test it
My plan is to power the door and the soffit leds from the same PSU when I finish wiring it tomorrow.
I’m fitting a second fibaro purely because at times I will want different colour from the door - otherwise I would have run both strips from the same controller.
As I have short runs of cable I used cat5 and soldered the connection.
BTW if you fit the aluminium strips with these leds then you don’t need to use the self-adhesive tape on the back of the led strip… it fits nicely with a friction fit and once you put the diffuser on they look really good (although expensive)
i have already created an app where I can cycle a number of colours for halloween and for christmas so will look quite cool (or trashy) when the soffit is done as well.
The only problem I have is that I ‘ran out’ of leds when putting it around the door.
I need to buy another strip and add about 6" to the bottom of each side
Just checked the so-tech prices again… jeez £34 for 2 mtr ?? That’s approx £70 Just around the door, ouch. My strips for the porch will be around the perimeter of the ceiling so encasing them for aesthetics is not essential
Bummer about my understanding of 4 channel but not the end of the world, will get 2 fibs , one for porch one for soffits
Your front door setup looks excellent, even hit the wife acceptance factor here which is unusual
You need to check the price again… it’s for 3x 2m strips so yes, expensive but 1/3 of the price you thought.
I would also check the rating of the Fibaro… I think it is not rated enough for 3 but I’m happy to be corrected
You can hardwire four different single wire devices to it, typically single colour halogen lamps, but not four different RGBW strips since, as @cobra has already mentioned, the LED strips require one wire for each colour.
Not sure if it’s helpful for you, but I’ve done my cabinet lighting at home with RGBW strips from Ikea.
Had to hack the connectors somewhat, but they work well with the Fibaro RGBW module. They come in packs of 3, and the power supply provided will only (in theory) power 3, so replace that with a generic 24V DC psu and away you go. I’ve got a video I’ll pop on YouTube later of it in operation. I’m using Fibaro Home Center rather than SmartThings, but the principal is the same.
Thank you Cobra and JD, my understanding now is up to speed, my initial idea was to wash the walls down from the top, my drive and house are dark and we are off the road a bit, a simple porch light with incandescent was never enough
having st integrated lighting was my initial first thoughts hence this post and it will still happen but with alterations, i personaly like maintainability, if something goes wrong i like to be able to correct the issue, simply and cheaply, if i add strip lighting along my soffits it is a bit overkill and harder and more costly to rectify, a simplified answer was needed
enter into the game, a 10w floodlight, some flex to connect it to a plug and one of my greenwave single node plug sockets, neatly cabled and with the 10w floodlight fitted to my high level soffit and facing the wall and down phase 1 complete, i have full control of on/off and any combination of situation as it is ST intergrated via the simple single node switch, tbh it is simply timed to stay on most of the night and running at 10w it matters not as its hardly a power drain, phase 2 will be another 10w floodlight doing the same further along the front on a low level soffit and phase 3 with be the porch ceiling with led strip and a fibaro relay
If i had fitted led lighting along my soffits i would not have been able to put up my Christmas lights. the extra light would have made them loose effect, i could have turned them off but then why add them if i was not going to use them, led strip are nice but ST does not really lend itself too well to flashing and twinkling, that is a totaly different animal
would be good to hear and see what others have done with there outside lighting, i will post some pics when i get a mo and can be bothered to venture out into the cold at night but it is always a good thing to sometimes step back and think about not over complicating something that really only needs a simple answer
thanks ukautomation, i have this over my kitchen cupbs mine just stay on 24/7, i have very early led strips that came incased in glass tubes when they first starting producing them and they are remote rather than st integrated however they do colour rotate smoothly and give a pleasing look, will be interesting to see how bright the strips go
Guys this is still in progress. With what time i have spare the porch soffit has been insulated thoroughly with celotex and before i put the ceiling up i need to get the electrics organised. Cobra in place of the power supplys you linked too would this be a viable alternative as i will be taking power from my lighting ring
1 x 30W LED Driver Transformer for LED Lighting 12v LED Converter https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0041B3US8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_a8vcAbY85E0AH
Excellent thanks Cobra, i was just a bit dubious about putting the bigger psu you linked too in a space that is full of insulation and timber and to use the plug in version would have meant too much ugly cable from a nearby socket. With this i can take my old porch ceiling pendant power and connect the psu straight on plus this psu is designed for long life and concealed installs
Sourcing those led profiles however is proving tricky. Yours at that price are now out of stock
Funny actually. We ended up going aluminium 10pcs at 1 mtr lengths, swmbo wanted a set below the kitchen units to replace the old flosflescent tubes so i opted for ally due to steam and smoke coupled with there complete kit as smartthings wasent necessary in that location. Everything ordered now just waiting for delivery
