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April 26, 2021
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indoor Lighting Guide 2021 Freshen up your house this Spring! As we move closer towards entertaining guests in our home again, you’ll want to make
6 Best Places to use LED tape
6 best places to use LED tape
A Beginners Guide
LED tape is undoubtably the most popular lighting trend of recent years. Plug and Play kits, which can be trimmed to whatever size suits you, allow you transform your home by lighting areas traditional fittings could never reach. Kitchens, Bathrooms, Lounges and Bedrooms! There’s nowhere in your house LED tape can’t bring to life. We’re going to guide you through six of the best places to use your tape.
A Beginners Guide
LED tape is undoubtably the most popular lighting trend of recent years. Plug and Play kits, which can be trimmed to whatever size suits you, allow you transform your home by lighting areas traditional fittings could never reach. Kitchens, Bathrooms, Lounges and Bedrooms! There’s nowhere in your house LED tape can’t bring to life. We’re going to guide you through six of the best places to use your tape.
Before we Start
Before we begin let’s explain a few of the main terms used for describing LED Tape features.
Plug and Play
The easiest way to get LED tape in your home is through plug and play kits. They usually include a transformer IR sensor and remote to give you complete control. They’re also self adhesive meaning you can peel and stick straight to walls or cabinets. Another great benefit to these kits is you can trim the tape to whatever length you like by simply slicing along the indicated scissor mark. While you don’t always need cable clips, to make sure your tape stays up in challenging areas like ceiling a good rule of thumb is to use a cable clip every 50-100cm to properly secure the tape.
Colour Changing Technology (CCT) / Tuneable White
This simply means the white light output of the tape can be changed along the Kelvin scale anywhere from 2800k Warm which is a traditional light to 4000k cool which is a brighter white light found in kitchens and bathrooms. This allows for unique lighting in every room which can be changed depending on the desired mood or season, for example shifting from warmer light in summer to a brighter artificial daylight in summer.
RGB
RGB stands for Red Green Blue as those are the colours it combines to change the colour of the strip. Most strips come with a preset of around 8-16 shades however, using smart technology some strips allow you to create colours using an RGB wheel with over a million different options.
IP20/65 Rating
This is the environment rating used for electrical products. IP20 is suitable for indoor use, excluding bathrooms, whereas IP65 means the strip is waterproof, excluding the transfomer. IP65 tape can be used in kitchens, bathrooms and even outdoor as long as the transformer is protected according in a concealed waterproof unit.
SMART
Smart tape means the tape has Wifi or Bluetooth capabilities and can be controlling using an app on your smart phone or using a smart assistant such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home.
Dimmable
This means the tape can be dimmed but unless the tape also uses CCT or Tuneable White technology then usually only the brightness can be altered rather than the colour temperature.
Now that’s explained lets get started with the Six best places to use LED tape.
1. Behind your TV / TV Unit
This has to be the most popular use of LED tape. Using CCT to create a profile behind your TV creates a great atmosphere for films and sports while providing just the right amount of brightness to immerse you in what you’re watching. Using RBG settings you can also change the whole colour of the room depending on what you’re watching, which is massively popular for football fans.
2. Under your Kitchen Cabinets / Worktop / Breakfast Bar
Using LED tape in Kitchens has increased dramatically over the past few years as it can serves as a great finishing touch to any modern kitchen. RBG lighting can be used when entertaining guests to create a vibrant atmosphere a replicate the feeling of a bar or club. If the tape uses Smart Technology you can ask your virtual assistant to change the colour of the room just after you’ve requesting your next song choice. Tuneable white tape can also create a warm glow underneath you’re cabinets or a provide a cool light to highlight your favourite parts of your kitchen. A quick tip for using longer runs of LED tape, the recommended distance for 12v strip from one transformer is 8m so if you’re looking for a longer run than that you’ll want to look for 24v tape.
2. Under your Kitchen Cabinets / Worktop / Breakfast Bar
Using LED tape in Kitchens has increased dramatically over the past few years as it serves as a great finishing touch to any modern kitchen. RBG lighting can be used when entertaining guests to create a vibrant atmosphere and replicate the feeling of a bar or club. If the tape uses Smart Technology you can ask your virtual assistant to change the colour of the room just after you’ve requesting your next song choice. Tuneable white tape can also create a warm glow underneath you’re cabinets or a provide a cool light to highlight your favourite parts of your kitchen. A quick tip for using longer runs of LED tape, the recommended distance for 12v strip from one transformer is 8m so if you’re looking for a longer run than that you’ll want to look for 24v tape.
3. Behind Bathroom Mirror / Under Cabinets
Similarly to kitchens LED tape can be used to highlight your favourite aspects of your bathroom and enhance your relaxation or morning routine. One of the most common uses is behind mirrors as it massively brightens the room and creates a profile effect. Don’t just use it on your bathroom mirrors, LED tape can create a profile around mirrors all round your house especially dressing tables to give you greater lighting for getting ready.
4. Beds / Bedside Table
A great way to enhance your bedroom and expand the feel of your room is using LED tape to create a profile. It can be used to help with sleep and relaxation using a deep ocean blue. Its also great for children and teenagers who can change the feel and colour of their room without the need to re-decorate. The tape also offers enough brightness to be used as the main light source of a room without creating a glare on TVs, this allows you to set a great atmosphere for gaming or streaming online videos.
5. Wardrobes / Cloak Rooms / Airing Cupboard
Everyones Cupboard, Wardorobes and Cloakroom are different, some are filled with all kinds of things you want to hide away like coats, shoes or even hoovers, others painstakingly organised. But one thing most have in common is that they’re usually dark, which creates a space for hiding, or losing, your possessions and favourite outfits. LED tape around the back wall or sides of a small cupboard turns an often neglected space into one of the better features of the house and allows you to instantly find what you’re looking for. This application is also great underneath stairs or landings to transform dark areas of your home into vibrant living spaces.
6. Garage / Workshop / Sheds
Just like cloakrooms many garages and sheds can be cluttered and usually poorly lit. Using a Cool white strip can massively brighten your workspace and turn even a cluttered garage or worktop into a professional workspace. The bright light allows you to focus on your projects and find exactly what you’re looking for when working. Over the past year many garden shed’s have seen transformations to become bars or gyms and the perfect way to finish off these projects is using mood lighting through RGB tape, giving you a great atmosphere and your neighbours shed envy!
That was only six of the great ways to use LED tape in your home. Theres so many more applications for the tape, if you’d like to know about them more feel free to pop in store or chat with us now. If you’re interested in purchasing any LED tape for your home check our range below…
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