Mood lights are quite in a trend these days. People install them in their bedrooms and living rooms, especially creators and gamers. It increases the aesthetics of your room and gives you a calm and soothing atmosphere. Recently I also decided to install RGB LED strips throughout my bedroom and it was worth it. But there are a lot of things that you need to consider and although the process is easy, it can be a bit tricky.

In this instructable, I will guide you throughout the process of installing whole room RGB LED strips, right from how to choose the right type of LED strip, how to choose the right power supply and how to connect two or more LED strips together.

You can also watch a video guide of the same on YouTube above.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel if you haven't.

Supplies

RGB LED Strip (as per your requirement)
Power Supply (visit step 5 for more details)
RGB LED Strip Controller (visit step 6 for more details)
A Clean Cloth
Some Rubbing Alcohol
A Pen & Paper
Soldering Iron with Solder (only if you want to join LED strips together)
Hot Glue Gun (optional)

Step 1: Types of LED Strips

Coming to the very first part, which is how to choose the right type of LED strip. There are a lot of different types of LED strips available. They can be categorized based on their color, size, density etc.

Following are the different types of LED strips based on color:

Single Color, Non-Addressable: Every LED on the strand is a single white color, typically ranging from 2200K to 6500K in color temperature or any of several monochrome colors covering the range of the visible spectrum (generally from 400-700 nanometers in wavelength).
Dynamic Tunable White, Non-Addressable: Allows the user to adjust the color temperature output from a single strip light. They are manufactured with alternating LEDs of different color temperatures, so half of the LEDs are a lower temperature and half are a higher color temperature, allowing the strip to produce any specific color temperature between the two color temperatures of the LEDs.
RGB, Non-Addressable: Each LED is capable of displaying red, green, blue, or all three (white), driven by three input power rails. All the LEDs display the same color at any one time, but the color can be manipulated by varying the voltage applied to each of the three power inputs.
RGB, Addressable: Multiple color and addresses. Each LED has its own chip meaning they can be individually triggered for chasing, strobing, and color changing.
RGBW, Non-Addressable: The combination of Single Color and Multicolor (4 LED-Chips) in a single module
RGBCCT or RGBWW: The combination of Dynamic Tunable White and Multicolor (5 LED-Chips) in a single module.

The one that I used and will cover here is RGB Non-Addressable type.

Step 2: Based on LED Size

We can also categorize any particular color LED strip based on size. Some examples are 3528, 5050, 3014 and so on. The numbers represent length and width of the SMD LED chip.

For example: 3528 type uses 3.5x2.8mm SMD LED.

The one that I used was 5050 type which uses 5.0x5.0mm SMD LED however you can also use any other type.

Step 3: Based on Density

Different LED strips have different densities of LEDs. Density simply means how many LEDs are there on the strip per meter/foot. The commonly available ones are:

High Density: 120 LEDs/meter or 144 LEDs/meter
Medium Density: 60 LEDs/meter
Low Density: 30 LEDs/meter

Higher density would mean more intensity of light and higher power consumed per meter of LED strip.

I used 30 LEDs/meter type but here I have covered all types.

Step 4: Waterproof Vs Non-Waterproof

You can also choose between Waterproof and Non-Waterproof LED strips depending on your area of application. For example I needed to install them near the ceiling in my bedroom which is a dry area so there's no need of waterproofing.

Waterproof ones although provide diffused light which might look better but they are also more expensive.

On the other hand Non-Waterproof ones are lighter, so easier to install but are also fragile.

One thing good with Non-Waterproof LED strips is that they won't fall off the wall after some time. The adhesive at the back of strip is enough to hold them. The adhesive on the waterproof ones however usually fails due to more weight of the silicon waterproofing.

Step 5: Choosing the Right Power Supply

This is a very important step. You must know maximum power consumed by your LED strip to choose the right power supply. Current rating depends on size of LED strip and density of LEDs so first you should decide that. Take the measurement as to how long do you want your strips. For density, if you want high brightness then go for high density.

If you are using just one set of LED strip, current/voltage rating will mentioned on the box so you can get a power supply according to it. Just make sure voltage rating of the power supply should match with the LED strip (most LED strips require 12V) while current rating of power supply should be greater than the maximum current required by the LED strip.

If you are using different sets of LED strips and joining them together (as in my case), you can calculate the max current rating using the method below:

An RGB LED consists of three different color LEDs (Red, Green & Blue) in a single package. Each color consumes 20mA max.

So each RGB LED consumes: 3*20 = 60mA max

Now, 12V LED strips consist of various segments connected in parallel.

Each segment consists of 3 LEDs connected in series. Since LEDs are connected in series, all 3 would consume the same current, that is 60mA

So if 3 LEDs consume 60mA, we can say max current consumed by each RGB LED in a strip = 20mA

Therefore, max current consumed by an RGB LED strip can be given by a simple formula:

I(max) = 20*N*L

where N is number of LEDs per meter

and L is the length of LED strip in meters

For example, if an LED strip has 60 LEDs/m (N=60) and length (L) is 5 meters, we can get maximum current rating of:

I(max) = 20*60*5 = 6000mA = 6 Amperes

In my case I used 30 LEDs/m type and 4 LED strips 2 meters each. So N=30 and L=8. Therefore,

I(max) = 20*30*8 = 4800mA = 4.8 Amperes

Ideally, the power supply current rating should be 20% higher than the calculated max current rating of LED strip. But any value greater than the calculated value will work. However, there are chances that the power supply may then not last very long.

Note that this calculation only stands for Non-Addressable RGB LED strips rated at 12 Volts. (which is the most common type)

Hence, as per the calculations, I chose a 12V 5A adapter.

Step 6: Choosing the Right LED Strip Controller

RGB LED strips require a controller to drive them. There are a lot of types of controllers available. I used the very basic controller with a 44 button IR remote (sometimes you get this along with the LED strip itself) that can switch between different colors with some other functions. You can go on the more expensive side and get controllers that are Alexa/Google Assistant enabled, allow you to control your lights via a smartphone and sync them to music.

However there is one thing that you'll need to consider. Controllers have a maximum current rating. This should be more than the maximum current rating of your LED strips. These ratings are usually mentioned by the manufacturer. Although to calculate it, you can visit the previous step.

My controller was rated at 6A max which was within the 4.8A my LEDs would consume.

Step 7: Joining LED Strips Together

If you need to cover your whole room with the LED strips but you can't find a single strip that long, you can connect two or more LED strips together.

There are 2 ways to do so- using a connector or soldering them together. Connectors might not always ensure good connection so here I have shown how you can solder them together.

For non waterproof strips soldering is pretty straightforward. First desolder the connector from the 2nd LED strip. Then place the two LED strips together such that R, G, B and +12V pads are aligned. Use some tape to hold them in place. Finally apply some flux on the copper pads and solder them together.

For waterproof strips you will need to remove the silicon coating on top of the copper pads. I used a paper cutter to make a small cut just before the copper pads and then folded the strip a little. Then you can just use your nails to remove the coating. Make sure the copper pads are fully exposed. Now repeat the process mentioned above. Finally, to make a strong joint I used epoxy adhesive.

Repeat the same process if you want to connect more LED strips. Just don't connect more than 10 meters of strip together since that will cause a lot of energy loss throughout the length. This will result in non uniform brightness of the LED strip.

Step 8: Connections

First connect the LED strip to the controller in the correct way (both arrows should coincide as shown in the picture above). Then connect your power supply to the controller.

Finally connect your power supply to AC mains either temporarily via a plug or permanently through a switch.

Step 9: Installation

Coming to the final step, that is installing the LED strips. It is important to wipe the surface that you are going to stick the LED strips on with some rubbing alcohol such that it is free from dust and grease.

Almost all LED strips come with adhesive tape at the back which makes installation pretty easy.

Rest of the process is pretty straightforward but the most time consuming.

I was almost halfway when the adhesive started failing and all the effort went in vain. It's probably due to the weight of waterproofing. This means you might need to add another layer of adhesive.

Next day I had to redo the process. This time I used a bit of hot glue at regular intervals and it was a success.

Finally I also placed the controller and IR receiver such that it is well in range and easily controllable through a remote.

Step 10: Testing & Conclusion

When everything is complete, you can go ahead and test them. In my case everything worked fine. The lights look much better in real life as compared to the pictures.

With long LED strips, you might face an issue that the brightness at the end of LED strip is not as high as the beginning. To fix this, cut the strip into two halves (or more parts) and connect both of them to the controller in parallel. The more such parts you separate them into, the better it will be.

As explained before, you can modify these lights as you want. You can get controllers on Amazon that will let you control your lights via a smartphone, with Alexa/Google Assistant and also make them sync to music.

I will also try to make such a controller in future. If I do, I will surely post an instructable of that.

That's it from my side. I hope you found this guide useful.

I am always in for any questions or tips.

You can comment below or send me an email: saiyamagr@gmail.com

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Thanks for reading! :)