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Biard LED Strip Light Buyer’s Guide

CONTENT

• Introduction • About LED Strip Lights

• Components Required

• Cutting Strip Light

• Installation

• Things to Consider

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the LED Strip Light Buyer’s Guide by Biard LED.

LED strip lighting is a great way of lighting almost any situation cheaply and easily, from under cabinet

lighting to border lighting, to such things as mirrors and shelving, LED strip lighting is the most flexible

and affordable means, but buying these lights can seem a little confusing when suppliers start talking

about wattage, different colour temperatures and LED chip size, not to mention the products needed to

run and connect the strip light.

This guide will take you from start to finish through the buying and installation process explaining all

the complicated terms and jargon associated with the world of LED strip lighting.

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ABOUT LED STRIP LIGHTS

What is an LED Strip Light?

LED strip lighting is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways of lighting different settings.

An LED strip light consists of a narrow length of flexible printed circuit board with small but very bright

surface mounted LEDs fixed to it. The current (voltage) is fed through the circuit board from one end of

the strip light, lighting the LEDs. The circuit board is specially printed so that it can be cut every three

LEDs and therefore customisable to any length you desire. All Biard LED strip light is coated with a 3M

adhesive on the underside so it can be fixed easily and quickly.

LED Strip Light Types

Biard LED strip lighting only comes in 12 different types to keep things simple. These are broken down

into three categories: colour, LED size and whether they are waterproof or not.

The code of a Biard LED strip light provides all the necessary information about it. The first four

numbers is the size of the LED, next the two letters refer to the colour, and the last letter refers to

waterproof or non-waterproof:

3528 – LED dimensions 3.5mm by 2.8mm

5050 – LED dimensions 5mm by 5mm

WW – Warm White light colour

W – Cool White light colour

RGB – Colour changing

N – Non-waterproof

WT - Waterproof

So, code for the 3528 warm white non-waterproof strip light is 3528-WW-N.

Codes for Biard’s strip light kits are broken down in a similar way, the exception is that all the kits have

KIT on the end of the code, e.g. 3528WWNKIT

Now you know how to break the codes down, we’ll explain what the different parts of the codes mean.

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LED Size

The size of the LED fixed to the strip light is measured in millimeters; Biard strip lighting comes with

two different sizes of LED, 3528 where each LED is 3.5mm*2.8mm and 5050 where the LEDs are

5mm*5mm.

The brightness of the 3528 strip lighting greatly differs to the 5050 as the LED on the 5050 strip light is

almost twice the size.

5050 White 3528 White

Another difference between the 3528 and the 5050 is the quantity of energy (wattage) required. The

3528 strip light needs 4.8 watts per metre to run at full brightness and the 5050 needs 14.8 watts of

energy per metre to run at full brightness.

Number of LEDs Per Metre

All Biard 12V LED strip lights have 60 LEDs per metre whether 3528 or 5050, this means that a five metre

reel will contain 300 LEDs in total. All Biard LED strip lighting is sold in five metre reels.

LED Strip Light Colours

LED lighting in general is far superior to traditional lighting when it comes to colour and in particular shades

of white because unlike traditional lighting this is controlled by electronics.

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Biard LED strip lights comes in three colour types:

Warm White: This is a soft warm yellowish colour very similar to a traditional light bulb, ideal for living areas.

Cool White: This is a crisp bright white colour that is ideal for kitchens and areas that need to be brightly lit

RGB: RGB short for red, green, blue is a colour changing light that will create every colour that RGB will

make. In fact, Biard LED strip lighting will do over??? colours.

COMPONENTS REQUIRED

Biard LED sell various kits that are complete with power supply, controller (if RGB) and the strip light, but

if what you require is beyond this then you will need to know what the individual components do and also

what goes where.

POWER SUPPLY/LED DRIVER

A power supply is a step down transformer that converts the domestic 220V AC current from your

sockets to the 12V DC voltage that is needed to run the strip lights. For traditional 12V lighting the

transformer is usually referred to as a power supply. For 12V LED lighting and within this guide we refer

to the power supply as an LED driver but essentially these are the same thing.

LED STRIP LIGHT CONTROLLER

An LED strip light controller is used with RGB LED strip light and is usually placed between the power

supply and strip light to control the colour of it, it will also control the different modes and speed of the

strip light for example fade, strobe and flash. It may also alter the brightness of the strip light and turn the

strip light on and off.

LED strip light controllers are usually remote controlled but manual ones can also be purchased, all Biard

controllers are worked via a remote control.

LED strip light controllers come in two main types, IR (infer red) and RF (radio frequency). An IR

controller only operates over short distances and works by sending an infer red signal from the remote to

the controller, much like a TV remote. As the signal is infer red the remote has to be able to see the

controller for it to work, therefore if there are obstacles between the controller and remote it will not work.

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An RF controller will function over much larger distances and works by sending a radio wave signal from

the remote to the controller therefore the remote does not need to see the controller and will work fine

through obstacles such as walls and doors.

LED AMPLIFIER

An LED amplifier is placed within a longer length of strip light; when 10 or 20 metre lengths of strip light

are connected together the power weakens as it travels through the strip light. Therefore, the lights get

dimmer, the amplifier, when connected inline and power is applied to it, will boost the wattage keeping

the light consistent. The amplifier will also boost the RF signal from the remote, meaning no matter how

long the length of strip light all the lights will change colour together the instant the remote is pressed.

DIMMERS

Single colour strip lighting such as cool white or warm white lighting does not use a controller so the

dimming function has to be done via an inline dimmer, the dimmer is usually connected between the

power supply and the strip light and can also control the on/off function of the strip light.

CABLES & CONNECTORS

Since every application of the strip light is different there has to be a wide range of connectors that can

be purchased for LED strip lighting from connectors to take the strip lighting around corners to extension

cables and just straight forward strip light to strip light connectors. The type of connector needed will

depend on the application of the strip light; see Installation section for some examples.

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CUTTING THE STRIP LIGHT

Cutting a strip light and either connecting it back together or connecting it back to the LED controller or LED driver is actually quite straight forward. For whatever reason it has been cut you will then need to attach a connector to the strip light to light it again, the most common way of doing this is with a strip to controller connector for RGB strip light or strip to jack connector for single colour strip light.

Strip to controller Connector Strip to Jack Connector

To Cut to Length: To do this simply find the nearest cutting point on the strip light marked by the scissors and cut the strip light.

Single Colour Strip Light RGB Strip Light

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INSTALLATION

Installation of the complete kits is pretty straight forward, you just plug all the components together, cut

the strip light to size and stick the strip light where you want it.

Installation of longer more complicated lengths of strip light can seem daunting if you have never used it

before but it is also pretty logical. Below is a scenario where the strip light is being run under cabinets in

a kitchen gapped by a 900mm cooker and cooker hood.

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Bridging the Gap (Single Colour): As above this is done with two male jack connectors and a length of two core cable.

1. Cut the two core cable to the desired length and attach a male jack connector to either end. 2. Cut the first length of strip light and attached a strip to jack connector. 3. Cut the second length of strip light and attached a strip to jack connector. 4. Connect the two pieces of strip light together via the male jack plugs connected to either end of

the two core cable.

Male Jack Connector Two Core Cable

Turning Through 90 Degree

To do this use an L shaped connector or strip to strip connector with wire.

Strip to Strip Connector with Wire L Shaped Connector

1. Open the connector. 2. With the LEDs on the strip light facing you and the connector facing you push the strip light under the

lugs on either side of the connector and then under the metal connectors so the copper connections on the strip light make contact with the metal connections of the connector.

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Connecting Strip Light to Strip Light Connecting strip light back together is done with the strip to strip connector. 1. Open the strip to strip connector. 2. With the LEDs on the strip light facing you and the connector facing you push the strip light under the

lugs on either side of the connector and then under the metal connectors so the copper connections on the strip light make contact with the metal connections of the connector.

RGB Strip to Strip Connector Single Colour Strip to Strip Connector

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THINGS TO CONSIDER LED Drivers

LED drivers come in many different sizes to meet the needs of the user but a few things to look for when

buying LED drivers are the minimum and maximum wattage of the LED driver, the driver should have a

recommended minimum and maximum wattage, the minimum being the minimum load the driver will run

correctly and the maximum being the maximum load you can run from the driver. LED drivers will run

much lower wattage lighting than power supplies designed for halogen lighting, for example a common

power supply designed to run halogen lighting would have a range around 20W – 200W, this means the

lowest wattage that the power supply will run is 20W, an LED driver will normally run much lower wattage

lighting and will have a range of around 5W – 200W. If the correct driver is not used then symptoms can

be varied from not working at all to the lights flickering or looking dim.

Fitting LED Strip Light

Although 3M adhesive is the market leader in adhesives and will stick securely to almost any flat smooth

surface the surface that the strip light is being stuck to must be prepared correctly or the adhesive may

not be effective. A few steps to follow would be to wash the surface with soapy water to remove any dust

or dirt then allow to dry thoroughly, once completely dry clean again with an alcohol based cleaner to

remove any grease.

Avoid fixing to bare unfinished wood, surfaces with flakey paint, some materials such as wool, hot

surfaces, stone or brick.

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