Choosing Rope Lightning

[bluesky509]

I'm installing crown moldering with rope lightning and need help choosing the right one. The installer said I could buy my own. He was planning on doing a wall dimmer switch. I was thinking this would be a good use for a Fibaro RGBW Micro Controller that I bought a while ago. I'd like to use to control the lights color/power with.

Is it possible to the the micro controller AND also be able dim the lights with a wall dimmer switch?
Looking for suggestions on which rope led lights to get?

[Vit]

If your dimmer is 'smart', it will send its status to HS. In turn, HS can be made to operate the Micro Controller (and all kinds of other things).

Now, if you need continuous dimming in the entire range, the outcome will not be very pleasant because of the propagation delays.
However, for regular lighting, you only need 3-4 step adjustments. And that is doable.

[bluesky509]

Yes I planned to use Jasco Dimmer switches.

It is going into 3 different rooms, 2 rooms are going to run off the same wall dimmer "smart" switch. I would also like to connect them to a Fibaro Z-wave Micro Controller. I want to have RGBW for the warm white look. The fibaro will talk to HomeSeer for automation. I assume I will be able to use both the wall dimmer "zwave smart" switch and the micro controller to control the LEDs...?

Room 1 - 56 ft

Room 2 - 24 ft

Room 3 - 60 ft

I have 3 sets of these SUPERNIGHT RGBW 5050 SMD lights. Will these work if I had a 8 of them to make the 140 feet? If yes, how would I connect them together?

[Rvtravlr]

I used the same brand and type of LEDs for my outside project. I used this power supply because it has two 12v outputs. It is better to power each strip with one output rather than connect the LEDs together. Too much voltage drop on 32’ of connected LEDs.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[bluesky509]

I used the same brand and type of LEDs for my outside project. I used this power supply because it has two 12v outputs. It is better to power each strip with one output rather than connect the LEDs together. Too much voltage drop on 32’ of connected LEDs.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks! I like the outside lights!

Would I need 1 power supply per 2 sets of 16ft lights?

Room 1 - 56 ft / 16ft = 3.5 --> 4 light kits --> 2 power supply

Room 2 - 24 ft / 16ft = 1.5 --> 2 light kits --> 1 power supply

Room 3 - 60 ft / 16ft =3.7 --> 4 light kits --> 2 power supply

So I should get 10 lights + 5 psu...?

Would I need to have 1 Fibaro micro controller per light kit? That sounds expensive. Maybe I could instead do the wall dimmer

One thing I noticed is the PSU might not be able to DIM the led lights. So maybe I should go with these lights instead: Amazon.

[Rvtravlr]

With each color on at full brightness (the Fibaro controls the light intensity, i.e. “dims” the LEDs), one roll uses about 17 watts. Power supply should be continuous 12 volt output.

I would get a 50 watt power supply and some of these connectors and connect two rolls to one another and determine if you’re happy with the output. Otherwise, yes each separate run would need its own Fibaro.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[bluesky509]

So if I need to get 10 16ft light kits... would I get 5 power supply at 50w and 5 fibaro?
I'm still not sure if i'll be able to use a wall "smart" dimmer switch.

My installer is not familiar either so can't ask him.

[Rvtravlr]

Try one 50w power supply powering two rolls connected together first. As for adding in a Smart Dimmer, you could use a WD-200 not connected to a load and use scene control to control the Fibaro such as one tap up would turn on white light, two up would set a rainbow in the Fibaro, etc.

[bluesky509]

Since there is only 1 outlet per room in ceiling area, would 16AWG electrical wire be sufficient to extend the reach (~30ft)?


And just to recap... The "dimming" can be done via the Fibaro and thus I won't need a dimmable driver power supply.

Here is my shopping list:

• 5 x LEDENET 150 Watt Power Suppply Driver you mentioned earlier with 2 outputs > control 4 strips
• Striveday™ 16 gauge wire hooks electricayl wire Stranded Wire Cable Hook Up Wire 300V wires (16AWG 33ft White)
• 10 x led strips (16ft each, piggy back 2 at a time)
• 5 x Fibaro micro controller
• 3 x WD-200 wall switch (only for "scene" control)

Bad part of this setup... multiple potential points of failures and not user friendly if house was to be sold or rented.
Almost tempted to just go with plain warm white long rope LED.