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LED Light Strip Options?


Braduc1980

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Hey all, 

Im looking for a solution for LED light strips (tape lights, etc) preferably linkable and not bank breaking.  Is there anything out there that integrates easily with C4, preferably without the need for another hub?  Looking to do Lighting around TV and also under cabinets in kitchen and laundry, and perhaps 100 more places.   If you know of a good product, could you link me to it?

I looked for possible answers to this in the forum, but didnt find what i was looking for. 

 

Thanks in advance!

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Hey all, 

 

Im looking for a solution for LED light strips (tape lights, etc) preferably linkable and not bank breaking.  Is there anything out there that integrates easily with C4, preferably without the need for another hub?  Looking to do Lighting around TV and also under cabinets in kitchen and laundry, and perhaps 100 more places.   If you know of a good product, could you link me to it?

 

I looked for possible answers to this in the forum, but didnt find what i was looking for. 

 

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

Colorbeam.com is an awesome product. Might break the bank depending on how small your bank is. :) POE lighting

 

 

 

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Thanks for the response. Seems challenging to find pricing for colorbeam. Anything I might be able to purchase on amazon?

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cyron led lighting can be controlled through the relay in C4

 

 

 

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if you're planning on doing a lot of low voltage lighting throughout the property (trust me you will once you start), then you would be better off starting a DMX solution so that you don't have 100's of the cheap IR controlled controllers.

I use the Engineering Solutions DMX solution available on Houselogix.  Then you can use just about any dumb RGBW led light, whether it be strips, cans, wall washers, etc. along with your decoder of choice.

It will make installation much much easier.

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if you're planning on doing a lot of low voltage lighting throughout the property (trust me you will once you start), then you would be better off starting a DMX solution so that you don't have 100's of the cheap IR controlled controllers.

I use the Engineering Solutions DMX solution available on Houselogix.  Then you can use just about any dumb RGBW led light, whether it be strips, cans, wall washers, etc. along with your decoder of choice.

It will make installation much much easier.

 

Thanks for the reply. I don't know much about dmx solutions. Is this something that I would need to run all wiring back to? I want lighting in many rooms and don't have any pre wiring running to any central location. Was hoping to find something ip or wifi controlled but maybe dmx is really what I need. Feel free to redirect me to a wiki or if you feel like explaining I would be appreciative

 

 

 

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https://www.houselogix.com/shop/advanced-dmx

Go here.  This is the unit I'm talking about.  There are wireless DMX decoders available on that site too or online if you don't have homerun cable back to a central location.

I will preface that, yes this is most likely more $$ up front to start off, but if you plan on doing lighting everywhere, you can't go wrong with this selection.

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There are a few other options as well.  For the most part the strips are fairly generic - any controller can control any strip.  The most popular RGB strips are called 5050 as the LEDs are 5mmx5mm.  So you can use the cheapo $5 (or less) IR controller that Alan mentioned or more expensive controllers.  There are some wifi controllers that cost about $15 that allow you to use the Magic Home app (or a command line) to control the lights.  You could integrate these into C4 - I use Alan's Generic TCP driver to do so but it also requires running a web server on a RPi to handle the commands.  

My favourite option, although it is a little more pricey, is to use the Dresden Elektronik controllers.  These are available on Amazon for about $50.  These require a Philips Hue hub but you may already have one of those.  Then you can just use the Philips Hue app, or one of the C4 Hue drivers to control your lights.  You can also buy an official Philips Hue strip but it costs about $90 for a 2m strip.  With the Dresden and generic strips you could get about 15m of strip for the same price.

Note that you only need one controller for each colour zone that you want to have.  You can generally drive 15-30ft per controller but you can get inexpensive amplifiers to fun an infinite length together.  But you will need to run 12V DC power to the amplifiers every 15-30 ft depending on the strips that you use.

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Hi zap hold,

just did a search on led strip and your post fought my eye, especially with the Dresden Elektronik controller. I already have a hue system integrated and running with c4. 

Does the Dresden Elektronik controller simply tie in the hue app and then do I simply get the dealer to integrate it in c4?

and can in purchase any led strip to work with it? I have three large sliding doors that i want to put strips above, so does it mean I need 3 controllers or can I simply buy one and have all three strips connected to it ( around 15m all up).

regards

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https://www.houselogix.com/shop/advanced-dmx
Go here.  This is the unit I'm talking about.  There are wireless DMX decoders available on that site too or online if you don't have homerun cable back to a central location.
I will preface that, yes this is most likely more $$ up front to start off, but if you plan on doing lighting everywhere, you can't go wrong with this selection.


How much more $$$ up front are we talking for the DMX option? Don't exactly want to break the bank, but don't want to be disappointed with IR and go back to re-work later


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Our Yeelight driver for Control4 is probably the best bang for buck solution.

$50.00 MSRP for the driver.

Wifi based 2-way control over RGBW functionality with full dimming and color change.

https://www.drivercentral.io/platforms/control4-drivers/yeelight-control4-driver-chowmain/

$29.99 for each strip (no Hub required.  Wifi direct)

https://www.amazon.com/Lightstrip-Changing-Smartphone-Compatible-Lighting/dp/B01LRT0B56

Heres a video of it in action with the RGBW bulb.  Same functionality with the strip.

 

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Going back to the initial post in this thread, what kind of hub is needed for a Control4 system? I thought I gave up all the Hue Hubs, Wink Hubs, Samsung Smartthings Hubs ( luckily my LIFX and WeMo bulbs/products didn't need a hub), etc? I had all the products I just mentioned (at the minimum) installed at my old house, but since buying a newly built house 4 months ago, people have been in and out 6 days a week trashing some things that were in the house and adding things it lacked, like a pool, Control4 system, accordion doors that take up the entire wall between the living room and the pool, etc, but I haven't run across any Control4 hubs. I'm still new to the system and am trying to learn as much as possible about it, so I'm far from an expert. Are the hubs you're referring to the EA-1 and/or EA-5?

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They aren't hubs they are control4 appliances the reason I use appliances not hubs is because everything you need is on that Appliance in your house. Your system can work 100% with no internet. Now with no internet there are limitations but if you just want basic lights and music and everything is in your house nothing will ever go to the Internet. With all the hubs there is a lot of internet-based signaling and control

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11 hours ago, koxkp said:

 


How much more $$$ up front are we talking for the DMX option? Don't exactly want to break the bank, but don't want to be disappointed with IR and go back to re-work later


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Maybe looking at around $500-$750 retail in parts and licensing.  Really depends on how many lights you're initially doing.  This solution is perfect for whole home low voltage lighting.  It is certainly not priced for simple one-off solutions.

I, for one, like my devices to be hardwired and not relying on wireless protocols as much as possible. 

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The maximum number of LED strips you can link together will depend on the power output of each strip and your power source. Strip lights can be linked together with the help of connectors, cables, or soldered connection points. I you have the smallest idea how they work, it's actually not hard at all to connect them together. There are also strip lights that are already connected, you just have to attach them to the right place. I ordered this kind of light from vont.com, they just perfect for my car.

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