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Easier than DMX?


Kahn

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Don't know what solution would work best and DMX seems too costly for what I want to do.

I have approximately seven (7) small florescent fixtures at 120V all wired to the same switch that serve as undercabinet/counter lighting. They are so 1980's....I just hate them. I'm thinking of swapping out to some RGB LED (possibly strips) to create some different lighting. I'm swimming with ideas, but unsure of direction I should go. I know nothing about DMX and applying that to this scenario seems very expensive. Am I wrong? Is there an easier way to achieve what I'm after?

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There are Philips Hue LED strips but they are expensive.  Or you can buy generic LED strips and use various controllers that you should be able to control in C4.

I like these as they are controllable by Hue:  https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-electronic-ballast-interface-certified/dp/B00NMSQ4QQ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3GYD6NHOXOXUT&keywords=dresden+elektronik&qid=1577996125&sprefix=dresden+ele%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-3

And I think you can control Magic Home / Lux devices in C4 as well. Like this:  https://www.amazon.com/AMXXON-Lights-32-8FT-Controlled-Android/dp/B07N2KGKH6/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=magic+home+led+light+strip+controller&qid=1577996218&sr=8-2

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Luckily my cabinets have AC outlets that are under the counter that are semi-hidden.  You might be able to put the wall wart somewhere hidden and then run a pair of wires to bring the 12V or 24V DC to the strip.  The bigger problem is running the light strips underneath each cabinet as each couple of feet you might have to go up a couple of inches and then back down.  You might want to get channels for the LEDs and trim them for each cabinet.

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7 minutes ago, zaphod said:

There are Philips Hue LED strips but they are expensive.  Or you can buy generic LED strips and use various controllers that you should be able to control in C4.

I like these as they are controllable by Hue:  https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-electronic-ballast-interface-certified/dp/B00NMSQ4QQ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3GYD6NHOXOXUT&keywords=dresden+elektronik&qid=1577996125&sprefix=dresden+ele%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-3

And I think you can control Magic Home / Lux devices in C4 as well. Like this:  https://www.amazon.com/AMXXON-Lights-32-8FT-Controlled-Android/dp/B07N2KGKH6/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=magic+home+led+light+strip+controller&qid=1577996218&sr=8-2

expensive is retaliative. The hue strips with the v2 models are the brightest strips i have ever seen and the quality of the strip is well built.  i believe you get what you pay for

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Just now, Kahn said:

Is there an LED Controller - C4 Compatible - that doesn't have a wall wart? 120V ?

your going to need some type of wall wart unless you can find led strips that run off of 120v i personally have never seen them. what you can do is hide the power supply else and run wires but that is a whole another problem.

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Which brings up a whole other issue - why don't we have whole home DC power distribution.  I must have several dozen, if not 100+, AC-DC power supplies in my house.  Why don't we have 12VDC running through homes along with 120VAC?

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5 minutes ago, zaphod said:

Which brings up a whole other issue - why don't we have whole home DC power distribution.  I must have several dozen, if not 100+, AC-DC power supplies in my house.  Why don't we have 12VDC running through homes along with 120VAC?

some of the new homes we install most of the lighting is 12 volt dc and we can put in large 12 volt transformers to run just about all of the equipment in the rack too.

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23 minutes ago, Matt Lowe said:

expensive is retaliative. The hue strips with the v2 models are the brightest strips i have ever seen and the quality of the strip is well built.  i believe you get what you pay for

That's true - it is good to see that they now have 5m Hue strips.  They used to only have them in 2m lengths (with extensions) which made them really expensive if you were doing long runs. I haven't had issues with the cheaper ones indoors but outdoors I have found that they don't last in the weather and the silicone coating turns yellow with bubbles from UV.  I have the coloured strips providing downlighting by the toe kicks of my kitchen counters and I like having the RGB colour options - they have been red/green for Christmas for the last few weeks.

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I’m in the same situation as the OP. Been looking at the hardwired fixtures but would like the ability to change the color. A few fixtures coming to market that allow lights to change color but very expensive.

Would something like this work? Can it be hidden in a wall? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LZDR42C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_oD7dEbCB3AZ2R
Jeff

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On 1/2/2020 at 3:17 PM, zaphod said:

There are Philips Hue LED strips but they are expensive.  Or you can buy generic LED strips and use various controllers that you should be able to control in C4.

I like these as they are controllable by Hue:  https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-electronic-ballast-interface-certified/dp/B00NMSQ4QQ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3GYD6NHOXOXUT&keywords=dresden+elektronik&qid=1577996125&sprefix=dresden+ele%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-3

 

These just make the third party LED strip compatible with the Hue hub, correct?

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