Looking for some inputs on my project to illuminate crown moulding with help of habitat automation.
Pixelblaze seems like the only controller that can work with habitat and addressable LEDs.
I odered one Pixelblaze controller for POC and while I’m waiting for delivery just wanted to get the rest of the hardware.
I have 5 rooms to do the illumination, so I assume I would need 5 separate Pixelblaze controllers?
So the POC room I’m doing first will need to have 39m (+/-) meters of LED to cover perimeter. Digging in this forum I ended up with few samples of these LEDs as a good option? (wanted to have rgb + CCT but didn’t find any so ended up with RGBW)
What kind of power supply would I need to power 39m? How often/when to inject power? Any diagrams to go by?
Also, in another room I would need to do crown molding + 3 shelves, would all those leds be connected sequentially or parallel? One controller? I would think with addressable LEDs sequential connection for all strips?
If you chain the rooms together, you could do it with one Pixelblaze. That might complicate the programming a bit but if habitat can feed any variable then you could do all the rooms in one pattern.
Crown molding + 3 shelves definitely sounds like it justifies its own PB.
Here’s my setup … not crown molding, Ikea Mosslanda picture shelves
I recommend IP67 waterproof strips because the waterproofing is a silicone sleeve which will keep dust off the LEDs and prevent damage.
Looks amazing I though philips hues were top of the line, but they can’t do that do you know what kind of power supply I need for 5v, 5m tKe about 30-90w? Total length needed about 38m
The details of “BTF-Lighting RGBW RGBNW Natural White SK6812 (Similar WS2812B) 16.4ft 5m 60leds/pixels/m Individually Addressable Flexible 4 colour in 1 LED Dream Colour LED Strip Non-waterproof DC5V” has this to say:
R+G+B=mixed white 0.3W/LED. Pure White: 0.1W/LED. 1 color（red or green or blue or pure white) 0.1W/LED. 2 colors (red+green) 0.2W/LED, 3 colors (red+green+blue=mixed white) 0.3W/LED. Recommend power supply: DC5V10A(50W).
… so about 10W/m if you plan to run them at full brightness.
FWIW such LEDs are available in 12V or 24V too. Higher-voltage wiring runs at lower amperage and generates less waste heat. I couldn’t find it on Amazon but BTF-Lighting has it here for example:
(I would go for RGBNW / 5m 60 IP67 / White PCB)
As of today I have 18 lightning projects.
All are driven by (individual) PixelBlaze and all controlled by Hubitat.
(BTW, Hubitat can control WLED but I never tried this.)
After experimenting with different LED strips my final stop is COB style LED strips. They usually have very nice light diffuser and looks very attractive “as is”. For the long runs I am using only 24V strips. Downside is - pixel size is 5sm but this is not a problem for the under cabinets lightning, balcony lightning, etc. The BIG plus is - 5 times less current! This means thinner wires and less power injection points.
As far as color mixing I am OK with just RGB strips (no extra white and/or CT leds). With a good light diffuser there is no problem to create any desirable color (think about original Color TVs).
Theoretically single PixelBlaze is capable to drive multiple LED strips which are placed in a different rooms, etc. But why to do this? This will create a lot of wiring, powering and control problems. All my 18 lightning projects are driven by individual PixelBlaze, have individual PS and controlled by idividual Device Driver in Hubitat.
Those seems to be 5v? I see WS2814(Silimar SK6812) by btf, bu that different part. I start from scratch I can go with 24v. Just haven’t found good led strip with addressable leds lol any suggestions on 24v leds addressable, available on Amazon or n Canada or Ali?
I looked into COB type, but there was something about them that caused me to drop that idea, I think the big amount of LEDs there required much more power vs regular LEDs?
No, LEDs used in COB strips are very efficient. Plus you always can limit max brightness. Because human eye light sensitivity is logarithmic reducing brightness by 50% almost unnoticeable but current will be twice less. The biggest COB benefit is a very smooth lighting. Once I tried COBs I immediately completed everything to COB.
As I already mentioned, COB is my only choice for all new lighting projects (either color or just plain white (2700K is preferable for plain white). Furthermore, I replaced all existing strips with COBs.
First of all - 5sm pixel size is applicable to 24V strips. 5V strips are always single led per pixel. I am not using any 12V strips so, I have no idea what they are as far as a pixel size. This BIG advantage for the 24V strips is significantly less current. I am using 24V strips for under cabinet and balcony lighting. For this applications animation is very simple so, pixel size does not really matter. But sure, it could be some noticeable difference which depends on whatever running pattern and yours personal requirements.
Yeah I figured that lol cool advertising is everything nowadays. It seems like the higher voltage is the bigger pixel is. I was trying to find how they will look on YouTube with no luck everything seems to be static there.
Found a good video on addressable leds, in terms of pixel sizes
So those cobs have 5cm pixel size that’s totally fine fo accent illumination of ceilling and etc. Its only a problem when you do some close patterns on the walls or something, with short viewing distance and if you want sharp picture.
Any advice for power supply? For about 38m length, not sure if only one power injection from the end would be enough.
I though philips hues were top of the line, but they can’t do that 
do you know what kind of power supply I need for 5v, 5m tKe about 30-90w? Total length needed about 38m
For about 38m length, not sure if only one power injection from the end would be enough.