I don't have many Ikea products in my smart home - just a Myrvarv strip, a few Mittled spotlights (both via Trådfri drivers), and the gateway, of course - but I'm always keen to try out other stuff whenever it's available. Thankfully (in some ways) Ikea in Taiwan has a rather limited range of products for me to splurge on, but I did fancy trying the Skydrag strip lighting, due to me needing to fix a long-running issue with the current wardrobe lighting. I figured that even though the product is pretty bare-bones, it still might interest some of our readers, so if you're looking for strip lighting with a built-in diffuser, read on.To get more news about neon light strip, you can visit htj-led.com official website.

Ikea's stuff comes in the most basic of packaging, but we're so used to this minimalist approach now, that it's not something we tend to think about. As long as the goods are protected and survive the journey, that's ok. The price justifies the lack of colour print in the case of Ikea.

What you do get on the package are the basics. The strip is only capable of warm white set to 2700K, but it is capable of dimming and gives me 530lm in total for 7.7 watts of power. As the product will need a driver to work, this is shown as excluded on the box, so you know you need a Trådfri driver for smart home use and the required power cable for the driver. You'll also need the gateway, although as it can actually work without smart functionality, this isn't explicitly mentioned on the box as a requirement.

Skydrag comes with a built-in proximity/motion sensor that can be turned off, which is just as well, as I couldn't get it to perform adequately! When it's set to ‘auto', it should turn the light strip on, whilst ‘on' is actually the sensor turned off, which seems a bit counterintuitive. As the sensor didn't work for me, I'll not dwell on it anymore, as I already had a different automation solution in mind anyway, which I'll mention later.

Ikea does a good job of making Skydrag as adaptable as possible by providing three different types of ‘brackets' (my term) that allow the strip to be mounted in various ways. The Clamp brackets are designed for places where you might not have enough depth to use screws, so there are adhesive strips to go with these two clamp brackets, as I refer to them. You then have ‘extension brackets' that allow the strips to overhang slightly. The final ‘angle brackets' can be used to angle the light so that they're not facing straight down, although this can only be achieved in certain locations. I actually used these in my wardrobe instead of the clamp brackets, as I had enough depth to fit screws.

You get the obligatory manual, which does explain how and where to use the different types of brackets, and you also get a pair of tracking strips to house the wire coming from Skydrag in order to keep everything tidy.

Finally, you get some double-sided adhesive strips to mount the clamp brackets and the cable tracking, as well as two pairs of screws and a Torx screw bit, which you should keep hold of, as the screws use this particular type of drill bit.

As previously mentioned, Skydrag requires a Trådfri driver if you specifically want smart control of your strip. Luckily, I already had one installed and set up, and because the driver is actually the smart device, not the light as such, there was no need for me to do much other than changing the location and the name/description of the lights to better represent what they're being used for. No new installation was needed.

The Ikea app is ok, just not great, but you're going to need it in order to set things up. Here are a few screenshots just so you get a feel for the app, and how it works in terms of its structure. As you can see, I currently have lighting in three rooms - some Mittled spotlights in the Kitchen, the Myrvarv light strip in the Wash Room, and the Skydrag in the Bedroom wardrobe.

Rope light spools can be cut using either sharp scissors or a knife. To cut rope light, measure the area where you plan to install the rope light and then cut the tube at the nearest cutting mark. The mark that indicates a safe spot for cutting rope light will typically look like a small pair of scissors or a dashed line. This is the only place that LED or incandescent rope light should be cut. The distance between the cut marks will vary depending on the rope light so it's important to measure your space and choose the cut mark closest to that measurement.To get more news about neon light strip, you can visit htj-led.com official website.

How to Connect Sections of Rope Light

When installing rope light for custom projects, you may need to use connectors to join two pieces of rope light together. Remember that the two pieces of rope light being connected must be the same in voltage and wire count. As a general guide when using any connector, you will want to line up the holes in the rope light with the prongs of a connector. Then, firmly press the pieces together.
There are several different types of rope light connectors which we will touch on a little further down this guide. Each connector is uniquely designed for joining rope light in different ways to create a variety of shapes, and to allow outdoor rope light to contour around landscapes, edges and angles. All rope light accessories must correspond with the shape and diameter of the rope light being used. For example, a 2 wire rope light with 1/2" diameter will need to be paired with corresponding accessories. Knowing how to connect rope light can also be useful if a section of the rope light malfunctions. Simply remove the unlit section and place the working sections back together using a connector.

Powering Rope Light

After you have cut and connected your rope light to fit your space or project, you will need to add a power connector to one cut end. Then, an end cap can be used to safely cover the opposite cut end of the rope light.Conveniently, each rope light spool from Christmas Lights, Etc comes with four of the most useful accessories: power connectors, splice connectors,end caps, and mounting clips. These will allow for the rope light spool to be spliced or cut up to three times. Additional extra accessories are available if needed.

How to Hang or Mount Rope Light

Rope lighting projects can vary widely but there are several installation accessories to help for both indoor and outdoor projects. When securing rope light to any type of surface, it is recommended that the rope light is supported foot by foot, with additional mounting hardware at every corner and curve. The video below provides a few examples of how rope light can be mounted using either channel track or rope light clips.

RGB LED strip lights have been on the market for a while now and have been a great solution for previously unheard of accent lighting features. RGB strip lights have opened the door to creative and colorful LED installations. These LEDs strips give customers a wide range of customizable color for completely unique lighting installations. Due to the popularity of RGB LED strip lights, a new tape light technology is now available! RGB+W LED strip lights takes the existing RGB and pairs white LED diodes to the mix. This article addresses the differences between RGB and RGB+W LED tape light and why/when you may want one over the other.To get more news about neon light strip, you can visit htj-led.com official website.

RGB LED Strip Lights
Armacost Lighting's RibbonFlex RGB LED Tape Light uses a 3-in-1 5050 LED chip that is made up of red, green, and blue LED diodes. These LED strips can produce a wide range of colors by mixing the three, including an almost white look when LED colors are at full brightness.

RGB+W LED Strip Lights
The RibbonFlex RGB+W LED Tape Light features red, green, and blue LEDs, but adds a dual LED chip design that features a white 2835 LED that is paired with each of the RGB diodes. With the additional white LED chip, the RGB+W LED strip light can produce a wide range of vibrant colors, along with soft-bright (3000K) white, or a combination of white and RGB.

While RGB can produce color that is close to white, the dedicated white LED chip provides a pure white tone that is better for task and accent lighting, when color is not needed. The extra white chip also allows the LED strip to produce a unique mix of RGB and color lighting.
Which is Better?
RGB+W tape light is undoubtedly a much more flexible option than standard RGB LED strips. The 24 Volt RGB+W tape light is slightly more expensive than RGB but is better for a broader set of installations and improved functionality. 12 Volt RGB tape light is generally more cost effective. This is a good lighting option for those looking for vibrant colors, where pure white would not be necessary or for customers with budget constraints.
How to Control RGB & RGB+W Strip Light
RGB and RGB+W LED strip lights use slightly different controls. RGB has four outputs (red, green, blue, power), while the RGB+W (red, green, blue, white, power) tape has five outputs.Armacost Lighting's ProLine and SlimLine wireless switch controls are offered in both RGB and RGB+W options. They are available in traditional wireless controls and in Wi-Fi / smart controls.

The RGB+W LED controls will work with RGB tape light by simply not wiring the W connection. However, RGB controls will not work with RGB+W strip lights.