LED Strip Light — Tech Spec

Flexible and rigid LED strips for cove lighting, under-cabinet, display shelves, signage backlighting, facade accent, landscape, and anywhere you need a continuous line of light in a tight space. This is a component-level product — you'll need a separate driver (constant voltage), and for anything beyond a quick DIY job, aluminum profile with a diffuser cover.

Core Specs

Voltage: 12V DC, 24V DC, 48V DC, or 220–240V AC (high-voltage strip with built-in rectifier per meter, no external driver needed — just plug into mains via a rectifier cable). 24V DC is the sweet spot for most commercial installs. 12V works but voltage drop limits run length. 48V is newer and lets you go much longer without parallel feed. 220V AC is for outdoor architectural runs where placing multiple drivers every few meters isn't practical — the downside is a visible cut mark every meter where the rectifier sits.

Wattage per meter: 4.8W/m / 7.2W/m / 9.6W/m / 14.4W/m / 19.2W/m / 24W/m. 14.4W/m is the standard for general cove and under-cabinet lighting. 24W/m is for task lighting or when you need more output.

LED density: 30 / 60 / 120 / 240 LEDs per meter. 60/m is standard — dots are barely visible through a diffuser. 120/m eliminates visible dots behind most diffusers. 240/m is COB (chip-on-board) — a continuous phosphor strip with no individual LEDs visible, gives a perfect dotless line even without a diffuser. COB costs more but the visual quality is in a different league.

LED chip type: SMD 2835 (standard — good balance of efficiency and cost), SMD 5050 (larger package, higher power, RGB capable), SMD 2110 (smaller, for high-density strips), COB (dotless, premium look).

Efficacy: ≥ 100 lm/W at 4000K standard, ≥ 90 lm/W CRI 90.

Lumens per meter: At 60 LEDs/m and 14.4W/m with 4000K: roughly 1,450 lm/m. Scale up or down proportionally with wattage.

CRI: ≥ 80 standard, ≥ 90 PRO, ≥ 95 PRO-Ultra. For retail displays and residential interiors where the strip is visible, CRI 90 minimum. For architectural cove lighting where the strip itself is hidden and the light is indirect, CRI 80 is usually fine — the diffuser bounce softens color rendering gaps.

R9: ≥ 10 standard, ≥ 50 PRO.

CCT: 2700K / 3000K / 4000K / 5000K / 6500K. RGB, RGBW, RGB+CCT, tunable white 2700K–6500K, and single colors (red, green, blue, amber) all available. RGB+CCT gives you color-changing effects plus a usable white light — that's the most versatile option for residential and hospitality. Pure RGB without a white channel gives terrible white light because it's mixing colors to approximate white rather than using white LEDs.

IP rating: IP20 (bare PCB, indoor dry use only — no coating, no sleeve), IP54 (thin silicone coating on the PCB face — splash-resistant for bathrooms and kitchens, not waterproof), IP65 (silicone sleeve — the strip sits inside a sealed silicone tube, good for outdoor under eaves), IP67 (silicone-filled extrusion — the entire cavity is filled with silicone gel, protects against temporary immersion), IP68 (fully encapsulated, suitable for permanent underwater use — pools, fountains).

PCB width: 8 mm (narrow, fits tight coves), 10 mm (standard, fits most aluminum profiles), 12 mm (wide, dual-row, higher power). Most profiles are made for 10 mm strip — if you go 8 mm or 12 mm, check that your profile matches.

PCB copper: 2 oz standard, 3 oz for higher power (24W/m and above). Thicker copper = less voltage drop, longer possible runs. A 2 oz PCB at 14.4W/m and 24V will go about 5 meters before the far end is noticeably dimmer. A 3 oz PCB at the same spec might stretch to 7 meters.

Cut interval: Usually 25–100 mm depending on voltage and density. Marked on the PCB with a scissors icon. Each cut point has solder pads for reconnecting with wire or clip-on connectors.

Adhesive backing: 3M VHB 300LSE for IP20 indoor — this is the good stuff, sticks to clean aluminum and painted surfaces. 3M VHB 5952 for outdoor and high-temperature. If the surface is dusty, oily, or rough, the tape will eventually let go regardless of which 3M number is on it — use the aluminum profile's mounting clips as the primary hold and treat the tape as installation assistance.

Max run length (24V DC): 5 meters for 14.4W/m, about 10 meters for 7.2W/m. Beyond that, the voltage at the far end drops enough to visibly dim the end of the strip. To go longer: either use 48V strip, feed power from the center, or run parallel home-run cables back to the driver from multiple points along the run.

LED chips: Sanan standard (decent quality for the price, most common in the industry), Bridgelux PRO, Philips Lumileds PRO-Ultra.

Driver: External constant-voltage driver, ordered separately — don't forget this or your strip is a paperweight. Meanwell LPV/LRS series standard, MOSO on request. Constant-voltage drivers output a fixed voltage (12V or 24V or 48V DC) at a rated wattage. Size the driver at about 120% of your total strip load — so a 5-meter run of 14.4W/m (72W total) should use a 100W driver. Running a driver at 100% load continuously shortens its life.

Dimming: Non-dim (driver on/off), Triac (with a dimmable CV driver + compatible wall dimmer), 0-10V (with a 0-10V CV driver), DALI-2 (with a DALI CV driver), PWM (with an LED controller — required for RGB and RGBW strips). For color-changing strips, you need a controller between the driver and the strip. The driver provides constant voltage, the controller handles the PWM dimming per color channel.

Controller types (for color strips): RF remote (basic, limited range), Wi-Fi via Tuya/Smart Life app (most common for residential — pairs with Alexa/Google Home), Bluetooth, DMX512 (architectural and entertainment — daisy-chain with XLR cable, each strip or segment is individually addressable), DALI-2 DT8 (tunable white commercial — integrates with building lighting control).

Max operating temp: -20°C to +45°C for IP20, -20°C to +60°C for IP65+.

Warranty: 2 years IP20, 3 years IP65+, 5 years PRO in aluminum profile. The warranty difference between bare strip and profile-mounted is real — the profile acts as a heatsink and can literally triple the LED lifetime compared to strip stuck directly to a wooden cabinet underside with no airflow.

Certifications: CE, RoHS. ETL and UL on select models.

Installation things that matter

Aluminum profile with a diffuser cover isn't a cosmetic upgrade — it's the heatsink for the strip. If you're running 14.4W/m or higher, or the strip operates more than 8 hours a day, install it in a profile. The profile also protects the strip from dust (which insulates and traps heat) and from accidental contact (which can short exposed solder pads on IP20 strip).

For IP65+ strips, every solder joint and connector must be sealed with adhesive-lined heat-shrink tubing. The silicone sleeve stops water along the length of the strip, but the cut ends and connector points are open until you seal them. Skip this step and your IP65 strip is effectively IP20 at every connection.

For long outdoor runs (building facade, landscape), use 220V AC strip or 48V DC strip with center-fed power. Placing 24V drivers every 5 meters along a 40-meter facade means a lot of junction boxes and wiring. The 220V AC strip solves this — one power feed at the start, daisy-chain up to 50 meters.

Ordering

LFL-ST-[type]-[LED/m]-[W/m]-[voltage]-[CRI]-[CCT]-[IP]-[options]

LFL-ST-FLX-120LED-14.4W-24V-CRI90-4000K-IP65

→ Flexible, 120 LEDs/m, 14.4W/m, 24V DC, CRI 90, 4000K, IP65 sleeve

Tell us what you're lighting — cove, cabinet, facade, landscape — and the run length. We'll spec the right strip density, IP rating, driver wattage, and wiring approach so the far end of the strip looks the same as the near end.