Cheap LED strips

Ryzouk

Honorable
Mar 17, 2014
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Hello,

I would like to get some back lighting for behind my tv. I checked on ebay and amazon and there are lots of LED strips. Would one of the cheap £15 ones last of are they likely to break after a while. ? Can you recommend any other ways of lighting that is not to pricey ?

Thanks
 
Solution
LED's generally last VERY long, just get something that you can power easy enough, So if you have computer near the TV, you can always power it off the computers 12 volts power rail.

You may be able to find something for 5 volts and use it off USB, but remember, many usb ports are limited to 2.5 watts. Depending on how much light you want, it may be enough. A mini maglite LED flashlight is only 1 watt(some more powerful ones are 3 watt) and is still very bright.

Why USB? Many TV's already have a usb port. With any luck it will power on and off with the TV.
LED's generally last VERY long, just get something that you can power easy enough, So if you have computer near the TV, you can always power it off the computers 12 volts power rail.

You may be able to find something for 5 volts and use it off USB, but remember, many usb ports are limited to 2.5 watts. Depending on how much light you want, it may be enough. A mini maglite LED flashlight is only 1 watt(some more powerful ones are 3 watt) and is still very bright.

Why USB? Many TV's already have a usb port. With any luck it will power on and off with the TV.
 
Solution

Ryzouk

Honorable
Mar 17, 2014
84
0
10,630


The ones i have been looking at come with a power supply. I have herd reviews of them failing and over heating. Can you recommend any products ?
 
They would have to be running VERY bright or poorly setup to actually overheat. Unless the power supplies are the issue.

I guess all you can do is read the reviews. But remember sometimes reviews are user error(I see TONS of those, so watch out).


The only problem is you still have to pay to charge the batteries and it has to waste some power while charging(if you could charge batteries with 100% efficiency it would be great).