LED strip lighting on a switch

[Pablo79]

Hi guys,

I'm in the process of remodeling my kitchen and am now thinking about under cabinet LED lighting. I think the plan will be to go for sticky back dimmable LED strips, joined with wire between cabinets.

My question is, how do I get the lights to work using a conventional looking wall switch (I want to place it next to the other kitchen light switches), and what do I need?

I've not bought anything yet so am just planning this out.

Many thanks.

 

[Taylortwocities]

It simple, power > switch > driver > LEDs.
But there are some questions first.


What connections are in the existing light switch? You are going to need live and neutral (not switched live)
Why dimmable?
Does/will the driver for the LED strips have a flying lead on the 230v side or is it a plug-in "wall-wart"?

 

[Pablo79]

What connections are in the existing light switch? You are going to need live and neutral (not switched live)
Why dimmable?
Does/will the driver for the LED strips have a flying lead on the 230v side or is it a plug-in "wall-wart"?

Thanks for the reply.

The existing light switch has two switches that control the over-head lights. One switch for the kitchen area, one for the dining area. That's as much as I know about that. The LEDs don't have the use the same switch, as I'm happy for there to be another switch next to it.

Why dimmable? Erm, because I want them to be dimmable

I haven't bought any kit yet, but ideally I'd like it installed without it being plugged into a wall socket. I guess part of this is to also find out what I need to buy.

Many thanks.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The existing light switch has two switches that control the over-head lights. One switch for the kitchen area, one for the dining area. That's as much as I know about that. The LEDs don't have the use the same switch, as I'm happy for there to be another switch next to it.

You'll need L & N for the power supply. Although it is becoming more common, it is still fairly uncommon for light switch positions to have neutrals present. Easy enough to check, though, but you'll probably have to chase in a new cable, unless you're lucky enough to be able to replace an existing one with 3-core & earth to take a neutral there.

You really ought to read up on how lighting circuits work //www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:lighting.

Why dimmable? Erm, because I want them to be dimmable

Fair enough. Are you going for a single colour, or an RGB strip to allow colour changing? Any thoughts on whether to have a 3014, 3528 or 5050 strip?

I haven't bought any kit yet, but ideally I'd like it installed without it being plugged into a wall socket.

Don't buy a plug-in one then - look for a power supply with a flying lead connection..

 

[Pablo79]

Excellent, thanks for this.

Thinking about it, I don't necessarily need to get the power from the lighting circuit. I could use the socket ring main, but just put a switch on the wall.

It's not ideal though as there would be live under cabinet lighting, albeit 12v, when the lighting breaker is turned off.

I'll read into this a little more. Thanks!