Summers in Virginia are always filled with community activities and backyard parties. As the days get warmer, more time is spent outdoors and hanging out with close friends and family. Most of these gatherings last well into the nighttime with the desire to stay outside for as long as possible. If you have ever hosted a gathering like this, then you know that most of it is spent in your backyard. If you don’t have the right backyard accessories to host a gathering, check out these tips that can help transform your backyard into a party worthy space!

Lighting

Outdoor lighting is the most important feature for any backyard gathering. It gives a certain aesthetic and helps illuminate your yard so your gathering can last all night. You can grab a few old mason jars that are just lying around and place some tissue paper and battery-operated flameless candles in them for an effortless centerpiece lighting on your tables. Don’t forget to light a few citronella candles throughout your backyard to fight off those pesky mosquitoes.

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Strips with more LEDs per foot will consume more power.

In short, if maximum energy efficiency is what’s most important to you, choose a light strip with smaller LEDs and fewer LEDs.

In order to ensure your LED power supply doesn’t overheat and fail prematurely, we use this general rule of thumb:

Make sure the total wattage of your LED strip lighting is at least 20 percent less than the power supply’s rated wattage.

For example, if you have an LED strip light that requires 80 watts of power to run, you’ll need a power supply that’s rated for at least 96 watts.

The vast majority of our strips include wattage per foot right on their product pages.

power supplies range from six watts to 1,500 watts for compatibility with a wide variety of LED strip lights.

Let’s take a look at an example:

It’s important to verify that the voltage of the power supply you choose is compatible with the voltage of your LED strip lighting. Also, be sure that the power supply’s input voltage matches that of the location it will be installed in. If you have an LED strip with 12-volt DC operation that you wish to use in a 120-volt AC home wiring system, you’ll need a power supply that includes 120 volts in its input range and has 12-volt DC output.

Another factor to take into account for longer runs is voltage drop. A significant voltage drop is present after a certain distance of LED strip. After this distance, there will not be enough voltage present to light the next length of strip. This varies depending on the type of strip and length being used. Usually, a single-density strip (nine or less LEDs per foot) will need to run back to a power source every 32 13/16 feet (10 meters). A high-density strip (18 or more LEDs per foot) will need to run back to a power source every 16 3/8 feet (5 meters). Please refer to “Max Run” in the specifications table of the strip light to determine how many can be run continuously without a parallel run back to power.

3) the 4) if you want your strip to be dimmable

power supply calculator on the product pages of all of our LED strip lights!

There are a few steps involved:

Step 1: Select your strip and the length you need.

Step 3: Click the green “Power Supply Calculator” tab, and select your product by choosing it from the list OR by pasting the exact part number in the search bar.

Step 4: Enter the number of strips at the desired length you’ve selected and voila! You’ll see a list of all compatible power supplies with the best match at the top of the list!

When dealing with electronics, safety is paramount, and you want everything to work like it’s supposed to. So if you’re still not sure which power supply to use for your LED strip lighting project, just reach out to our technical support team or customer service department at 866-590-3533. Our teams are available from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. CDT Monday-Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT on Friday.

Take a few minutes to look for and correct electrical hazards in your home. It does not take too long to check the insulation on a table lamp cord, check for the correct wattage light bulbs and install a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter). Take the time. It will prevent an electrical safety hazard and save you and your loved ones lives.

Unsafe conditions such as overloaded circuits and damaged insulation as well as the misuse of extension cords and electrical devices create fire hazards and may result in serious electrical injury.

Studies of residential electrical fires show that the majority of serious fires could have easily been avoided. The conditions that caused the fires probably would have been detected by an electrical inspection. These problems were not detected or corrected because no inspections had been made for several years. In a number of cases homes ranging from 30 to 100 years old had not been inspected since they were built. A safety inspection should be performed by a qualified licensed electrician.

One good tip to determine when your electrical system was last inspected is to examine the door and cover of your electrical panel. The panel should contain a label or tag with a date, a signature, or initials on it. If there is more than one date, the most recent one should be the date of the last inspection. DO NOT remove the service-panel cover. This is a job for a qualified electrician. If the date is older than ten years, its time for a inspection and correction of any problems that show.

Call us for help at 808-647-0599

LED cove lighting is a great way to add accent lighting or color to any room, and LED strip lights are the perfect product for the job. LED strip lights can be used for any type of RGB LED strip lights, you can choose from a ton of dynamic color-changing and single-color modes with adjustable brightness and speed control. variable color temperature strips are also available and can be used with a compatible controller and remote. Installing LED cove lighting is easy, and we’ve provided basic instructions for a standard L cove, recessed ceiling/tray ceiling cove, or crown molding cove in a 16-by-16-foot room. We recommend that you have a certified electrician wire your strip lights to power.

Tools and Optional Materials:

The way you install the strips or even the number of strips used might vary depending on the room size or the style, shape, and size of your cove. The steps and materials needed for this particular installation could be used in a room with a standard L cove, crown molding cove, or recessed ceiling/tray ceiling cove. The photos below show several different cove types.

DIY “L” Cove

Valence Cove

Crown Molding Cove

8) If desired, use a double-sided 3M foam pad to mount the amplifier in the middle of strips 1 and 3. Cut the foam pad, and use it for both amplifiers.

9) Repeat steps 6-8 for strips 2 and 4.

10) If you are experienced, connect your power supply to power. Otherwise, hire a certified electrician to set up power for your new LED cove lighting.

In April 1999, Wayne Gretzky played his final game in the National Hockey League. Gretzky had played 20 seasons and was considered by many to be the greatest the sport had ever seen.

2) OMG, Myspace Is, Like, Totally Awesome!

Excitement spread like wildfire through American culture as the cable modem brought the promise of a faster future. In April 1999, we still had the strange robot music of the 56k dial-up modem ringing in our ears. This page would have taken a lot longer to load back then.

4) Do You Believe In Fame after Fame?

Cher’s April reign only lasted three days before TLC reached the apex of popularity, stealing the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 list.

6) Goth Culture Gets a Careful Examination

For intentionally lying in court during a sexual harassment civil lawsuit, President Bill Clinton was cited with contempt of court. This was not a proud moment for anyone. By comparison, it has been a tame 15 years of presidential history!

8) Mind-Controlled Technology Hath Arrived…

On April 23rd, the BBC reported that newly discovered skull and tooth fragments may belong to a “human-like species” that lived 2.5 million years ago. There was a lot of controversy initially, but there has since been a general consensus that the Australopithecus garhi, as the species was named, is the most immediate ancestor to the human genus, Homo.

10) Eminem: Straight Blowin Up

The Hours by Michael Cunningham won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in April, 1999. The book would later be made into an Oscar-winning movie starring Meryl Streep.

12) Pulitzer Prize for Drama

In April, we got yet another indication that American culture was infatuated with the genre of romantic comedy as Never Been Kissed, starring Drew Barrymore and David Arquette, hit the box offices.

14) Billy Joel Retires…Psych!

Surely, tears were flowing on the faces of day-time TV enthusiasts when NBC announced the cancellation of the long-running, iconic soap opera Another World. Only a few months later, the final episode would air, and, instead of watching Another World, fans would have to watch something else. Maybe the actual world?