After seeing several commercial stairway lighting systems, I decided to try WLED on a set of steps. Below are the key components, all from Amazon. The aluminum track is extra deep and the cap is a rounded dome both provide depth to avoid seeing individual LEDs, but rather a uniform glow. The width and depth of the track allows running power wires along side of the LED strip.
There is no power near the bottom of the steps, so under the stairs there is an outlet. Near it I will install a metal box with the power supply and a plastic box with the ESP8266 and logic shifter. Two 16-gauge multi-conductor cables run from boxes under the stairs to the LED strip. One cable is the power supply that goes to the bottom of the stairs then into the track up to the far end of the LED strip to inject 5v power. The other cable provides the 5v from transformer to ESP and level shift and then power and signal run to bottom step and bottom of LED strip.
I have zero electronic skills or programming ability, so I was thinking a motion detector would communicate with our home automation system which in turn would turn on the strip and it would run a series of commands to turn on segments in sequence.
ALITOVE 5V 20A 100W AC to DC Power Supply
Bergen Industries Inc PS613163 3-Wire Appliance and Power Tool Cord
KeeYees ESP8266 NodeMCU Amica CP2102 ESP-12E WiFi Internet Development Board Wireless Module
KeeYees 4 Channels IIC I2C Logic Level Converter Bi-Directional Module
ALITOVE WS2812B Addressable 300 Pixels RGB LED Strip Light 5m/16.4ft Programmable Dream Color Digital LED Flexible Strip Pixel Light Waterproof IP65 5V DC Black
Muzata 6-Pack 3.3ft/1Meter 17x20mm U Shape Spotless LED Aluminum Channel System with Cover, End Caps and Mounting Clips Track Profile for Strip Light Installations
Muzata Extension Connectors for U-Shape Aluminum LED Channel
