Hello. New here, although I’ve done LED programming projects in the past.
I’d like to light the underside of my son’s bed and WLED looks like a good choice. I’d like to set timers and such so that it dims overnight and perhaps reacts to a motion sensor. I have Home Assistant where I guess I can do that.
In terms of hardware set up it needs to be pretty robust since it sites under a bed that gets crawled under. As such, I’d prefer not to have a homebrew soldered solution and prefer something a bit more plug and play like the SP501E although I understand it’s not great for WLED due to 1MB RAM. But I like the fact that the controller and strip seem to share a single power supply and it’s enclosed in plastic.
I figure I’ll need 5M of LED strip, which is 300 LEDs, which I hope can all be powered from one end.
TL;DR can anyone recommend a simple off-the-shelf controller and programmable LED strip that’s suitable for WLED? Under-bed project - 300 LEDs.
I’m running 150 LEDs so, after a bit of reading, I think I need a 12V strip. Which means I need to find a power supply that outputs 12V (for the LEDs) and 5V (for the controller).
You don’t need separate power supplies. Ready to use controllers can operate on different voltages. Choose your strip and controller, flash with your favorite firmware and enjoy.
12V strip would avoid the need for power injections but they’re over twice the price.
So I think my solution is:
WS2812B 5V 150-LED strip + NodeMCU + 5V 3A power supply. NodeMCU and LED strip share the power input. Might have to inject the power at a secondary point on the strip using the same power.
According to calculations:
Estimated Power Requirements (for 5v LEDs)
These are extremely rough estimates only!
Number of LEDs: 150
LED Type: ws2812b
Maximum Amperage: 6.51 amps
Maximum Wattage: 32.55 watts
Average Amperage: 2.55 amps
Average Wattage: 12.75 watts
Better to use controllers designed for multiple voltages. But DIY with NodeMCU is fine too. Only downside is 5V supply and no shifter for reliable signal.