With all the DIY strips on the market, we are often asked why Loxone LED strips are more expensive than those you might find on Amazon or eBay. There can be significant differences in the quality of the chips, resistors and coatings, which necessitate a higher price tag. Put simply, it’s a case of ‘buy cheap, buy twice’

We’re not suggesting that you need to go out and spend a fortune on LED strips; instead, what’s more important is that you seek out quality strips that will last. But how can you tell which LED strips are high quality and which aren’t? Here are four things to watch out for when buying your strips.

Four qualities to look for in LED Strips

1.) Number of LED chips and distance between them:

One of the first things to look for when buying an LED strip is the number of LED chips on the strip and the distance between the chips. 

Loxone WW Strips have 300+ LED chips per five meter strip

RGBW strip has 300 chips per 16ft

Cheaper strips of the same length will have less than half the number of chips, meaning they are placed farther apart

So what’s the problem?

The lack of this ‘natural’ luminosity in cheaper LED strips is often artificially increased by using LEDs supplied with higher amperage. As you can guess, this has a negative effect on the life of the LEDs.

Cheaper LED strips, as you might expect, not only have fewer chips along with their length but even then those sparingly placed chips aren’t quite up to scratch, so they end up failing prematurely. It’s a bit of a false economy, rather like buying ‘basic’ chocolate chip cookies… you have to eat at least two to stand any chance of getting a decent amount of “chocolate”!

These are our experiences of working with LED strips, but in order to give our theories some empirical grounding, we’ve taken three LED strips of various qualities and prices and put them to the test. These strips were:

• A cheap warm white strip
• A cheap RGB strip, and…
• A quality RGBW strip.

So let’s take a look at our findings:

Comparison 1:

Why the separate chips for RGB and warm white in the RGBW strip? The reason for this is so that a truly white light can be achieved (RGB LED strips can only create a cool, slightly blueish light.)

Here’s the evidence:

Comparison 1 is on the right, whilst comparison 2 is on the left in the photos below:

Comparison  2:

For this test, we looked at the difference between the cheap RGB strip and the more expensive RGBW when creating a blue hue.

2.) PCB track

The conductor track connects each LED chip and is used to run power to each chip. Since the track is made of copper, which is one of the more expensive elements of the strip, savings are made by cutting back on the amount of copper used.

This results in a thinner conducting track, which leads to poor heat dissipation and as a result, the LED strips fail much earlier. Look for LED strip lights with larger, thicker copper tracks, as they will be much more durable. You’ll find that better quality LEDs dissipate heat more efficiently and the strips do not bend as easily.

3.) Resistors:

Cheap LED strip lights are equipped with smaller resistors to provide a better luminous result. This puts an additional burden on the LED chips and consequently shortens their lifespan. Higher quality LED strips have the appropriate resistors, so you get a longer lasting strip with excellent luminosity.

4.) Coating:

As you can see from our photos, the cheaper warm white strip has several cracks along its length from cheap, brittle coating. Aside from looking awful, this creates an issue as the parts are exposed – not exactly safe!

High quality LED strips have a stable, odorless coating, even when they’re in use and the coating is being heated. Cheap LED strips are not for sensitive noses, as we found out during our test. The noxious wafts of cheap plastic could be smelt long before the strip was switched on…is it really worth it?!

On a more serious note, consider the IP rating of your LED strip light. We sell LED strips with three different IP ratings: IP20, IP65, and IP68, which are classed as not protected, splash-proof and waterproof, respectively.

If you’ve opted for ‘waterproof’ LED strips in the garden, for example, and your coating gets cracked…how waterproof will they be then? With a high quality strip, you’re getting a much better, more thorough coating which will see you through years of use.

Looking for more?

We hope this blog has been of some use in helping you choose the appropriate LED strips for your install. If you’re looking for more lighting tips, check out How to Install and Create Install and Create Ambient Lighting with Led Strips and Spots!