![]() You can wire an outlet to a light switch, but it requires a little bit more electrical how-to than we wanted to talk about in this post. In our office, the outlet where we plugged in the transformer was already connected to a light switch, so we didn’t have to do any electrical work there. (EDITED TO ADD) Connecting a Switch to the Lights If you have a wall-mounted microwave, the cabinet above it usually has a power source you can use, and you can leave the transformer there permanently. If we were installing under-cabinet lights in the kitchen, we would probably hide it inside one of the cabinets. We just stuck ours on the top shelf up against the wall, and you can’t see it. Or you can continue connecting different light sections until your whole house is illuminated. This is what the end of one strip looks like after being soldered:Īt this point, you can stop where you are, plug in the transformer to the wall and you’re set. Make sure you connect the positive side of one strip to the positive side of the other strip. Using two pieces of 12-volt wire from your local home improvement store, solder the wire to the pads on the light strip. Stick your next strand where you want it. But if you want to connect more sections of light (like we did when we created a new section for each shelf), things get a little more complicated. You can plug the transformer into the wall and you’ll have LIGHT. The transformer comes with a plug that just connects right to the lights, like this:Ĭonnect the male end to the female end. So in this case, the lights actually face toward the back wall of the bookshelf, know what I mean? Step 3: Connect the Transformer to the Lights Imagine you’re a tiny dwarf sitting on our shelf looking out into the office. We stuck the lighting to the inside of that lip. Each of our bookshelves has a little lip underneath it, because the shelf itself is made of 3/4-inch thick wood, but we nailed a thicker piece of trim on the front to make the shelves look chunkier. You just peel off the backing and the strip is already sticky, so slap that bad boy where ever you want. If you look closely at the actual strip, there’s a line about every two inches where you can safely cut it. Once your junk comes in the mail, just follow these steps for a quick trip to luminary heaven. We’re using two reels of light with one transformer and it works great. ![]() You also need to pick up a transformer/power adapter like this. These lights are available in different colors, and we opted for “Warm White 3100k,” which looks similar in color to an incandescent bulb. ![]() This is what one reel looks like when it comes in the mail: We picked up these LED reel lights on Amazon at this link. Here again is what our bookshelf looks like all lit up with these fancy lights (keeping in mind the bookshelf is still under construction!). (I think it’s 18 watts per entire 16-foot reel, even though earlier in the week I told you it was 3 watts. Even better – it uses almost no electricity. Earlier this week I showed you how we created a soft, even, warm glow on each shelf of our still-in-progress DIY bookshelf, all for about $30 total. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |