How to Hardwire LED Strip Light? 101 Guide

We're an affiliate We hope you love the products we recommend! Just so you know, we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. Thank you if you use our links, we really appreciate it!

With the management of advanced technology, it operated hard wiring to make a stable connection in brightening up your whole place. To perform it, you must know how to hardwire LED strip lights.

But,

With the availability of various solutions, which solution should you opt for?

Don’t be sad! We are always here to provide you every authentic information to make your living convenient. Furthermore, we have answered some of your questions in the FAQs section. Don’t forget to check it out!

We have also arranged a surprise for you. You will undoubtedly have it in the middle of the article. That is crazy! This guide will be enough for your self-awareness.

Table of Contents

HOW TO HARDWIRE LED STRIP LIGHT?

There is numerous information placed on the internet. Yet, the valid one is rare to search. To keep your time safe, we will provide you everything that you were finding for too long.

Now, with no interruptions, let us begin with our main topic!

1. GET THE NECESSARY MATERIALS

Having the necessary materials to initiate the process is pretty short. You will only need a LED power adapter, an A/C power cable, and male barrel plugs. These materials are common in the entire market at reasonable rates. You can buy them from wherever you desire. Yet, the quality will be the same in both local and expensive markets. You have to choose the material accordingly. Once you have completed the task of buying the material, you can surely start the process. Before you start, check your material by giving it a demo test. That will help you to know the exact sharpness and durability of products.

2. CONNECT THE AC POWER TO THE ADAPTOR

After the availability of products, connect the AC power to the adaptor. Always try to use any tool to associate them because it can cause severe damage. If you use your hand to connect them, you might get an electric shock. Therefore, we will highly recommend using a screw or a tool that can easily connect them tightly. To be successful in the entire process, attach the brown wire of the cable to the live port of the adaptor. It might be tricky to find the blue wire. Here is a hack for you! You can also strip the wire up to 2 inches to identify the blue wire. Isn’t it the smoothest solution? Now get the blue wire to connect it with the neutral wire. You will find a striped wire with the usage of cable. In the end, you will see that stripe wire is connected to the ground.

3. CONNECT THE DC POWER TO THE ADAPTOR

The essential step while hard-wiring the entire cables is the connection of DC power to the adaptor. Likewise to the above step, connect the DC power to the adaptor. Here is the unique part of the journey! The DC power comes from the male barrel plug. Due to this, you notice a wire on a DC power. Connect it to the V+ of the portal. Use the screw to connect them tightly. If it stays in loose form, no current will pass through it, and it will waste your invested time. After that, find the black wire and connect it to the V- port.

4. MEASURE AVAILABLE SPACE FOR FLEX

You will need to find out that how many light strips are in need to initiate the process. If you fail to find out, the entire hard-wiring effort will waste your time. To avoid such issues, start the process by measuring the area of installation. When you have figured it out, leave some space for cables as well.

5. Mounting Options for the flexible LED strips:

To make your processing work easy, we will provide you two methods to install it above and below your cabinets. You would not believe it! That will surely save you time. Sometimes, it is hard to make LEDs face the backsplash. You can make that happen with the installment of LED in the lip of the cabinet. That step will continuously glow up your room on one spot. Here is a piece of good news! You will notice the reduction of LED reflection on the countertop. The second method is exceptionally straightforward if you do it in the right way. To make LEDs facing straight down to the countertop, install them on the front of the cabinet. It will leave the reflection on the countertop with the result of more downlight. With the providence of two methods, you have to select the best one out of two to get your desired results. According to the reviews, the customers are more into adopting the first method because it requires stability in brightness.

6. Above Cabinet Mounting Options

The choice of mounting LEDs varies from person to person. But if we talk about the majority, the customers mount the LED light in the above glass cabinets to illuminate the entire room with super brightness. When there is a frame in front of the cabinet, the LED will face the back of the cabinet.

Want to know the best part? Well, if you are lack frames, there is no need to get panic! You can directly opt for mounting the light strips on the top of the cabinet. Due to this, LED will face down the cabinet. It will protect the wiring well enough to get affected by the opening of doors. Cleaning every part of the area where mounting will take place is a mandatory part. Everyone should follow up to clean it with the usage of alcohol. That will assure the permanent hold of the LED light hard-wiring.

7. Dividers under cabinets

Some of you might have a divider inside your cabinets. That is pretty common in different areas of the world. To hard-wiring efficiently, you should hole at least 1-2 inches inside the cabinet. The hole will help the wires to connect at one point. Make sure to keep the gap spacious enough to let the wire pass through it.

8. Providing Power

The Hardwire transformer will be very helpful to consume the high voltage to gain the desired results. Now, you might be thinking about a plug-in power supply! The plug-in power supply consumes the lowest amount of voltage to pass the current in hard-wiring that may also cause the power supply to fry. Therefore, it cannot compete with the facilities of a hard-wire transformer. This process is very unsafe for newbies. Hence, you should hire a professional electrician to perform this task.

9. Wiring Cables

When you have successfully installed the transformer, you can easily connect the cables from the output of your transformer to the LED strip lights. Most houses do not have a proper place to install the transformer. To overcome this issue, people used to fix the transformer beneath the sink. Three cables from the sink go from the transformer to the LED light. For correct use, use standard interconnects cables for a better connection. To keep your wires out of sight, cables can run across the front of the cabinet.

10. Test The Lights

After the completion of connecting wires to the right place, you should test the lights. If the lights are brightening the room just like they need, you did a fantastic job in hard-wiring. Sometimes, you may get confused about hard-wiring. Don’t you worry! Follow the friendly instructions mentioned in the manual. You or your hired electrician will not face any signs of error in installment. To understand the entire process thoroughly, you need to watch this video on YouTube:

Hardwire Led Strip Lights Safety Tips

As we have mentioned in the above steps, hard-wiring the LED strips is not as difficult as you thought. Most people step back in fear that it will not provide the advantages. Well, following some practical instructions like the above will help you in the installation journey. In simple words, it is an effective technique that can be adopted to hardware LED strips under cabinet lighting, car lighting, or other lighting systems that can contain LED strip lights.

However, the first thing to follow up is to make safety tips your priority in any case. Although the whole process is the safest, precautions are an integral part of every technical process.

Talking about safety, you should check the main power supply. The main power supply should be powered off so that no current can pass through the wires. If you do not take care of it, it can cause you serious health issues. In addition to it, keep your adopter turned off. Because it can generate the flow of current in wires.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can LED strips catch fire?

In comparison to fluorescent bulbs, LED strips give the brightness at the lowest temperature. Being made with premium quality, it highly dissipates heat on the outer portion of the lights. Therefore, LED strips cannot easily catch the fire.

Q: How do you connect 12V LED strip lights to mains?

Make your LED light working. The entire process is easy to follow it. You just need to connect the transformer wire to the strip lights. After that, associate the transformer to the plug or the principal supplier. As a result, your room will glow up with super brightness.

Q: Do LED lights work on AC or DC?

In most areas, LED lights glow up with the connection through the DC supply. Yet, it does not offer advantages like AC supply. LED connected to AC works directly without going into the direct main supply.

Q: Which is the positive wire on an LED?

The supply of the voltage diode is on the positive side. We know this as Anode. The negative side is known as cathode.

Q: Do you need a transformer for LED strip lights?

A transformer is the safest part of the illumination of the brightness of LED lights. It makes your wiring safe. Therefore, there will be no worries about the safety of the house. The entire wiring of the house is secure, and it will not face any catalog of short circuits.

Q: Can LED strip lights overheat?

Yes, LED strip lights can overheat to some extent. If you connect them with the highest temperature, you will notice the effects of overheating. You can overcome this problem with the installment of the transformer on the safety measures.

CONCLUSION

Congratulations! You made it till the end of the article. We have informed you on how to hardware LED light strips. You can also check the FAQs section to aware yourself in a better way. if you are confused with something, ask them in the comment section. We would get back to you as soon as possible.

Till then wishing you a delightful day!