Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

Posted on
Sun Sep 01, 2019 12:10 pm
noel1983 offline
Posts: 446
Joined: Oct 17, 2014

Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

Hi all,
So after my first foray into outdoor lights last year we're having our house painted in two weeks which means full scaffolding!

So it's time to see if I can get the full on American house effect with LED lights all around the frame of the house.

Looking for recommendations of any low cost ways to achieve programmable chasing lights around the house.

Sure someone on here must have done similar! :)

Thanks all
Noel

Posted on
Sun Sep 01, 2019 2:54 pm
Colly offline
Posts: 535
Joined: Jan 16, 2016
Location: Ireland

Re: Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

My hope is that we can use the new wonderful looking MQTT plugin to control individually addressable RGB strips! I have yet to have a proper look at what is possible so maybe Joe will join the conversation to let us know - here's hoping :)

Posted on
Wed Oct 16, 2019 4:11 pm
midd offline
Posts: 372
Joined: Apr 18, 2010

Re: Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

DrZzzs gives a pretty simple presentation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXvtxwK3jRk

Indigo 7, Monterey (12.1) on a 2009 Mac Pro..

Posted on
Fri Nov 01, 2019 1:31 am
noel1983 offline
Posts: 446
Joined: Oct 17, 2014

Re: Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

midd wrote:
DrZzzs gives a pretty simple presentation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXvtxwK3jRk


Awesome video thank you so much!

That’s by far the best and simplest video I’ve seen!

Parts on order!

Two key takeaways,

1 - control via a simple £8 node mini esp8266 (think I have that right) and free wled software

2 - mounting - some great tips there including using pvc pipe and plastic cable tidy which potentially makes mounting sooo much easier!

Power supply controller and first strip arrives Sunday so I’ll report back how I get on!


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Posted on
Sun Nov 03, 2019 3:15 pm
neilk offline
Posts: 714
Joined: Jul 13, 2015
Location: Reading, UK

Re: Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

That video got me interested as well, I have both a strip and a string working well. I won’t make any promises but I am looking at a plugin (or at least some scripts). I am afraid my ambition may well exceed my talent but I will give it a go.

Posted on
Sun Nov 03, 2019 3:18 pm
noel1983 offline
Posts: 446
Joined: Oct 17, 2014

Re: Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

Awesome!

I need some of that plastic 'profile' clear stuff but not sure what it's called to google where I buy it from here in the UK.

Any ideas anyone?

String and power supply has arrived, controller board tomorrow and i'm away! Just need to figure out how to attach the strip outside around the windows. Ideally that'd be using the profile type strip, just a couple of screws in each one and it'd secure and easy to remove.

Posted on
Sun Nov 03, 2019 4:31 pm
Colly offline
Posts: 535
Joined: Jan 16, 2016
Location: Ireland

Re: Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

neilk wrote:
I won’t make any promises but I am looking at a plugin (or at least some scripts). I am afraid my ambition may well exceed my talent but I will give it a go.

Sounds good..

Posted on
Mon Nov 04, 2019 12:32 am
howartp offline
Posts: 4559
Joined: Jan 09, 2014
Location: West Yorkshire, UK

Re: Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

Noel:

https://www.plasticpipeshop.co.uk/Clear ... c_703.html

I searched “thin wall pvc” which although thin wall is an American term, brought up enough UK references to dig around.


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Posted on
Mon Nov 04, 2019 1:54 pm
siclark offline
Posts: 1960
Joined: Jun 13, 2017
Location: UK

Re: Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

Noel if you want the alu profile, just google led tape profile. All usual electrical shops including screwfix does it.


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Posted on
Mon Nov 04, 2019 2:07 pm
noel1983 offline
Posts: 446
Joined: Oct 17, 2014

Re: Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

siclark wrote:
Noel if you want the alu profile, just google led tape profile. All usual electrical shops including screwfix does it.


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Thanks Si, this is the stuff I'm really after: https://auschristmaslighting.com/thread ... post-11861

Mentioned in an Australian forum,

Think I might have just found it clear end capping https://www.diy.com/departments/snapa-c ... lsrc=aw.ds

flippin expensive though! £9.40 for 2m. The hunt continues

Capping strip might be the proper roofing term here in the UK maybe.

Posted on
Mon Nov 04, 2019 2:30 pm
siclark offline
Posts: 1960
Joined: Jun 13, 2017
Location: UK

Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

How are you planning to mount it?

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Posted on
Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:59 am
noel1983 offline
Posts: 446
Joined: Oct 17, 2014

Re: Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

What was mentioned in the Aus forum was just a few little screws in the corner of the window frame and then make a little hole in the capping that just fits over the screw

In my case I actually need to attach it to wall so i'm hoping some kind of 3M external sticky hook might do the job and be removable but that needs more research,

My preference for the rigid strip means that one screw or maybe two/fixing points will hold it well rather than the flexibility of the led strip bending and flexing as it goes down.

Posted on
Tue Nov 05, 2019 11:04 am
virgahyatt offline
Posts: 132
Joined: Jan 11, 2014

Re: Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

If this is for the led strips, try searching for Led Channel. Should get a bunch of results for aluminum strips with diffuser covers that are used to mount strips indoor and out. Though they are designed for more permanent installations.

https://www.amazon.com/Muzata-Aluminum- ... 405&sr=8-4

https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Muzata- ... 405&sr=8-8

Posted on
Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:35 pm
siclark offline
Posts: 1960
Joined: Jun 13, 2017
Location: UK

Re: Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

noel1983 wrote:
flippin expensive though! £9.40 for 2m. The hunt continues

Capping strip might be the proper roofing term here in the UK maybe.


Yeah that is more expensive than regular surface mount led extrusion profiles, but not much. Looks like that is the cost for mounting.

Posted on
Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:45 pm
noel1983 offline
Posts: 446
Joined: Oct 17, 2014

Re: Outdoor Christmas Lights....recommendations please

Thanks all
First node mini arrived today and am seriously impressed! £4 for a controller that can drive these leds is awesome :)

Sadly my led strip I think is faulty only the first 30cm lights up, looks like a bulging solder joint at that point on the strip

Enough to test the effects with and they look really good.

Now to price up enough strips to do the windows at the front of the house! Think I’ll drop to 150 leds instead of 300 which takes 5m down to £20 instead of £30
Still means £40 or so per window!

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