Fun With Led Strip Lights

Want to light up your outdoor (or indoor space) with an inexpensive LED light strip?  LED lighting is very affordable and now there are a lot of options for controlling your lights. The classic way was to use an IR (Infrared) controller similar to what a lot of TV sets use.  The problem with this approach is you have to be able to point at the IR receiver which may be in a difficult place to point at, or you may want the receiver hidden for aesthetic reasons. A controller that supports IR and WiFi is an excellent solution for your lighting needs.  Throw in support for Amazon's Alexa and you have a powerful way to control your lighting.

The Nexlux WiFi light kit comes in 16.4ft and 32.8ft kits.  We bought it on Amazon. We used the 32.8ft kit which comes with a UL approved adapter, a Wifi controller, a reel of 32.8ft 300 LEDs Waterproof rope light and a mini IR remote. The light strip has self-adhesive back tape for mounting.  To control using WiFi you will need an Android phone/tablet or an iOS (iPhone/iPad) and download the free "Magic Home" app.  The strip is Waterproof but not meant for very wet environments. When you have placed your lights where you want, you can use the IR remote to immediately control the lights. 

If you want to use WiFi (has to support 2.4Ghz) and take advantage of some of the special affects you will need to go through a WiFi setup.  You download the "Magic Home" app that works with your device. In your WiFi connection settings on your device the LED light strip will show up as a possible device to connect to.  You pick the LED device and now your Android or iOS device is talking to the LED controller.  You input your SSID home router ID you want the LED controller to connect to and a password if your SSID requires one. 

The LED controller disconnects from your device and connects to your home router.  You reconnect your device to your home WiFi (this may happen automatically) .  Through the App on your device you will now see the LED lights show up and you can give the strip a more friendly name.  If you have another strip you repeat this process and each time you will come back to your app and change the name to something more friendly. You don't have to rename the LED strip but if you don't, then you will be left with a cryptic name and after 2 or 3 strips it will get confusing.

For our application we had 3 strips.  One went around our "palapa", one around a "palm tree", and one around our outdoor "pool island".  The App allows you to create a group (we used POOL) and add thess 3 strips to the group so they can be controlled together.  The App allows you to play some music and have the lights change colors and pulse along with the music.  You can set timers, have all the lights go to the same color, turn them all off and turn them all on.

If you have Amazon Alexa, you can enable the "Magic Home" skill.  Now you can say something like "Alexa turn the pool lights".

Very cool lighting.  You can have a solid color or have it different colors.  anyway from fade to flashing or reacting to music.

The outdoor kitchen is all set up with the light strips.

Palapa with the led light strips.  I love how it can change colors to match a table theme.

This video we took while playing Moves Like Jagger.  The lights changed colors with the beat of the music.  My husband wrote most of this post.  He loves technology.  This product is fun and creative.

Sign up with your email address to receive the latest updates straight in your inbox.

About Linda @ Life and Linda

Hello, welcome to LifeandLinda. I am from Northern California. I enjoy blogging, Designing Blogs, Decorating, cooking, entertaining, gardening and clogging. I hope you enjoy your visit.