Technical articles

Retrofit a fluorescent cabinet sign with LED strip: remove tubes and ballasts, set row spacing for the depth, size feeds and power, then test before closing.

Trimless LED channel drywall details: blocking, setting compound, joints against control joints, thermal movement, and service access, in trade order.

No wattage per millimeter exists for LED channels. Rank strip and channel pairs by watts per square inch of surface, then test the real detail at steady state.

Flexible or rigid LED wall washer for a facade? Compare curves, aluminum thermal movement, IK impact and service, with facet sag and expansion tables.

LED strip in a channel or a linear fixture? Six things move to the contractor with the swap: listing, photometrics, lengths, heat, service and line items.

Halo-lit or face-lit channel letters? Four checks: the wall, return depth and face, source (strip, modules or neon), and power for a 40 ft letter set.

Wall grazing or wall washing? Decide by finish, ceiling pocket, sightline and load, with a wall-surface table, optics by model and a 40 ft wall calculation.

Four ways to control LED strip from a wall: a line switch, a phase-cut dimmer, 0-10V or an RF wall panel, with our drivers, the 60 W split and fault checks.

Why LED strip adhesive lets go: dirty surfaces, heat, weight and cold installs. Surface prep, channels and clips, a peel test and what to write in a submittal.

What an LM-79 report proves for LED strip, how to check it against the model you buy, and why LM-80 and TM-21 answer a different question about aging.

Turn LEDs per foot into pitch, check it against diffuser depth, and see how density sets cut increments, dark stubs, watts and heat on SMD and COB strip.

Flexible LED strip is usually not a DLC category. See what the DLC lists, how to sort a rebate project, what to ask the utility and the private-label route.