Outdoor LED Strip Lights

What IP65 means for a strip

An indoor LED strip is bare, and outdoors it would fail within a season. Every strip on this page is rated IP65, which means it is sealed against dust and protected against jets of water from any direction, so rain, a hose and a wet winter are fine. IP65 is not rated for immersion, so a strip should not sit where water pools or run under the surface of a pond. Where it will be cut to length, seal the cut end with the end cap the strip is made for, because an open end is the first place water gets in.

COB or standard strip

A standard strip carries individual LED chips at intervals, and in a shallow channel or on a pale surface you can see them as a row of dots. A COB strip packs the chips so densely under a continuous coating that it reads as one smooth line of light, which is what most people want along a step or a handrail. Standard strip is the traditional choice where the strip sits deep in a profile with a diffuser, or where the brightest output per metre matters more than the look of the line.

Low voltage and drivers

Most of this range runs at 12 or 24 volts from a driver, the transformer that converts mains power for the strip. Keep the driver somewhere dry and ventilated, choose one rated a little above the total wattage of the strip it feeds, and keep long runs in sections so the far end is as bright as the near one. A 24 volt strip carries a longer run before it dims than a 12 volt one. The product page gives the wattage per metre for each strip.

Warm white, cool white or daylight

Warm white suits decks, terraces and the walls of a house, where the light should feel like part of the evening. Cool white and daylight suit steps, paths and working areas, where seeing clearly matters more than mood. Daylight is the brightest-looking of the three and suits a utility area, a side passage or the approach to a garage, where the light is there to work rather than to set a scene. Whichever you choose, use one colour along any single run.

Where outdoor strip works best

A strip is at its best where a line is the point. Under the nosing of each step, it marks the edge without any glare. Along the underside of a deck board, a handrail or a soffit, it throws an even wash on the surface below. Behind a raised bed, a bench or a wall capping, it lights the feature without the fitting ever being seen. In every case, an aluminium profile protects the strip, spreads the heat and gives a straight, finished line.

Planning a run

Plan the run before fixing anything. Measure each length, note where the cable can reach a dry, ventilated spot for the driver, and allow for corners, which need a connector or a gentle bend rather than a fold. Fix the strip where you see its light rather than the strip itself: tucked under a lip or behind a capping, it gives a glow with no visible source, which is the whole point of using a strip outdoors.