pex under the overhang

[lolo]

please excuse me ahead of time i have a bunch of beginner questions im sure are answered here if i read the whole forum

i plan on doing the perimeter of my house with led strips or strings this year the house is a ranch with approx. 250 linear foot of lights id like to install.
im deciding between putting a few methods ive come up with so far.

1st 1-2" pex pipe secured with small hangers spaced out evenly to avoid sag with 2811 strings

2nd thin wall pvc rigid pipe with 2811 strings. 100$

3rd aluminum channel with 2811 strips $2-300

4th option permatrack or something like that in the form of siding j channel permatrack is $800 im sure j channel is a LOT cheaper

a few issues i see with each version

1st and 2nd i figure i can drill a hole and put an elbow on the pipe then push it up in to the attic at each end or put a small project box at each corner to do wiring and use threaded fittings to make everything watertight
id prefer to do wiring from a ladder than in the attic its only 10 foot up at the most and the attic is full of fiberglass and ill have to do any repairs up there with very little room when i get out to the end


3rd option its expensive and i have to squeeze a power injection wire in there with the strips and i think they will bock some of the LEDs unless there is a channel behind the strips and i can put the wiring there

4th option it might look not so nice if the wires aren't concealed and its expensive

anyone have any insight ?

 

[rstehle]

I use these Chromatrim strips from Boscoyo Studios, mounted to 1/2" PVC. Quite inexpensive and very durable. I mount them with 1/2" plastic clips like these.

 

[lolo]

id like to leave them up permanently.

no offence but that looks terrible with the wires all showing WAF is in play here im sure that works great for things that get put up seasonally and stored away

id like a more concealed look with less homeowner should not do wiring things he's not an electrician look to it and why didn't he take his Christmas lights down it June :thup:

 

[1pet2_9]

Why not just IP67 LED strips?

 

[lolo]

Why not just IP67 LED strips?

id love another option how hard would the power injection be to not make it very visible

is the a specific brand you would recommend

id like to keep the budget low and the visibility low also

 

[1pet2_9]

I almost always order China direct. This is AN example:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/329...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

I'm just presenting the option. Others on this forum have had negative experience with LED strips out in the weather elements, and thus pixels are the most popular. Personally, I just order the IP67 version (waterproof) and have never had problems with water with these: instead I have had problems with temperature swings.

The positive of LED strips like these is that, visually, they are very unimposing. You just double-sided tape (or whatever) these to your lining, and they're not very noticeable unless you're looking for it and/or they're lit. I use LED strips all the time for stage performances, precisely because they are not noticeable.

Personally, I think you could use WS2813, WS2815, or WS2818, and the strips' lifespan would be all right. *NOT* WS2811 or WS2812. There's a little learning curve to cutting the LED strips in the right place and using connectors to connect them (you can also solder, but that's not a real option on the side of your house), but once you get that down, it's not too bad. If I was in your position, first trying the strips is what I would do, before I went to all the trouble of trying PEX and stuff. If the strips just aren't working out, then I would explore other options (the price of LED strips is not too bad). But I think so long as you're up there using WS2813 and above, you shouldn't have that much outage unless a tree limb hits it. You'll probably have a couple LED's go out over time (the problem with WS2811 and WS2812 is that the lights are effectively serial. One LED goes out, and the rest after that go out. With WS2813, it takes two in a row to fail. That's going to take a fallen tree limb--temperature swings probably aren't going to make two in a row fail, unless your strip just sucks). I see you mentioned "2811 strips" in your OP, and I don't think you should do 2811.

Anyway, just my minority opinion. If they don't work out, strips don't set you back that much in terms of either time or money. And you learn about LED strips in the process, anyway. I normally use solids myself, which can go for $2/5M of LED tape, so if those go out, I just replace the whole strip. My broken ones go into my "snip bucket', which is where my partially-working ones go. Those are useful when I'm on the ground and want to make some more elaborate ornament which uses a bunch of little cut-up strips. Just cut up and throw out what doesn't work, and what does work, use that for something else.