So I’m setting up ambient RGBW LED strips in the baseboards of my basement. I’ve created a per-room module proof of concept that works, using a Raspberry Pi as a controller (the pi drives some mossfets which control each color).
I want a separate controller for each room, so my current installation options are:
1) Take the rpi, rpi power supply, and LED power supply and place it in a small electrical box in each room, and tap into the power running to the sockets of that room. I’m hoping I can avoid this somehow since I want to avoid the look of “random covered electrical box” in each room.
2) At the middle of the basement is my server/utility room, which shares a wall with almost every other room in the basement. I’m hoping I can centralize all the rpi controllers and LED power supplies here, and run small DC extension cables to each room to start off the strips.
My questions are as follows:
1) Is there an equation I can use to factor in the voltage drop of a long extension wire between the power supplies and the first LED strip? I know different gauges of wires have different drop values, and I’m trying to find the smallest gauge of wire I’ll need to run.
2) If I do end up needing to embed a controller in the wall of each room, is there any guidance for what LED power supplies would be “up to code” for in the wall use? I’m assuming it’d be one of the metal frame ones, but outside of that I’m not sure.
3) I’ve read some places you can connect multiple strips of LEDs in parallel from the same power supply, how does this change the calculations? And how does using power extenders / repeaters factor in to this as well?
Thanks so much! Here’s an image of my current working proof of concept:
