3 inventive lighting projects using LED strips

In this video I will be showing you how to build three unique lighting projects at home using LED strips.
Parts links:
Disclosure: These are affiliate links. If you click them and make a purchase from the various merchants they link to, DIY Perks may earn a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to the eBay Partner Network and Amazon Associates.
Here are the quality strips that I used: www.aliexpress.com/item/32855...
I specifically used the 'daylight white 5600k' strips, but the other colour temperatures are great too. Here's an ebay listing of the 5600k variety: ebay.to/2iSqEKu
And an ebay listing of selectable colour temperatures: ebay.to/2zCThDr
Dimmer circuit:
AliExpress: www.aliexpress.com/item/32858...
eBay: ebay.us/qmRdmk
RGB Crystal Tower Light video: • Stunning LED lighting ...
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Official Website: www.diyperks.com/
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Forums: diyperks.com/community/
Twitter: / diyperks

[@HangmanOfficialUploads]

DIY Perks in a nutshell: "So what we'll need is a thin sheet of aluminum"

[@bryannichols7025]

I was surprised it took him 34 seconds to say aluminium. He's gotta step that up.

[@HangmanOfficialUploads]

@@bryannichols7025 Yeah, give us that goooood tease... Wait until like... 5 minutes in so we get that long wait before the gratification of a British man saying "aluminium".

[@ILLUMINATORProKit]

What about those drawrrrings? Can some one explain the extra "r" pronounced in "drawing" in UK English?

[@JFat5158]

@@ILLUMINATORProKit its like any language... just how its said. For some reason US english omits the second i in aluminium, fair enough. But the way you guys say 'carmel' instead of how it is spelled 'caramel' is just as weird. extra r in drawing, omitting an a in caramel, thats what makes all the fun of accents :P

[@LexXxusTVLive]

@@JFat5158 I respect that. Having said that though... Living in Southern Ontario all my life, I can promise you that we don't say 'caramel' that way. We do have carmel candies that are made from caramel. We say it the way it is spelt. With every single letter and not adding an extra tone into it. These are called regional accents. These are preferred social adjustments in the pronunciation. We also say aluminum the way it is properly spelt. Google "aluminium" and you will see it auto changes it to the correct dictionary spelling. You will also see that is is labeled as "noun, adjective British" when you search the term "aluminium" on www.dictionary.com . Aluminium is the spelling of the regional accented word. Not the authentic spelling of the word. These are not my opinions, these are facts I have acquired from education. It's only fun if you don't teach English.

[@gullit97]

You can see him getting progressively more blinded by the increasing light in the room.

[@zachhoy]

at 11:30 "allowing you to gaze at it comfortably" as he looks like he's about to fall into the sun

[@atharvgopaluni]

“I’m blinded by the lights”

[@Cat_in_Spacetime]

11:27

[@spicyboy8484]

jhahahahahhaahahahhaah

[@itz_bluebxrry8679]

XD

[@StrayZGaming]

This guy making art attack for grown ups

[@gxgamingandtech2017]

You reminded me of my childhood thx

[@walkie1985]

Haha 100%

[@Iabyriinth]

This dude makes fantastic DIYOYGYED: Do It Yourself Once You Get Your Engineers Degree.

[@flyde6521]

Not really, he really only cut things, and did the sort of wiring they teach in high school physics

[@filesaver5387]

Flyde its a shame they don’t teach taking a joke in high school

[@flyde6521]

@@filesaver5387 Yes because the above comment is a joke. What ever they taught at your high school about the mystical "comedy" must have been incorrect.

[@tjay2586]

Flyde so your saying the comment wasn’t a joke?

[@jayh9529]

Laby Riinth that's Colin furze

[@Nerdforge]

We both really enjoy your videos, and they have been a huge inspiration for us. Actually, almost two years ago, we decided to make your LED mushrooms, and that was what snowballed into our own channel. Your video and content quality leaves very little to be desired. If we ever create videos half as good as yours, I'll consider the KZbin project a success. Thanks for all your videos, Matt! /Hansi

[@DIYPerks]

Wow, that's quite something! :) Thanks for the compliments.

[@ZiRR0]

WOAH both youtubers i like wowowowo

[@lukeiman3591]

@@ZiRR0 you late Me sooooo late

[@ZiRR0]

@@lukeiman3591 lmao

[@AcrimoniousMirth]

Sees perfectly good screw terminals, solders to the back of the board anyway.

[@TadpoleSS15]

“very soft and good to gaze at” *literally heaven*

[@annies.2795]

3:53 "As you can see, it looks INCREDIBLY awesome! But.. What is it exactly?" 😂😂😂 I love how we got to this point and didn't even need to question it, tbh it did look so awesome that I'd want to make it even without knowing what it's for!

[@DarylVanHumbeck]

One suggestion for the first project is to use some glow-in-the-dark garden stones (I managed to find some in a local dollar store) for some of the stones to give you something to find each end in the dark.

[@toddy2519]

Or you could simply paint the stones with glow-in-the-dark paint. I get mine from GLOW Inc in different colors...even use one special paint they have for the sights on handguns!

[@crawfish069]

I put glow in the dark paint on my flashlights to help me find them in the dark. It works great as I use the better 2nd gen gid paint.

[@antwonsmith70]

Dude, your projects are amazing. Very glad you decided to share you talent with us all!

[@DigitalBhangari]

1:20 The screw terminals: am I joke to you?

[@billysprague3570]

For the LED ring to cement, try adding medium size cotton balls to act as clouds, the light shines nicely through them.

[@Abyeon]

He's the bear grylls of lighting

[@Joe-dt7wp]

*Grylls

[@VEC7ORlt]

Drinking his own, nevermind...

[@_BangDroid_]

making his own flux

[@M3iscool]

Wow, it must be a really smart bear to grill it's own food. Edit: Dang it, he corrected it to proper spelling. :(

[@stefflus08]

yeah.. but being compared to Grylls is hardly a good thing. So, spot on.

[@willrogers3702]

The last one would be great mounted to a ceiling. I'm glad you are making more videos again!

[@GLACIOUS13]

Same thought. Sized to match my ceiling tiles. This is the solution I've needed for a house that I've just purchased (yep, January 2020 I bought a house) florescent tubes/ballast, I'm not a qualified electrician but, I can build a computer. This is going to be great!

[@GLACIOUS13]

Same thought. Sized to match my ceiling tiles. This is the solution I've needed for a house that I've just purchased (yep, January 2020 I bought a house) florescent tubes/ballast, I'm not a qualified electrician but, I can build a computer. This is going to be great!

[@Viscontiorama]

I'm almost done building the first project ! Great idea , the shadowless lighting is huge for me and the high CRI I love, wish it were brighter even though I doubled the run of leds on the arc, I also used cylindrical molds for space efficiency and used and Xt-60 connector for the power and I made a wood top instead of the rocks . Wish the leds were more tightly spaced it would be awesome considering the built in heat sink of the project

[@vornamenachname3725]

What about attaching another strip next to the first one but with the LEDs themselves staggered?

[@recklessjunkie]

His smile is always so infectious and overwhelming like a boy on Christmas morning

[@austin5977]

Just a suggestion for future videos, you might want to let people know that you can use wood tools on aluminum because of the metals softness, just so people don't spend needlessly. Thanks for making incredible free content!

[@TDPEquinox]

Make sure to test the dimmer system for the first one before putting it in cement!

[@davidson2727what]

The amazon reviews for the dimmer say it is awful.

[@guyh3403]

And sticking a potentiometer in a wet environment is quite bad.

[@Kevin.Callens]

The duct tape and concrete is very bad at transferring the heat from the dimmer. It will fry sooner or later

[@BulletMagnetMan]

I'd have just used a couple of metal brackets to be honest and housed the components in a metal box. Cement seemed a little OTT in my opinion. Was it for mobility perhaps?

[@crawfish069]

@@BulletMagnetMan The cement base was used for weight to hold the whole thing in place.

[@yagoa]

To connect positive and negative at opposite ends(as in the last project) is very good practice since it prevents voltage drop along the strip. Especially if you are creating a circle of led strip(no edge with a strong and weak side). Also very nice to hear someone who knows what they are talking about when it comes to LEDs

[@robinturnbull1731]

I love your use of words like “gloop”, ‘plop”, “snazzy”

[@Ar7ific1al]

The one with the crumply aluminium foil actually does look a lot like a frosted glass window. It's really quite nice looking. Very cool!

[@elviswjr]

Step 1: Buy some LED strips. Step 2: Buy some Aluminium. Step 3: Build a light fixture.

[@steevstrickland568]

Buy some Al-u-men-knee-umm

[@l4p4k1]

@@steevstrickland568 At least it isn't Al-loo-minnam :P

[@sldlevey2200]

Chiyo ... ,

[@sldlevey2200]

BlurryBlu hkkopppokok$mmmk Pollll

[@Ibrahim-ut6pn]

In 1807 the English chemist Sir Humphrey Davy underlined the existence of the element arguing that "alum" was the salt of an unknown metal which he said should be called ‘aluminium’. again ALUMINIUM yes americans you pronounce it very wrong,

[@jdh3782]

I love the way you brought this together! I have spent many years supplying and advising customers on LED lighting application. These DIY options are fantastic and I will be using this to illuminate my garage. I'd love to share when I complete it. Thanks for the great ideas!

[@nadezhdasaleh3435]

Thank you for sharing Matt. Although I don’t craft with aluminum there were some good conceptual tips I picked up in this video that I’m planning to try in my own tinkering projects. Hoping to see more of your inspirational ideas.

[@juliacatoe969]

I clicked on this video expecting level 1 difficulty DIY projects. Then he busted out the soldering gun and man was I surprised. Still watched the whole thing though

[@docolemnsx]

These aren't exactly level 1 but they're level 2...

[@GetFitReedman]

@@8a8 helps to also have a solder gun :)

[@GetFitReedman]

@@8a8 I couldn't say ;)

[@thewatcher611]

but, don't do it like him. you should heat the parts to be soldered. He's not getting the part hot enough, and that makes for a cold solder joint. Which is bad. or, will be bad as current passing thru it heats it up and breaks it. use rosin core, it heats easier, and sticks well.

[@jemmaj2919]

Not all viewers r level one, level 2 ppl deserve some love too

[@Sophia-bm9ch]

My dad made a standup lamp recently after he got the idea from the 2nd light you made here. He rolled the led strip, spiraling downwards around a aluminum tube, wrapped those sheets into tubes, using a few bicycle spokes at the top to hold them up and infront of the LED's. It looks pretty damn awesome

[@jamespaige9081]

I really like this tutorial format where we don't actually know what you're making until you're done making it. It's almost refreshing.

[@2DRINKSMINIMUM]

you have a lot of time to waste, don't you?

[@kaiyode3599]

"I'm going to watch this video and make this stuff!" *second step requires soldering* lmao nevermind

[@takix2007]

Actually, it doesn't. Did you notice how there were screw connections on his dimmer circuit? That's how you can connect everything without soldering... I would recommend adding a tiny drop of super glue to prevent the screw from unscrewing itself when everything is wired correctly.

[@Levy_Wilson]

It's a good excuse to learn how to solder. A Weller soldering iron can be bought for as little as $30.

[@meme5887]

Soldering really isn't hard. You can pick one up for $10-15 on Amazon and solder for a couple bucks. Plug it in, wait for it to get warm, put tip to what you want soldered and apply solder. It's like a glue gun except you hold the glue lol.

[@rozberry8867]

Soldering isn't rocket science.

[@BecauseGames]

I'll never understand why people are scared of soldering

[@1zippy]

so glad i found this channel! i honestly dont know if ill ever do any of ur projects but your music and voice are entertaining on their own, i just worked on some art with this playing without even watching. and ofc youre so informative i feel like i could totally do this if i ever get the urge

[@purplemonkydishwasher]

Hah, I used a thick window-blind slat instead of aluminum for the Arc light, and it worked great! Cheers!

[@maryjaneevadiamond6359]

I think these lighting ideas are simply amazing, the trifecta of DIY LED lighting.

[@JonathanLaRiviere]

I never realized how little I knew until seeing how much DIY Perks could do. SO COOL.

[@amorphuc]

Hey Matt. Thanks for sharing the ideas. Very cool.

[@DracoDwaggin]

Perfect timing for this ideas, you solved some of my design problems I had, thank you very very much :)

[@pinnocksmarthomeinstallati2543]

DO you know that you are a lighting designer, and I know that air BNBs and home designer would love your ideas. I like the second and third lights.

[@nikhiljain3612]

You have such a calm manner to you. Watching your videos somehow puts me at peace.

[@loopiewho]

I made you desk light and its so nice to have my work space fully lite now thx

[@simokojamesphiri7924]

I feel like this bloke is my spirit animal

[@CrestofPotential]

The seller for the lights he's using now has captures from videos on the channel as pictures on the product listing. Respect

[@FlorianLinscheid]

These will be definitely done at some point in my house. Amazing ideas. And thanks for pointing out the importance of good quality LEDs! That is the most important aspect of using LEDs as actual room light instead of pure decoration.

[@massimookissed1023]

Hey, sticking LED strips to the wall is more creative than what I've done with mine. Mine are *waiting* to be stuck to the wall.

[@TheToneBender]

I'm gonna line my bedroom ceiling with that shit. Then shove a timer on it to go off at 7 am. Maybe that'll get my lazy ass out of bed

[@Newport31311]

You said go off at 7 am. I totally thought you meant you would leave them on all night and have them turn off at 7 am. Darn you English language

[@mascatrails661]

Really like that large project... I need to light a large dark room soon, and this seems like a nice choice

[@nachito5841]

No it doesn't, just buy a regular lamp, it's worth it

[@smpyo7952]

Love the video! I've been experimenting with a bunch of different LED projects myself, and found that you can save some "elbow grease" by using clear Leak Seal spray instead of sanding the shade to get the frosted effect. Sanding took over a half hour, spraying Leak Seal took two minutes (1 minute to shake the van and 1 minute to spray the sheets 😁)

[@Real_MisterSir]

Awesome project yet again, Matt, you are always an endless inspiration to us fellow creative people (and all those who just enjoy watching because of your quality content). I thought about how it would be to create the first project in this video, but use UV lighting instead and let it shine down on all white pebbles - sort of creating a night-time "bioluminescent pebble beach" effect. Not so much a working light, as a mood light of some sort. Well, long story short, as said you are an inspiration, keep up the great work! :) - Greetings from Denmark

[@VasilisKaramanlis]

You are one of the most creative person i have seen!

[@LoveGagaAndYou]

please don't ever stop making videos and giving ideas like these ! amazing work !

[@gplustree]

Some great tips here.. I'm getting set to build smart lamps with RGB+CCT strips and the info on making aluminum strips and diffusers is super helpful

[@brennonoverton5363]

The second light with the acetate cover would be a perfect set of lights lining the wall of a home theater

[@Cat_in_Spacetime]

11:27 yeah I like that feeling Looks looks pretty good and nice guy.

[@larryrich327]

You are so right, I had two sets of vary nice ones just hanging from my blinds I made a smaller arch and put plants under it awesome 👍

[@blueorchidimports]

Love it! Thanks for sharing. I feel inspired for some new projects.

[@MiniCuis4u]

AWESOME!👍5🌟 's I absolutely love his accent and the way he pronounces aluminum. 😄😍

[@annakeye]

*+Minnie Curry* Aluminium; pronounced A-loo-min-ee-um. Difference being and for reasons I cannot comprehend, there's a letter 'i' missing when the USA citizenry speak of this substance. He mispronounced "project". We of the British commonwealth say pro - ject. Yet he said it the US way as proj - ect. Oh and at risk of exceeding the reading tolerances of many, we say, "caramel" with three syllables but I often hear "car-mell" from the USA. Sounds really odd to me. Funny how language evolves and changes in a relatively short space of time.

[@brantayor7296]

its a diy video not a porno seriously

[@RedDragonGecko]

Be nice if you listed some of the power supplies you used.

[@patrickmichael2968]

RedDragonGecko 12V. 1amp DC. sufficient for up to 15' strips 12V 2amps DC for long strips (over 15') The ultra bright white light setup he used is a 5amp power supply. Which would normally be overkill. Hence why it is so bright.

[@paulinemae3186]

So fun, excited to try the first and third project! Definitely would be super useful as a student in a dark studio!

[@ellenwalker7892]

Fabulous!! Thank you, I shall definitely be having a go :)

[@charliewilson3234]

Oh hell yeah! About time you put something out. Hello from Texas!

[@Theexplorographer]

The final light would be AMAZING as a ceiling fixture.. thanks Matt. Great vid!!

[@TheBowersj]

1 Strip uses about 1.2 Amps or about a third of the energy of your typical CFL at same brightness. Thank you for sharing your wonderful projects.

[@christinebryant9143]

You have created some amazing projects. Can’t wait for the next ones. Love the the RGB crystal tower.

[@Zak-ob5ze]

You should have a tv show

[@gxgamingandtech2017]

He should be the professer proton of 2020 lol

[@KinksKomments]

he does, but is a youtube show as well :)

[@tic857]

2020 and I'm sitting here thinking "Man, I wished my school didn't remove tech class when I was in school, I could have learned some simple wiring".

[@theonetruestickman]

It's not too late! Simple wiring is actually simple once you learn a couple rules and have done a couple things wrong the first time. :D You can do stuff like the projects in this video if you remember: 1. Don't do stuff with AC line voltage, always use a low voltage power supply 2. Power supply needs to have the SAME voltage as the device needs 3. Power supply needs to be able to supply equal or greater current than the device needs (this is noted in A or mA - there are 1000mA in 1A) 4. Electricity goes in a loop, normally understood as from positive (+) to negative/ground (-) 5. When you connect + to - without a load device (light, circuit) bad things happen 6. LEDs usually need a driver circuit 7. Just try it out! And look up the things you don't understand.

[@jasonmedas603]

Every photographer should see this ...especially if they're good with their hands 👐

[@costynvd]

Thanks, those are great ideas! Love the tip about the acetate sheets for diffuser. I'm always looking for good diffusers :)

[@harrison298]

11:29 cracked me up, though I can't tell if it was meant to be funny or not :D

[@edessini3124]

For better and bigger alternative to acetate sheet is any broken LCD old TV, they usually have 3 to 4 frosted sheet inside up to the TV size.

[@jedics1]

You sir are a legend, your sanding of the plastic sheets gave me a great idea to solve a problem where I can't find some frosted polycarbonate panels for a project...Im just going to buy clear ones now and sand them until they are frosted..Thanks, Ive got a few ideas from your channel now :)

[@jenniferbrewer5370]

I particularly like the worklight, and you just picked up a new subscriber.

[@rossfromsa]

Would one of the diffusion layers from a broken laptop screen work for the second project?

[@markpizarro3777]

Max Payne giving DIY advices. What a time to live.

[@el_teodoro]

Just got my desk and I've been rewatching all your vids. Please make more!!!

[@jim-sp5rl]

Great ideas with style! Thanks!! Regarding the wall lights, cut one acrylic sheet 1/2 inch narrower and make it the outer sheet of the shade. This creates a 1/4 inch light border on the top and bottom, also giving the shade a dimensional effect.

[@GuitarSamurai17]

Your videos are always SO INSPIRING! Keep up the incredible content!

[@morsecodereviews1553]

Yup this channel is awesome. In fact, this is one of the channels that inspire me to create my own DIY show.

[@aarondelo5892]

this guy makes me feel like i can do anything. literally had no clue why i was so into taking electronics apart, after subbing, i now know why. keep up the amazing work

[@boredgamer8507]

OMG!!! you make expensive lamps look like dusty candles in so pocket-friendly and eco-friendly budget!!!

[@brenae4234]

I’m just here for his pronunciation of aluminum

[@rossboyer8879]

In English of course

[@BulletMagnetMan]

which is, of course, with two I's. You know, the correct way. ;-)

[@brenae4234]

Tarquin Farquhar typos are legal. I hope you vote today!

[@BulletMagnetMan]

@@brenae4234 Hehe. I know. I'm a certified Grammar Nazi. I'm not American so no I won't be voting. Good luick though. The planet is depending on you to kick that ginger muppet out of office asap.

[@libbylandscape3560]

Love his pronunciation, I wait for it. lol ❤️

[@royrijpma]

that last project is better to mount at your celling.

[@SaapeXD]

Roy R yes i thought that too

[@rebeccatreeseed410]

ditto

[@erwinio007]

God, because of you, everything in my future home will probably be DIY rather than store bought :,)

[@kcvrules]

Amazing projects... Definitely going to my to do list. Thank you so much

[@penusglottus8032]

Hey Matt! Great video as always. In the LED strip infos it's suggested to utilize a 10A to 15A dimmer circuit. I see you're using a standard 5A. I'm guessing that the manufacturer suggests such a current regulation so that if the voltage regulator isn't up to task the strips don't receive less current than needed. Are there any indication of this being true? If so would it be detrimental to the strips' health to utilize a 5A dimmer circuit? Would love to hear your input on this matter. Also I'm planning on lay down an extent of 10 meters of strips (two rolls basically) would that influence this matter at all? Thanks, Dave

[@gtjack9]

penus glottus In my experience you need to have each 5 metre length connected via high quality copper wire otherwise the voltage drop by the end of the second strip causes a noticeable and progressing dimming the further away from the power source the leds get. Make sure that the dimmer you’re using is for D.C. 12 volt applications. A household light dimmer will not work for this. The cheapest way to power them is with a second hand ATX Computer power supply from EBay. A 500w variant should be able to deliver up to 25 Amps continuously.

[@joshtunnell8299]

Can you link the power supply you used?

[@dusinnhht]

I actually built the working light. It's great, thanks for the idea!

[@olgasmith9429]

Please, never stop making videos!

[@zahadiy]

waw amazing !!!!!

[@Danish_Hafeez]

@Prakhar Rajpoot Lmao

[@peemsta]

Hi Matt, Another great video. Just a quick question.....what thickness aluminium did you use?

[@christophercain7343]

Wee Peem 8 inch

[@neodidi]

Ok.. Wow... Love these... The second option I see so so so useful for setting up a KZbin background/space... Was thinking something else as plates... But the Aluminium is really good for the reason you stated.. I see myself doing that second option in the future... Sanding can be don with an electric sanding machine or so... Awesome

[@petermirtitsch1235]

Brilliant video. I have a spare roll of these lying around, and fancied doing something like this.

[@mmenjic]

You have some interesting definition of facing downwards 😂😂

[@GabeAltier]

Awesome projects, Matt! Could you specify the thickness of the aluminum used in first project, along with dimensions? Thanks.

[@meme5887]

3inch thick aluminum

[@lawsnewton]

I used led strips from Amazon for under cabinet lighting in the kitchen of my house. Found 2700hz was the best color temp, nice warm light. Used the adhesive to tack them into place and came back with staple gun to finish the mounting to the cabinets.

[@bspringer]

2700K (Kelvin)*

[@p.b4287]

Bastian Springer You never know. Perhaps Ethan can listen to the light.

[@Eclipsed_Archon]

I might do that second one and make all of the lights in the room based on it, with rgb LEDs of course... Looks really neat.

[@Raress96]

Could you make a video where you make a diy smart home lightning set up maybe using a Raspberry Pi or something else?I would love to have smart lighting in my house but not pay the premium price for Philips Hue or other similar products.

[@traFREAK]

Rares Serban ever heard of aliexpress :)

[@briancollins6543]

What a good idea

[@JloBroOFFICIAL]

Light 2 would make a great reading light to have above the head resting area of a bed.

[@BenjasUberHobby]

Great projects thank you for sharing! :)

[@pauljackson2126]

5:34, I've used this kind of switches earlier and even using them 12V 1A Load, they get surprisingly hot and create a voltage drop of 3V to 4V. It might be a case of a defective switch, but I recommend using Relay, whose coils are switched by that switch.

[@TDPlayz]

When I was 11 a few of my friends and I were chosen for an engineering challenge where you got to use this stuff and keep extra materials! :D we made a robotic arm. Our challenge was designing a superhero with a disability and we had to build something that would help them in battle :) super fun

[@jacoblepley9966]

DIY Perks!! Matt!! Can you send me a link to the silicone you used in the Mushroom light DIY? I can't seam to find a correct one in the U.S, would it be possible for you to comment/reply the link?

[@certifiedclown6283]

Link was there a pun intended

[@dylantruong897]

Treed that's not helpful

[@Scott_C]

I think it was just clear 100% silicone from the hardware store. I loved that tutorial too.

[@rustyfenderson8367]

Scott Cress

[@MitchM240]

It cracks me up what this dude thinks is simple. He’s a wizard.

[@iamwilliambyrd]

I really like the last one. That would be perfect as a video light emulating window light