How to light your collection using IKEA's Billy, Oversidan, and Tradfri

[@leoalpha7]

Check out my newer, more comprehensive tutorial here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iny8apePfcuNpc0

[@JohnTW23]

This was the most useful video I’ve seen breaking down the steps for a non-handy person like me for the Oversidan lighting.

[@leoalpha7]

Thank you! I tried to make it as straightforward as possible so it is as accessible as possible.

[@avillagomez1981]

This was the best thing ever. Followed all the steps and I ended up with 2 fantastic displays. Just have to pair the remote(s) to see if I can use just one, otherwise I'll have to use 2. Thank you so much!!

[@mnemonic8757]

Thank you for this advice. Installed in a shelf and am amazed at the result. Everyone says it looks great now. Everything illuminated by this lamp looks beautiful, the colors of objects become saturated. I have paired with a hue bridge.

[@MrKlawUK]

nice, thanks. Most other videos go with cheap amazon LED strips with cutting/soldering etc. Something a bit more straightforwards like this is very accessible

[@leoalpha7]

I would not discount being able to achieve a similar effect with strip lights and angled brackets, but I definitely prefer the ease of use from Ikea. The diffusion of the lights is also nice.

[@pownintehnoobz]

This came at such a great time! Just got a billy for my Transformers as well! Was disappointed to learn they stopped selling the norrfly lights, was completely unaware that ikea made these! Arguably nicer than the norrflys imo. Thanks!!!

[@leoalpha7]

Thanks! I, too, went to Ikea looking for the norrfly lights, but I ended up with these instead. This was all experimental. I had no guides to follow so I figured I would make one for anyone else who wanted to try it out.

[@fotomakr]

That’s good to IKEA has a lighting system for this shelf. I have a BILLY used for model supplies and could see adapting another one or two like this. Good easy to follow video.

[@leoalpha7]

Thanks! I tried to include as much of my process as made sense and I know I didn't record some of the steps near the end because I was just so excited to get it lit up. I also decided to make this video because they used to have another lighting system that could be used with the Billy, but they discontinued it and I thought this was the next best thing.

[@JingLan69]

I was afraid the Översidian wouldnt fit the Billy after learning that the the successor to my current lights (which would be Norrfly) is also out of stock again. Guess that's what you get for waiting too long. Video was on point and assured me I can use the Översidian lights, thanks a lot.

[@leoalpha7]

I'm glad you found it helped! I was disappointed when I found out that the Norrfly was no longer being produced, but fortunately the Översidan fits very well in the Billy.

[@khepri3266]

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

[@Bigglare]

Looks Awesome. And Tradfri can pair to an Echo 4th gen or the Dirigera Hub for Smart control with your favorite voice assistant.

[@leoalpha7]

That will have to be a project for another day. I thought I bought the wireless hub for the lights but I only ended up buying the standard remote. Thanks for letting me know.

[@leog1676]

Hey my dude. Thanks for the video. Can you please share what you did for cable management in the back? Thank you!

[@leoalpha7]

@@leog1676 Sure! Nothing fancy, just some zip ties around the cables. Similar to how they are looped back on each other in the box, I just extended the cable as far as I needed it to reach, looped up the rest, and tied it together with a zip tie.

[@KarYong]

Mine looks yellowish. How do you change it to white?

[@leoalpha7]

This is quite puzzling. You are the second viewer to note a yellow color instead of white. May I ask how you are powering the lights?

[@KarYong]

@@leoalpha7 I think the lights are meant to be warm in temperature and yellowish. But in the video perhaps due to camera adjustment the temperature of the lights seems cooler. That’s what I thought haha

[@leoalpha7]

@@KarYong How they look in the video is almost exactly what they look like in real life. I'm not entirely sure why a few people are getting warm color temperatures.

[@akshaypai]

Thanks for making this video, very helpful. I had a question about wiring. Assuming that there's a shelf with 5 lights, how are you powering them? Are you plugging all 5 lights to a spike buster that then connects to the wall socket? Or do the wires connect with each other to create a single wall socket connection?

[@leoalpha7]

The strips all plug into a power hub with slots for 10 I believe which acts as an AC adapter into the wall.

[@ourhouseuk]

This is helpful thanks. Is there a light bar that works for the single width billy?

[@leoalpha7]

I do not believe that they sell a light bar short enough to fit the small billy unfortunately.

[@timbo807]

Hi! First of all, thanks for the vid! I just did build exactly your setup for my miniatures but i forgot to buy the controller ... My question is, if the lights are at 100% light when i use them without the controller/dimmer, or are they cabable of going lighter when i use the controler? In case they are at 100% without using it and the controller only works for dimming it down, i would consider not to buy it cause for that i can just use another device. Thanks again for your video!!! I was searching for weeks for a good solution. Greetings from germany!

[@leoalpha7]

I hope you like the shelf setup as much as I do and I'm glad to hear my video was helpful! I believe the lights are at 100% if you turn them on and off without the controller. To be honest, I do not use the dimming feature with the controller so if you are happy with it, I would not bother with the controller.

[@timbo807]

@@leoalpha7 thanks alot mate!

[@orville424]

I got mine without the tradfi power supply, the color is yellowish, is the only way to change the light like yours is to get the tradfi with the dimmer?

[@leoalpha7]

I'm not entirely sure how you found a way to power the lights without the power supply.

[@orville424]

@@leoalpha7 managed to find ansulta that has the hub that connected to the lights and it was only 15 dollars, I’m assuming the only way to change the light or dim it is to get the tradfi

[@leoalpha7]

@@orville424 I found the cable you are referring to. It is a very curious case to say the least. It should be providing enough power that the color temperature of the lights would not be affected. Did you buy the oversidan lights?

[@HaohmaruHL]

Just built mine and I like how easy it was but I wish Oversidan weren't so thicc and didn't take as much vertical space. Feels like shelves are much narrower than they should. For example if you are going to put some figures/statues especially on the lower shelves the Oversidans will cut off their heads from your view if not looking at the Billy from afar. Wonder if there's a less noticeable subtle led solution I could use. Especially with good diffusion effect? I've browsed some amazon ones but they are full of mixed reviews. For some reason my local ikea doesn't have that fancy wireless controller and instead we only have the simple on/off one. Also, any good tips on cabling in case you would want to adjust shelf height in the future? Wouldn't want to be left with a hole right in the middle.

[@leoalpha7]

One option may be to drill holes vertically in the back of the shelves and route all the cables up or down and out the back of the Billy. Alternatively, you could just run the cables out of the front of the Billy and around the side, but they would be more visible.

[@JohnCachu12]

Great video. Would you say this is a warm white or cool white?

[@leoalpha7]

I wouldn't say it is either really. Ikea did a nice job of getting a pretty neutral white almost like daylight, but obviously not as bright. I definitely prefer the look over explicitly warm or cool lights.

[@michaelwooddell9001]

How many light bars can the 30W power supply support? Would you need 2 to light up 2 Billy's? It looks like it only supports 9 connections. Would you mind posting a pic of the light connection setup?

[@leoalpha7]

Each wireless power supply has a connector that supports 9 light bars. I'm not sure if they sell larger hubs, but with only 9 connections you would need at least two to fully light two Billy bookshelves using this method. If there is something specific you would like a picture of, please let me know and I can make a community post.

[@michaelwooddell9001]

@@leoalpha7 So you had to buy two power supplies to setup two Billy's? In the video description I thought you mentioned one would work for two Billy's. I've got two I'd like to set up myself and what you used is perfect and the best option I've seen so far. I'd been thinking about LED strips but I neveriked how they'd look Mind sharing Ikea links to the items you purchased and quantities needed for two? I don't have an Ikea that close to me so I want to make sure I order the right stuff or make one two hour drive count...lol As for a pic, I was curious how all the connections were handled. The lights to the power supplies and all that fun stuff. I'm new to this stuff so I want to make sure I get it right.

[@leoalpha7]

@@michaelwooddell9001 I apologize if I incorrectly stated how many Billy bookshelves I have. At the moment I only have one Billy bookshelf with one lightstrip per shelf, one 30W power adapter with 9 connectors, and a tradfri remote that is wireless, but doesn't function with the app. You just have to pair it to the power adapter independently. I'm away from my setup at the moment, but I'll try to update the description with links and make a community post as soon as I can. I understand wanting to be prepared since my closest Ikea is also about 2 hours and 30 minutes away. I'll respond again once I've updated the description.

[@michaelwooddell9001]

@@leoalpha7 please do not apologize! I appreciate you posting this video and taking the time to answer my questions. I'm very much hoping to duplicate your setup in the very near future so any additional info you can provide will be very helpful.

[@leoalpha7]

@@michaelwooddell9001 I have updated the description to include links to all of the parts needed for the shelf. The remote I found in person at Ikea, but it is no longer available on their website so I included an amazon link instead.

[@waltercruz6560]

Thanks for the video. Just one question, do you know if Ikea has this same light, but with colors?

[@leoalpha7]

I do not know if they offer other colors explicitly, but based on some of the comments I've received, you might be able to change the color temperature of these lights to have a warmer or cooler tone.

[@becky6360]

id hate to use 6 individual plug sockets. has to use a lot of power no?

[@leoalpha7]

Each lightstrip consumes 3.5 watts max since they use LEDs so the power consumption is actually pretty reasonable. It helps to not have the lights on constantly.

[@CB-jv9ym]

The light is not cool white right? It’s warm?

[@leoalpha7]

I would say it's a mix between warm and cool light.

[@derrickorourke8454]

For smaller sized Billy’s, what lighting would you recommend?

[@leoalpha7]

If you still want to buy from IKEA, the MITTLED kitchen light and STOTTA cabinet light are the only ones that are short enough to fit in the small Billy. The downside is that the lights shine straight down rather than backwards on an angle. Unfortunately, I do not have any other recommendations for the small Billy unless you want to buy lights from somewhere else. You could also buy puck lights which are pretty popular with some collectors. There is a MITTLED puck light available from IKEA.

[@jasonbovey9480]

Do you think that this would also work with their Hemnes bookshelves

[@leoalpha7]

This will likely work with the Hemnes bookshelves. However, the shelves are 3.5" longer than the Billy bookshelves, so be careful if you buy the Oversidan. It looks like the 28" lights are the largest you can fit from the Oversidan collection. There may be longer light sets, but just make sure they fit your shelves.

[@WhirlOmar]

You didn't show how you thread the cable through the whole. It looked like the hole was too small to pass the cable through. A complete instructional video would have been nice.

[@leoalpha7]

Yes, I apologize for that. As the project neared it's completion, I skipped showing a few steps as I was more excited to see it completed. I assure you that the 3/8" hole drilled in the back of the shelf allows for just enough clearance to thread the plug through the back of the shelf.

[@leoalpha7]

Check out the latest short on my channel, it shows you how to thread the cable through the hole.

[@teresad1313]

Does anyone know if you can pair a single TRADFRI remote with two separate TRADFRI power controller blocks enabling you to turn on/off lights connected to both blocks at the same time? (Would like to install two separate sets of lights on opposite walls in the same closet). Thanks.

[@leoalpha7]

I'm not sure since I haven't purchased another to set up yet, but when I do, I'll let you know if nobody else has tried it yet.

[@johnsharkey9683]

I've just been looking at this its seems you can buy a cable that connects 2 drivers together using just one power cord. If that answers the question

[@jackgrainger5652]

Using a masonry drill bit there when you need to use a wood bit?

[@leoalpha7]

I have no idea what the drill bit is for. I have a bunch of old bits just lying around and I used the one that was large enough to feed the cord through the back.