White COB LED Strip

It's all about the look. An SMD strip is a series of bright dots. A COB strip is one clean, continuous line of light with zero hot spots. We achieve this by mounting tiny LED chips directly onto the flexible board and covering them in a uniform layer of silicone. If your strip is going to be visible, or reflected in a countertop, COB light is the only way to get that flawless, professional look. It's the difference between seeing the bulbs and just seeing the light.

That’s called voltage drop. It’s a classic issue and it's just physics—the copper traces on the strip have resistance, so voltage decreases over distance. For 12V strips, you'll usually notice it after about 16 feet (5m). On 24V, you can typically go 32 feet (10m). For longer runs, you either need to inject power at both ends or use one of our specialized 48V long-run COB strips that are engineered to maintain consistent brightness for up to 30 meters.

For lower-power strips, you can sometimes get away with it on a good heat-conducting surface. But for anything brighter, yes, you absolutely do. Heat is the number one killer of LEDs. COB strips pack a lot of chips into a small space, and they get warm. Aluminum channels act as a heat sink, pulling heat away from the chips and dramatically extending the strip's lifespan. It's cheap insurance to protect your investment.

Our standard COB strips have designated copper pads every 1-2 inches—that's the only place you can cut them. Our 'Cut Anywhere' (or 'Free Cut') series has a continuous power rail, meaning you can literally take scissors and cut them to the absolute perfect length for your project. There's no waste and no awkward gaps. If you're building something with precise dimensions, like bookshelf lighting or fitting a specific cove, the 'Cut Anywhere' models are a game-changer.

Yes, but never wire it directly to the strip. That will kill the strip instantly. Your AC wall dimmer (like a TRIAC or ELV model from Lutron) needs to be wired to a compatible dimmable LED driver. The dimmer talks to the driver, and the driver then dims the low-voltage DC strip. The key is matching the technologies. Make sure the driver's spec sheet says it's compatible with your specific type of dimmer. If you're not sure, just ask us.

For most kitchen runs, 24V is the better choice. You'll get less voltage drop, meaning the brightness will be more consistent from one end of the counter to the other. 12V is fine for very short runs, like inside a single small cabinet, but 24V gives you more flexibility and better performance for the longer sections typical in a kitchen. It's the professional standard for a reason. All our super bright models for task lighting are 24V.

For general accent lighting, a CRI of 80+ is fine. But for places where color accuracy really matters—like a kitchen where you want to see the true color of your food, a retail display, or a makeup vanity—you want CRI 90+ or even 95+. A high CRI light source makes colors look vibrant and natural, like they would under sunlight. A low CRI makes things look washed out and dull. We even stock CRI 98 strips for professional photography and art gallery applications.

Soldering is always the most reliable method, hands down. But if you're not comfortable with that, you can use solderless connectors. The key is to buy connectors made specifically for COB strips and that match your strip's PCB width (e.g., 8mm or 10mm). Standard SMD connectors often don't work well because the connection points are different. We have a full range of the right connectors to make it easier, but I'll always recommend a quick solder joint for a permanent installation.

The buzz is usually the LED driver complaining about the signal it's getting from your wall dimmer. This often happens when you pair a leading-edge dimmer with a driver that wants a trailing-edge signal (or vice-versa). They're just not speaking the same language. The fix is to replace either the dimmer or the driver to ensure they're compatible. Send our team the model numbers for both and we can tell you which one needs to be swapped.

A quality COB strip, run on the correct voltage and with proper heat sinking, should give you 50,000 hours of life before it dims to 70% of its original brightness (that's the L70 standard). That's nearly 6 years of running it 24/7. The two things that shorten that lifespan are heat and overpowering it. Mount it in a channel and use one of our quality UL-listed power supplies, and you won't have to think about it for a very long time.

You're looking for something between 2700K and 3000K. 2700K is very warm and has that classic, incandescent glow you'd find in a living room or bedroom. 3000K is still warm white, but a bit cleaner and more neutral, which is very popular for kitchens and bathrooms. We generally recommend 2700K for relaxing and 3000K for task-oriented spaces that still feel residential. If you want the ability to change from warm to cool, check out our tunable white COB strips.

Yes, we do this all day long. A huge amount of what we ship is built to a customer's drawing. Just tell us the exact length of the strip, the color temperature, the length of the lead wire you need, and what kind of connector you want on the end. Send us a sketch—even a photo of a drawing on a napkin is fine. An engineer here will spec it out and send you back a complete parts list and quote, usually the same business day. There's no fee for this and no obligation to order.

It depends entirely on the strip's wattage per foot (or meter). Check the product's spec sheet. For example, if a strip uses 5 watts per foot, a 100-watt power supply can run 20 feet of it. The critical rule is to only load your power supply to 80% of its rated capacity for safety and longevity. So for that 100-watt supply, you shouldn't put more than 80 watts of load on it. That means you could safely run 16 feet of that 5W/ft strip (16ft x 5W/ft = 80W).

No, and this is a common mistake. IP ratings are for water resistance, not for high-temperature, high-humidity environments like a sauna or steam room. The constant heat and steam will degrade the silicone or epoxy waterproofing and cause failure over time. For a sauna, you need a fixture specifically rated for that environment. Our IP68 strips are perfect for pools, outdoor patios, and boat decks, for sauna, please check our sauna LED series.