Dimmable 3000K (>90) CRI 3000K Strip Lights with Triac Dimmer Switches for an Open Staircase Installation

I wish to put Strip Lights on an open staircase under each tread. I need help in determining the correct method to instruct the fabricators to install wires and what combination of power supplies/dimmers to use. I have 17 treads, each will have 48" of illumination - for a total of 21M. 

I intend to have each tread individually drop wires to the basement so that I can wire them all independently (would you recommend this?). I would like to do white, dimmable strip lights with high (>90) CRI, and so I’m looking at the centric home, 3000K strip lights. What’s the best way to do this? The Triac Dimmer switches indicate 150W only – so how would I use multiple power supplies (each at ~120W) with a single dimmer?

Our CENTRIC HOME LED strip lights sound like a great fit for your staircase installation. The 3000K and 95 CRI colors will be sure to add some excellent lighting to your space while highlighting your staircase.

There are several ways the proposed installation can be accomplished. The constraint, however, will be in the power capacity limitations of our TRIAC dimmable power supplies, which are 120 watts and 96 watts, for the 12-volt and 24-volt versions, respectively. Converting that into the number of stair treads, it looks like each power supply will have enough power to cover approximately 4 stair treads (5.5 watts x 4 ft x 4 stair treads = 88 watts).

As such, you will likely need 4 or more separate LED strip runs to be able to cover the entire staircase, with each run being powered by its own TRIAC dimmable power supply. The good news is that the 4 TRIAC dimmable power supplies can be connected to a single dimmer switch so that all of the LED strip runs can be dimmed in unison. For a connectivity diagram, please see our layout diagram below:

https://www.waveformlighting.com/layoutmaps/3001_1C?px=-2395&py=-2315.5&pw=1790&ph=1631&s=0.1

Additionally, in connecting the separate 48" sections between the stair treads, we do offer a variety of connectors that you may find helpful. Please see below for a similar diagram but with separate LED strip segments being rejoined using our various accessories:

https://www.waveformlighting.com/layoutmaps/3001_1B?px=-2395&py=-2315.5&pw=1790&ph=1631&s=0.1

It's mentioned that I can use a single Triac Dimmer to control 4 dimmable power supplies. However the dimmer indicates only ~100W for LED - and each of the power supplies would be ~100W x 4 =400W total.

Your calculation and interpretation there is correct. If the dimmer manufacturer recommends only a minimum of 100 watts, we certainly would not recommend exceeding that level.

We have generally seen that many dimmers support up to 600 watts, with a list of supported dimmers located here:

https://www.waveformlighting.com/files/DC_3093.pdf

We have found that dimmer manufacturers have been providing two different wattage levels for incandescent / halogen and LED / CFL systems. We are not sure what their reasoning for this is, as we believe that our dimmable LED power supplies behave similarly to dimmable incandescent loads and therefore should not be significantly different.

​To ensure safe operation, however, we would recommend following the guidance of the dimmer manufacturers as they may have their reasons for the maximum ratings.

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LED strip lightsHome / residential lightingLED dimmers

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