InStyle’s waterproof LED strip lights create a brilliant night-time effect around this garden cabin

Housing a full-size hot tub, the timber cabin is lit inside and out by 8 metres of powerful 20-watt RGBW LED strip lights (4m for the interior, 4m outside). We supplied the LED tape pre-cut and soldered to the exact lengths required for the exterior steps and interior coving, then coated it all in plastic heatshrink with glue-sealed ends to provide IP67-rated waterproofing.

The outdoor LEDs are installed beneath the lip of the steps to the cabin. The diodes are downward-facing, in order to produce the smoothest colour-wash effect. Because the surrounding surfaces are all wood (i.e., textured), there’s no need to diffuse the the light to avoid glares and reflections.

RGBW gives full control

Unlike traditional RGB LEDs, our RGBW strip lights have four, not three, colour diodes in each LED. The extra dedicated white chip outputs better-quality white light (choose either pure white or warm white), and opens up a new magnitude of colour-mixing options (especially in the pastel light-palette).

To control these colour-changing LED tape runs, the owner chose to use two of our single-zone RGBW controller kits (each kit includes a remote-control handset and a paired LED receiver) – to manage the interior / exterior lights independently.

These remote units offer the ability to select any colour / shade via an easy-to-use colour wheel. And they enable you to fully dim and turn on/off, as well as selecting time delays and other pre-programmed effect-modes. The wireless remote uses an RF (radio frequency) signal, which can control your LED tape up to 20m away; there’s no need for ‘line of sight’, so the receiver can be installed discreetly in a cupboard or behind a wall etc.