LED Strips... smart ones?

Not something I've done yet (although tempted in the Zwift cave as running the HA integration that lets me pull live data from Zwift, so could e.g. have the LED lighting reflect the intensity!) but I think WLED is the controller of choice (and then just pair to any reputable brand addressable LED strip). Personally I'm pretty happy using low-voltage DC electronics from AliExpress etc (I wouldn't necessarily use whatever wall-wart it came with though!) https://kno.wled.ge

QuinLED looks cool if you don't fancy building your own controller. https://quinled.info/quinled-esp32-specifications/

If you don't need individually addressable LEDs then Shelly is a great option (all their stuff works brilliantly with HA) https://shellystore.co.uk/product/shelly-rgbw2/?gclid=CjwKCAiA0cyfBhBREiwAAtStHMkkzoIElTsnr4180xIlmsoaXMnAIamsXCizue5xmsDLd0rKX5Qz9hoCvYsQAvD_BwE

If you want something totally out-of-the-box then I think Govee have quite a good reputation? Anything BT is more likely to be locally controllable by HA than WiFi!

Thanks for those. WLED was was I was looking at last night. Shall investigate further.

I'm also intrigued how you pull live data from Zwift into HA.....

I’m also intrigued how you pull live data from Zwift into HA…..

https://github.com/snicker/zwift_hass

I've got a couple of Govee sets that use an app or a remote.
They seem pretty good and the quality seems high enough.
I have no experience of HA or anything. I use the buttons!

20m is getting fairly long I think. They'll often come in sets of 5m lengths that come off the same point, so often not a single long length if that matters.
You can get a lot of dimming over the longer distances on cheaper lights in a single run.

My kids have got Govee LED strips in their rooms, they seem OK and are fairly cheap. We just got some in 15m lengths I think. They control theirs through Alexa.

@zilog6128 - thanks. HACS it is then. I'll get that installed. I'm sure my wife will be impressed if I decide to notify her HA user when I get a ride on 🙂

@kayak23 @tonyd - thanks the Shelley ones look good but I'll check out the Govee ones today. I wasn't totally clear we need 20m in total but we have four separate electrical feeds (one at each corner). Not sure yet if we'll do 4 'short' runs or two 'longish' ones but won't all be a single reel at 20m.

I have govee strips lights 5m. Dead cheap on Amazon. Haven't fitted them yet but have plugged them in to try them.
Works on an app so you can change colour from that.
They also 10m lengths as well

@Alex ha, surprised you've managed to dodge HACS until now, that's where all the fun* stuff is 😂 Must have 20+ integrations from there!
(*when I say fun, I mean stuff that breaks frequently & consumes all your time trying to sort it 😃 Having said that, have had no bother with the Zwift one - quite surprised actually as I thought Zwift had stopped API access?)

Well it looks like I have used HACS as I have a few integrations in there. Must have been when I was setting it up two years ago and I forgot about it 🙂

Ta for recommendations, lots of choice out there, Maybe too much!

We have govee ones

Work with Alexa, app on phone or remote

Sync with music etc

https://flic.kr/p/2nQXbEX

Really like them

I used this polystyrene coving, lined with foil tape on the inside to prevent shining through polystyrene from these guys

https://www.shop14th.com/store/p113/XPS_COVING_LED_BFS12.html

Our are going to sit on existing stone 'plinths' about 15cm wide. I'm not sure the govee kit works natively with Home Assistant. Seems some people have had success with the WLED integration. I really don't want a second remote etc if possible. Might buy a shelley and an govee and see which one works best (the other one can go to one of the offpsring, they'd love the dance integration etc)

Might buy a shelley and an govee and see which one works best

are you talking about the Shelly controller I linked to? (the RGBW2?) If so be aware that's literally the controller only and you'll need to buy the LED light strip (one that's just the lights, without a controller, must be the 5 wire version such as this https://www.amazon.co.uk/GIDERWEL-Controller-Compatible-Assistant-Temperature/dp/B07Q2QST8M/ref=sr_1_5?crid=EPC7966MB86&keywords=rgbw+light+strip&qid=1676999492&sprefix=rgbw+light+strip%2Caps%2C66&sr=8-5) plus a 12V or 24V power supply (matching the voltage of whatever lights you've bought) separately. Plus wire everything up yourself (although if you get the right stuff it'll come with the right connectors so you won't need to do any soldering etc!)
Probably more expensive & definitely more hassle than buying something off-the-shelf but it'll definitely work locally with HA no problem.
These LEDs aren't individually addressable (i.e. every light must be the same colour/brightness) which limits the funky effects you can do with them but RGBW lights have a separate white LED so their quality of white light (if you wanted normal lights for reading or whatever) is superior to LED strips that don't have a separate white.

From what I see the Govee WiFi LEDs do have a HA integration (HACS not core) but they work through the cloud & require internet. Had a brief look to see if there's a bluetooth integration (which would allow local control for BT lights) but couldn't find anything definitive!
couldn't see any Govee RGBW lights, they seem to be either RGB or RGBIC (the latter being individually addressable so funky effects) which might make them less than ideal if you also needed plain white lighting out of them.
Obviously they have the advantage of having everything you need supplied in the box though!

I think WLED is probably the best solution but probably also requires the most effort/research/DIYing!

Thanks for that. Yes was aware I'd needs strips/power separately.  I have an electrician friend who will be doing the wiring, but I've been looking at solder free LED strips from a few places. I did notice those Govee ones didn't seen to do the +W and that's going to be important for both rooms. Less interested in funky effects, but be nice to change the whole strip. Currently not feeling the need to individually address each LED.

As we have to have four separate runs, I really want to use HA so I can script changing all colours across all controllers with one command. Agreed it might be a nightmare getting it all working tho.

Still doing some research!

Looking at the specs, you’d need 1 Shelly per 5m 12V LED strip, if you went 24V you could probably drive 2x 5m strips in parallel per Shelly.

Whatever you go for, as long as HA sees it as a “light” I think you can make a light group from them, and just control that, so no scripting/programming required to have them all in sync!

Yeah that's the conclusion I'm coming too. I think we're going 24v as I want to drive a 7m ish LED strip. I emailed them last night with a diag and asked for advice. Also what drivers they recommend. I keep looking at the 'cheap' alternatives but I know it'll just bug me if I miss the change to put in on HA.

Good shout on light group, just looked that up. Not seen it before. This will be my first light automation.

Do all of the ones above remember the last setting i.e. if the colour is set to blue and the light is turned off, is the colour blue when they are turned on again?

Philips Hue lights do that but the "memory" of the last setting is a bit hit and miss.

I have a couple of Gosund strips from Amazon (they look identical to the Govee strips). They have their own app or can be set up to run via the Google Home Assistant. They do remember the last colour/setting. However, it's possible to get the app/HA out of sync if you use both so I tend to stick with control via Google. We have a couple of Home Hubs and they work fine with those.

If I was buying again, I'd look more closely at the "dotless" type as they seem to offer a more continuous, blended light rather than the small pools of light the Gosund type do.

Yeah that’s the conclusion I’m coming too. I think we’re going 24v as I want to drive a 7m ish LED strip. I emailed them last night with a diag and asked for advice. Also what drivers they recommend.

7m is quite long but should be fine with 24V LEDs and a decent PSU. You have got me thinking/researching these now 😂 It looks like to do a "proper" installation is actually quite complex (more so than just buying a cheap strip off Amazon & plugging it into the wall!) so would be interesting to see what they come back with!

I have a couple of Gosund strips from Amazon (they look identical to the Govee strips). They have their own app or can be set up to run via the Google Home Assistant.

OP is actually referring to a different Home Assistant (HASS not the Google one!) However I've had good luck with Gosund smart plugs before, they seem decent quality and they are controlled by ESP chips which are usually possible to re-flash them with alternative firmware allowing local control from HA rather than having to go thru Chinese cloud servers! They don't seem to be available on Amazon at all at the moment, though.

I have flashed my AE things over the last two years to remove need for an internet connection. Mostly smart plugs but also loads of different temp/humidity sensors.

Right well thanks to @zilog6128 pointing me at the Shelly site, I've made a punt on 4 of their controllers (they were very helpful, gave me a max wattage for controller and a few tips), 30m of RGBW strips (in 10m bundles) and some random connectors. We'll have to do some soldering as the 10m strips will need cutting down but I found a good supplier (on eBay in the end, commercial stuff is so expensive, a lot of the amazon / AE stuff won't run 24V) that has cutting marks on the strips.

My plan* is to build one complete unit - driver -> controller -> strip on the floor and get it talking to HASSIO before committing to splicing it into the house wiring. In fact I'll probably build the whole set of 4 and get all that configured first.

If there's any interest will report back. Cost is around £300 for the two rooms which is quite a lot but I've got for quality components and buying stuff separately is always going to be more expensive.

*possibly overstating it.

Cool, hopefully will all go as intended! Yeah would be interested in what you've bought & where from (assuming it does all work 😃)

https://flic.kr/p/2opkyox

Update: Shelly controllers, eBay LEDS. A few 'bad' ones on the strip. I'd probably buy 5m ones now as they are way easier to source - and join them - which is not the pain I thought it would be (with some funky connectors)

25W driver not quite enough for 100% power on a 6.5m strip (with a join). So going to source some 50w version. Phone app works fine, but not interested in using that as integrated into Home Assistant. Really good integration and I'll add the HACS add on when we've got them all installed for a bit more functionality.

I think they are going to work really well (going about 3/4 up the wall). Should get it finished next weekend.