Review on Optimized for SEO: HitLights Warm White LED Strip Lights by Brandon Christianson

strips are rated at 5.6 W/ft and 828 lumens/ft. So you might be thinking that 10ft x 800 is about 8,000 lumens - as much light as ten old-fashioned 60-watt incandescent bulbs! You are wrong. At first I was disappointed, I connected a 60 watt power supply to one end, the bar wasn't that bright and I only measured 40 watts of power. So I played around. It turns out that if you drive the strip from the center, it draws more than 50 watts and looks a lot brighter. Short story: Don't connect the projector to just one end if you want full brightness. Hitlights tech support confirms that the total output from one end is 3600 lumens at around 40 watts. If you want it brighter you will need to ride from multiple points or cut the strip and ride in separate shorter sections. For me, I had enough brightness for my application with the center connection. I really wish the sales list was clearer regarding these issues, but the email tech support responded quickly and clearly when I asked about it. Installation: Physical installation was easy, sticky backing is great. It was more difficult with the electrics, because you had to solder the connection points to the middle of the strip and not break them when hanging them up. After a lot of cursing I got it done, but I wanted some sort of latch on the ports. If you can get 10mm LED power clamps, use those. Next time I'll look for them to reduce the hassle. If you're plugged into the original connectors on both ends, you're fine too (didn't work for my place). Geek Notes: The 828 lumens/ft rating is for a single 1ft section that is directly driven. It's impressive, but almost nobody will connect them this way. A 3 meter (9.8 foot) strip of almost 1 ohm resistance from the connector at one end to the connector at the other. This resistor limits the current and brightness of the LED. Calculate the average current over the length of the strip and you're talking about a 1-2 volt drop in performance. It also makes chaining them silly unless you need a lot of light. A 14 gauge wire running in parallel has almost no resistance in comparison. So if you need *brightness*, connect the power supply to the strips in multiple places, or cut the strips and power them in parallel. Also, if you choose to solder, note that the existing solder points between sections on the strip will not consume any additional solder. (Coated?) Solder to exposed copper pads instead. Having fixed the issues the strip is now working properly, all LEDs are on, seemed solid during installation and are giving me the light I need. I would consider using more for future projects.