Not just any profile will do for any strip.
The most important factor is the width of your LED strip because the LED profile must be at least this wide. It is crucial that this width allows for the LED strip to be adhered from the front. This is important to mention because there are wider, rail-like sections within the LED profile, but the LED strip is not threaded in; rather, it is adhered using the self-adhesive tape on the back for better heat transfer. The rail sections can accommodate appropriately wide LED bars, i.e., rigid LED strips.
(photo: BaseDesign)
Another factor is that the connectors and joiners that clip onto the LED strip are wider than the LED strip itself. For example, a connector with mounting pins suitable for an 8mm LED strip is 12.5mm wide and 5mm thick. This means that such a connector will only fit into an LED profile with this internal cross-section. It is also true that LED profiles typically only provide sufficient width for the LED strips or LED bars, not for the connectors or joiners. (There are rare exceptions like THIS, but they are quite rare.) Thus, it is generally true that wiring within the LED profile can only be done by soldering.
After familiarizing ourselves with these factors, we can then choose the appearance of the LED profile.
The more unique our needs, the more limited our options. Naturally, the largest selection is of surface-mounted types. They come in various widths, narrower, rectangular, dome-shaped, 1-meter, 2-meter, transparent, semi-opal, opal, etc. They can even be tilted at a 45-degree angle. There are recessed, step-resistant types that can also be made waterproof, and those that can be mounted on the edge of stairs, etc. Manufacturers are coming out with more variations.
(photo: SLV)
But all this information is still not sufficient. An important factor is how we mount the LED profile and how we place the cover element into the LED profile. Why is this important? If the LED profile can be mounted to the wall or furniture with some tabs or rails, then the LED profile contents can be pre-assembled, snapped into place, and removed at any time without damage. Not that it is crucial to remove without damage, but certain situations may arise, such as wanting to remove it before painting the wall or changing kitchen furniture. Instead of replacing the new LED lighting, it would be better to transfer it from the old cabinet to the new one. If there is no mounting rail or tab, we stick the LED profile in place if the adhesive can hold it, or we drill and screw the LED profile, then glue the LED strip onto the screws, meaning we can only unscrew it by damaging the LED strip.
We might say, “Oh, we never want to remove it.” However, during the installation, we may realize that we didn’t think through the sequence of installation steps properly. We mount the LED profile line from wall to wall because it looks good. We glue the LED strip in, solder the wiring nicely, everything works, the wires are beautifully hidden, and now we only need to place the nice opal cover element. And this is where the project fails if …
There are two types of cover elements: one that needs to be snapped into the Alu profile from the front, and one that needs to be threaded from the end. Here’s the problem if the selected wall-to-wall screwed LED profile requires the cover element to be threaded from the side, but there’s a wall at both ends. You would have to cut out a piece at the end of the already installed, glued LED strip profile to thread the cover element.
Therefore, we need to foresee the workflow, decide which type of LED profile to choose, whether it comes with a mounting rail or tab, or if it must be mounted only by drilling if it has a tab, and whether we want to save on it. If so, then we don’t want to run it wall to wall, or if we do, then we must choose an LED profile into which the cover element can be inserted from the front and not from the edge.