Closet LED light conversion

Our main cloths closet has a light in it that comes on when either door is opened.  The original light bulb is OK,  but its dim and also HOT if the door gets left open and the light stays on.

I’ve heard others talk about these 16 ft long LED self adhesive strips. I thought this would be a good project to start with and a great upgrade to the wardrobe closet.  I ordered two strips to experiment with.  The cloths closet seemed like a good place to start. (CLICK HERE – ebay seller)

These LED strips can be cut to any length. Wires are then soldered to the strip to provide power,  then the self adhesive backing is removed and the strip will stick to a clean surface.

The original bulb in the closet is a festoon base.  I had a couple festoon adapter plugs left over from some other projects so I wired one of these adapters to the LED strip.  When I plugged the adapter in the bulb socket,  BAM, it worked.

MOUNTING THE LEDs

After looking at the inside of the closet,  I decided to relocate the door switch wire, moving it down into the cavity in the wall. and this would free up the top piece of wood to mount the LEDs to.

In the photo, you can see I glued the LEDs to the top piece of wood. The door switch wire was originally screwed to this piece of wood.  I moved the switch wire down, then used a few wire ties and screws to hold the wires in place.

I cleaned the wood with lacquer thinner to make sure I’d get a good bond.   Then,  starting at the light socket end, I removed the LED adhesive backing and stuck the LED strip to the wood.  I plugged the festoon adapter into the socket,  and verified the LEDs worked.  Wire tie all wires so they won’t vibrate or snag on any clothes or anything in the closet.

This was a good modification.  The LEDs have a warm white color, about the same as an incandescent light. The LEDs are bright, AND the illumination is even across the entire closet, not just on one end.  I’m looking at other places that can benefit from these LED strips,  i.e. under the kitchen cabinets,  across the top of the slide-out.

When purchasing LEDs,  you will want to pay attention to color.  Personally,  I like the warm white (3000-3500k) This is about the same color of light thats produced by a standard incandescent bulb.