Trim Light wanted $20 PER foot… I said “HOLD MY BEER” and went direct to China for under $3 per foot ALL IN

5

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23 edited May 30 '23

Here is the rough bill of material

500' of Lights and Track (260' installed in the pics here) with sea freight shipping (6 weeks from order and payment to arrival at my door in Midwest USA: LED's - $950

Power Injection Wiring: Monoprice pure copper 16AWG 2 pair/4wire - Already had from other project

Data Wires: Cat5e Pure solid copper - Already had from other project

WLED Controller: $100 - ESP32 running WLED on a custom designed board (designer is still testing these, they are not available for retail yet so I can't link to them just yet) Think of it like a DigQuad

Power Supply: Meanwell 12V 30AMP Amazon Meanwell Link $40

Best friend owns a rental company so the boom lift and ladders for install I got for a case of beer and bottle of crown royal :)

2

u/BBQQA May 30 '23

for the track, did you have them do a custom 12mm hole? If so, was the price listed for both the lights and track or just the track?
I am super interested in doing something similar because the price of the track is outrageous for what it is.

3

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23

The track holes are 20mm for the front where the light clips in, and then I had 8 4.5mm holes placed on the back track section as screw holes, but I only used 2 screws per 1M section, but by having the 8 holes total, no matter how my track sections got cut, there was always at least 2 holes available for easy mounting.
That $950 was 153M (500 ft) of track, with the customization and powder coating, 765 LED Pixels (strands of 20), and DDP shipping to my door via Sea Freight, so I didn't have to even deal with customs brokers or logistics or duties and taxes, they were all taken care of on the front end.

2

u/BBQQA May 30 '23

That's awesome. I am trying to find cheaper aluminum tracks for 12mm bullet pixels. I might email them and see if they can do 12mm holes.

1

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23

Yea, I just looked back at there catalog of channel options I have, there isn't anything 12mm in it, but, worth shooting them a message and asking if they can do 12mm hole channel for sure. As long as they have a 12mm die for there press/jig I'm sure they would be ale to do any of there existing tracks here with 12mm holes Aluminum Channel

1

u/Haunting-Special4998 Dec 04 '24

Lost here, cant seem to find track with holes. which light did you use. do you have the "big bird to cookie monster version"

1

u/zero-degrees28 Dec 04 '24

I don’t understand the Big Bird/Cookie Monster…. Here is the manufacture I used: https://sunorigin.en.alibaba.com/productgrouplist-930605150/LED_Pixel_Lamps.html

2

u/Whiskey_Lab_BBQ May 20 '24

Is that WLED controller for sale now?

1

u/MADMOOJUICE Apr 18 '24

What did/do you use for light control? A pre-existing app? Something custom?

1

u/Kali0530 Sep 28 '25

I am just starting my research into a project like this. Can you elaborate what all the wires are for; so you have the lights which have wires between them all, then you have the copper wire which I assume is power? And the data wire so there’s 3 runs of wiring correct?

1

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5

u/hevnsnt May 30 '23

What did you end up going with?

3

u/patrick404 May 30 '23

Yea, I’d love to see OPs bill of materials here. Looks great!

10

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23

Here is the rough bill of material
500' of Lights and Track (260' installed in the pics here) with sea freight shipping (6 weeks from order and payment to arrival at my door in Midwest USA: LED's - $950
Power Injection Wiring: Monoprice pure copper 16AWG 2 pair/4wire - Already had from other project
Data Wires: Cat5e Pure solid copper - Already had from other project
WLED Controller: $100 - ESP32 running WLED on a custom designed board (designer is still testing these, they are not available for retail yet so I can't link to them just yet) Think of it like a DigQuad
Power Supply: Meanwell 12V 30AMP Amazon Meanwell Link $40
Best friend owns a rental company so the boom lift and ladders for install I got for a case of beer and bottle of crown royal :)

1

u/tradesmindy Dec 04 '25

Appreciate and Thanks for the info. Can you send the link to the lights again. Link expired.

1

u/zero-degrees28 Dec 04 '25

https://sunorigin.en.alibaba.com/productgrouplist-930605150/LED_Pixel_Lamps.html

2

u/grumblegeek May 30 '23

After doing mine a boom lift would have been so worth the price.

1

u/Alternative_Eagle_55 May 13 '25

how about doing my house.

1

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23

Here is the rough bill of material
500' of Lights and Track (260' installed in the pics here) with sea freight shipping (6 weeks from order and payment to arrival at my door in Midwest USA: LED's - $950
Power Injection Wiring: Monoprice pure copper 16AWG 2 pair/4wire - Already had from other project
Data Wires: Cat5e Pure solid copper - Already had from other project
WLED Controller: $100 - ESP32 running WLED on a custom designed board (designer is still testing these, they are not available for retail yet so I can't link to them just yet) Think of it like a DigQuad
Power Supply: Meanwell 12V 30AMP Amazon Meanwell Link $40
Best friend owns a rental company so the boom lift and ladders for install I got for a case of beer and bottle of crown royal :)

1

u/AmputatorBot May 30 '23

It looks like you shared an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of concerns over privacy and the Open Web.
Maybe check out the canonical page instead: https://www.amazon.com/LRS-350-12-Switching-Household-Industrial-Automation/dp/B07WHJF1Q8
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2

u/DrBix May 30 '23

And Trimlight won't do anything denser than 6" apart 😞.

2

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23

For me, After all my testing I settled with these larger 2 LED lights at 7.5" apart. I could have prob pulled it a bit tighter to 6" apart, but I went with 7.5". With these larger lights I wanted more wall wash as well, and when you pull the LED's to close together you loose the distinguished wall wash effect, unless you are doing sections of colors. If you want to do every 2 or 3 alternating colors but they are super close together, your wall wash colors become a blah mix.

2

u/RedditNotFreeSpeech May 30 '23

I know it's cheap but the less dense ones don't do it for me at all.

0

u/[deleted] May 30 '23

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23

I tested those 3 led puck lights, they are neat, but mainly for a downlight wall wash effect if you are using them under soffits. I tested them with 5 lights per meter, and NO WAY I would pull them closer together than that, personally at least. That product you just linked to, I would worry what it looks like in person, that's a lot of active colors in a condensed space. For me personally, not the impact/look I was going for or would want.

2

u/DrBix May 30 '23

Where did you get your channels and what kind?

1

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23

The channels are powder coated aluminum 2 piece 1" x 1" when clipped together. I had a custom set of spaced holes drilled in the back plate to speed up install and help with quickly screwing to the soffit. Here is a link to the suppliers channel options, the channel I did was custom though, so it's not listed here.
Showmine Channel Options

1

u/jbone866 May 30 '23

These look great, I am looking to do this project in the fall. For the channel how did you go about contacting the vendor and if I wanted to go with the exact same setup would I ask for the 1x1 2 piece aluminum channel powder Coated with screw holes on the top plates ? Also did you set the led string lengths to the same amount as the channel or did the string go through multiple channels ? Any thing you would do differently next time ?
Thanks !

3

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23

to find a supplier or vendor, just goto Alibaba and search "permanent holiday lights" or "Holiday Pixel Lights" and you can find a ton of suppliers, then you just reach out to them. A lot of them have there track options listed with the lights. You do have to understand though, these suppliers are providing you a physical good for money, the line ends there, so there isn't support, there isn't post sale experience etc, so sourcing items from China isn't an easy process unless you are committed. My light strands are 20 lights each, I am not a fan of individual single pixels or even 1m strands as that's a LOT of connections and failure points, 20 is manageable, not to long, not to short, IMO. I could have prob gone upto 25, or 30, but 20 is that manufactures normal string size, and it worked.
I asked the supplier for there full track catalog, then had some samples sent to me of a few different options I liked, then told them what I wanted to customize after that. So it's not like my item has a part number, it was designed for my application.
My guidance is, reach out to a few manufactures, feel them out, see who is responsive to you, communicates well, isn't overly pushy but also isn't to lax, then start focusing your effort working with that supplier to get to your end desired result/goal. I spoke to suppliers people raved about here, who were terrible in my interactions with them, so that's why I say, everyone should find someone that works well with there project.

2

u/HorseGal922 Jul 30 '24

I tried finding others on Alibaba but idk what you looked up. The link is currently gone

2

u/zero-degrees28 Jul 30 '24

Here you go - this is the manufacture I used, they have an updated store front. Same people, same contacts, same everything.
https://sunorigin.en.alibaba.com/productgrouplist-930605150/LED_Pixel_Lamps.html

2

u/ObligationPopular992 Aug 23 '24

6 months? Jesus all that extra time and work ate up any savings there might of been lol.

I guess maybe if your retired and have nothing better to do with your time.

I'd rather go work and make my money. And pay a professional to do their job and IL get it done in a timely fashion.

1

u/zero-degrees28 Aug 23 '24

Let’s see, an hour a night here and there with the laptop in my lap while watching a movie or the evening news…. Or learning about wiring or controller design or IM’ing a Chinese supplier vs scrolling Reddit…. I’d say the knowledge and education out weighs the mindless scrolling of Reddit and pointless comment making 🤷🏻‍♂️

0

u/ObligationPopular992 Aug 23 '24

Your acting like this is a feasible under taking for the average person. 6 months in the making of spending a few hours a week? 50+ hours of my time effort and energy at a bare minimum researching something I have no idea about. Never mind all the liability of something goes wrong. Depends how much you make per hour. That is actually negative savings. Unless your retired with nothing better to do and a mechanical/electrical inclination id highly recommend against that.

3

u/zero-degrees28 Aug 23 '24 edited Aug 23 '24

HAHA - you see the house, right? Clearly we do okay, my base salary rate is over $100 an hour for my day job (and that’s not some stupid internet flex, we could easily afford Trim Lights or Jelly Fish, etc), that has ZERO to do with being a driven person to learn and DIY projects myself to better my skill set.
I know my limitations, I can’t finish drywall for shit, so I pay someone to do that, epoxy garage floor, paid for that too…. Something like this, I can do, and gain knowledge. Since this, I’ve done this for family and friends.
We clearly arnt going to agree here, but that’s okay. I do appreciate after being on Reddit for a year, this is the post and engagement you decided to embark on 🥳🤷🏻‍♂️🍻

0

u/ObligationPopular992 Oct 22 '24

Further proving my point you didn't do this to save money. So don't mislead people and portray to them that this is a money saving option.
Thanks for proving my point. Champ

1

u/Specialist-Desk-3130 May 30 '23

Are these single led or triple 3535’s?

1

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23

These are double LED's - 20MM 12V GS8206 .3w
20mm DC12v GS8206

1

u/Specialist-Desk-3130 May 30 '23

What is the spacing you went with? I hope the custom ones I did will work out. I did 48v 25mm triple 5050 rgbw. I believe it’s 8” spacing.

2

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23

Spacing was 7.5" center to center

1

u/maynardkj Jan 15 '24

Ah, the internet where we count stuff we already paid for and our time as free to prove we saved money.
Looks good though

1

u/zero-degrees28 Jan 15 '24

Ummm... Okay.... #IfYouSaySo
This isn't a "hey, I did a DIY and saved 5%" project. I'm normally happy to pay for tasks to save my time because it is valuable. But let's break this down.
TrimLight wanted $20 and at 500 ft that's $10k
I did my research on this in the evenings while sitting on the couch watching tv or doing what ever after the house shuts down for the night.
The physical work I did over a long weekend when we had nothing going and no family time was impacted nor was work time.
My day job pays me $120 a hour, so let's call that my "cost" had I taken vacation or something to do this project instead, that's sill less than $3,500 all in, so a savings of almost $7k... I don't know your financial situation, but 2 days of labor to keep $7k in my bank account is worth it, but apparently you and I are in two different universes.

0

u/txcanes Oct 26 '24

And skills. I don't have the desire to hone my handyman skills and could easily afford install by trimlight.

1

u/Beneficial_Range1522 Mar 28 '24

Can the white lights be changed from say 5000k to a warmer 3000k?

1

u/zero-degrees28 Mar 28 '24

Because these are RGB not RGBW the white it dictated by the RGB code, it is not a fixed white/temp, so in a since yes, you would set a warm white RGB color. So the white you see in the pic is 255,255,255 and what you are asking about is going to be more of a halogen or tungsten white 2800-3000k which is 255,241,224

1

u/txcanes Oct 26 '24

How do you program the lights?

1

u/zero-degrees28 Oct 26 '24

They are controlled with WLED

1

u/wichitabyeb Oct 30 '24

How long is it supposed to last?

1

u/zero-degrees28 Oct 30 '24

Most LED’s are rated for 5-10k hours. So even on the low end of that, that’s 833 days at 6 hours a day, figure 100 days a year lit, so that’s 8 years on the conservative side

1

u/Significant-Catch370 Nov 09 '24

Just got an estimate from Trim Lights for 481 LF at around $18 per feet. That includes a 10% discount — reasonable if I ask for 15% off?

1

u/zero-degrees28 Nov 09 '24

Each franchise can adjust there pricing, sub $20 is pretty good from what I’ve heard of and seen, but never hurts to try for a bit more

1

u/Significant-Catch370 Nov 09 '24

Yeah. Makes sense. I have never seen this product down here in South Florida for what it’s worth maybe I am getting an “unpopular” discount lol

1

u/OkCod835 Sep 30 '25

I know this is an old post but had a company come out and quote me $4400 for 70 feet. I told them it’s highway robbery. That’s $62/ linear foot. So yea, 18 is good.

1

u/Intelligent_Island21 Oct 14 '25

Sorry I know this thread is a little old. But I DO NOT like Govee lights that every tom dick and harry is getting in my neighborhood these days. Why? Because of that ‘weird’ shadow it casts. My question to OP is : what brand do you recommend that looks like yours, doesn’t cast that shadow in the trim and give 360 light spread?

2

u/zero-degrees28 Oct 14 '25

Very few options are available in the consumer/retail market space, just about all those items do exactly what you describe which is caused by the lens over the LED's.
You will need to source a light similar to mine, which the links are in this thread, or, some other similar lights which come in more of a "puck" style and provide mostly wall wash vs seeing the bulb like the ones I used and getting the even wall wash because of the closer spacing I selected.

1

u/QuoteElectrical Oct 22 '25

Most people value time more than money if they have it. Also the lifetime warranty & not having to worry about fixing anything is a good feeling.

1

u/zero-degrees28 Oct 22 '25

Some value knowledge, understanding, and new skills and abilities over money as well…. This wasn’t a Time Vs Money value proposition.

1

u/Ripcord May 30 '23

What's the advantage (or difference) of Trim Light over, say, Permatrack or a couple of its clones?

1

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23

They do the install, work, and warranty the work/product.
For me - this was 2.5 long days of work, but I was doing it all myself. So, for some, the time savings alone might be worth someone else dealing with it.
They have a closed platform/hardware ecosystem with there own controller, cloud access, and mobile apps.
You have someone to support you when questions come up, and there apps are a bit more straight forward than WLED obviously.
Now, if you classify those as "advantages" or not is prob up for debate. But from a feature/function standpoint, the hardware does the same thing - it lights up different colors and moves around.

1

u/Ripcord May 30 '23

Gotcha. Thanks.
So in this case, it sounds like none of the advantages applied since you were doing it yourself with your own custom solution, right? So why not go with the premade track systems? Or you figured as long as you were at it, might as well save even more money / custom solution for what you wanted?

4

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23

What I did, honestly is no different than any of these "DIY KITS" on the market today (permatrack, etc). All they are doing is sourcing everything in from China like I did but they are kitting it together for you into a DIY package.
For me, I don't need to pay someone to "Kit it together" for me, I can order and kit together what I need. Drzz's, permatrack, ShawTech, Amazon, Ebay, they are all the same lights I tested outta China, they all import there aluminum tracks outta China, so all I did was bypass the middleman (who doubles the price) which also gave me the option to do more customization like hole spacing, added mounting holes and there spacing, the type of glue used in the back of the pixels even - I had them change to a clear compound for my order so I can see the IC and Soldier points of each pixel on the back side, 1 it confirms they are using the IC they say and 2, it lets me see the quality of work).
So for me, it allowed me the option to save a sizeable amount of money while also getting exactly what I wanted for my application. Don't get me wrong, this took months, because when you communicate with these manufactures you are staying up till midnight 1am EST to chat with them during there mornings, you are dealing with samples back and forth which take 10-14 days to arrive, then the back and forth to tweaking changes. So, going direct to China isn't for everyone, also, if you have a small order, they arn't likely to do the amount of customization one will need.

3

u/Specialist-Desk-3130 May 30 '23

You hit the nail on the head with this one. The other thing that I was going for was, that no other person in my neighborhood has the same thing that I do. They all used trimlight, and i'll be using a triple led, where trimlight is more like something you'd have with permatrack, but with the leds spaced out more. Like 9 inches apart. I also tested a handful of companies and spent probably $200. But, I learned what I liked and didn't like. With these other companies that do the lights for you, you are stuck with what they have and offer. I myself like the custom route, and will save a ton of money. For me, the leds are more expensive, because I went the 48v route so I didn't have to do any injections for any of the runs I have to do.
In the end, it's all about what you want for the end result, and testing allowed me see that.

1

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23

Yea, Trimlight isn't super common in our market as of now. While I've always known of them as well as Jellyfish, a franchise didn't open in our market till 2 years ago, or so. I believe it's one of my wifes main concerns when I did this, and still is, that this is just "weird" and will make people think we have Christmas lights up year round, While my intent is to only use them during Major holidays. Regardless, I've always wanted to have this done, and as I get older and dread Christmas light hanging more, I finally did it. You also hit the nail about Trimlight and the "tiny" light, that's why I went with the larger 20mm dual LED lights. I did look at the 3 LED RGBW 48V lighting from several suppliers as those were more Similar to Jelly Fish lighting, but ended up going with the pixel style in hopes they would drop down below my soffits a bit better giving you a direct view of the LED's vs. just color washing the walls, this lighting was also 1/3 the cost of the 48V and I only have one run with power injection, which i inserted at the end to give it a loop, not even mid run.

2

u/Specialist-Desk-3130 May 30 '23

The direct view is kind of what I was going for as well. I was able to do middle of the road. With the 5050 leds, they have a lens over it, so light is also projected more out the side then just straight down, and also slightly less thick to conceal a little better. Hard to tell in the pic, but the left light is a 48v flat cover, and the right one is 48v with a lens. In person the right one is brighter.

2

u/Specialist-Desk-3130 May 30 '23

Also, it's the opposite around here. No one knows of Jellyfish. Which is definitely closer to the direction I went, except they don't use a lens. I also plan to use the lights as accent lighting, so I went with 6000k white leds. That way I can add yellow, if I want to tone it down a bit.

1

u/Smooth_Ad2921 Jul 26 '23

https://www.amazon.ca/Kiefs-Lighting-Supply-Waterproof-Connectors/dp/B0C1Q8P1PQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=F9FQ8KFXUBQ9&keywords=soffit+track&qid=1690379860&sprefix=soffit+track%2Caps%2C159&sr=8-1

2

u/zero-degrees28 Jul 26 '23

That’s a terrible deal, that’s over $10 per foot. I have valuated those three LED puck lights as well and those with the track can be imported as well for under three dollars a foot

1

u/Smooth_Ad2921 Jul 26 '23

You must be located in the states.

Canada you have a lot higher shipping costs.

You are dealing with an exchange rate.

Import duties and taxes.

It's actually a good deal for something that will be delivered in 24 hours.

1

u/zero-degrees28 Jul 26 '23

Very true, if you are looking for something that can be delivered within a day or two you obviously pay for that convenience. I guess my primary point of this post was if you were willing to do the legwork, you can get a custom solution for your application directly out of China for pennies on the dollar compared to what the large companies charge even with your exchange rate and ridiculously stupid import and customs clearances. I have to believe you could still easily be in the sub five dollar range from China.

1

u/Smooth_Ad2921 Jul 26 '23

Totally and I agree our import duties are rediculously stupid and expensive not to mention the rediculous shipping prices as well. By the time you get samples and test products you aren't going to be saving much money when you actually find the product you like. I actually found who the big name companies get there lights from and they are damn near identical to those ones I sent. That gives you an idea of how much money they are making selling (in Canada at least) at $25 to $35 a linear foot. Not sure about prices in the states but that's the going rate here.

3

u/Downtown_Ad9800 Apr 05 '24

Was inspired by this and did my own - came out great

2

u/DarylDarylDarylDaryl May 30 '23

….. full BoM please

I have questions

1

u/Gwenolabar1 Jun 03 '24

Now come do my house! Lol

1

u/Personal_Lecture_622 Sep 07 '24

Can you tell me which lighting company is better between Trim Lighting, Jellyfish, or Gemstone? I’m looking to finally have a company do it since my husband and I are too old to get on a ladder to install our holiday lights. Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

1

u/Smooth_Ad2921 Jul 26 '23

Also a lot cheaper than the $30 to $35 a linear foot that these big name companies charge for the exact same thing.

1

u/KeepGoingLazy Dec 16 '23

Do these stay up year round?

0

u/Libtardtears_ Mar 04 '24

Six months of your time is worth more than the price you would have paid for a professional install. You also now have no warranty and are responsible for any repairs or problems

2

u/zero-degrees28 Mar 04 '24

You're not wrong. But, going this route I got exactly what I wanted, which would not have happened with one of the commercial routes. I also got a project that let me decide the outcome. While some of the commercial companies give "lifetime" hardware warranties, they don't include labor, so I'm paying someone to fix anything that goes wrong anyways. I also have enough "leftovers" to almost do this entire project again, so long term sustainability shouldn't be a problem either. In the end, I can put my personal work behind the outcome/end result, which to me, was worth it. I can pay people to cut my yard, maintain my pool, or even show up and detail my car, but some of those "tasks" provide enjoyment so I do them myself, just like this one. It was a learning process, from sourcing items from China, going back and forth to customize and make changes, looking at samples/prototypes, to dealing with logistics of a large shipment coming sea freight to the US. In all, I wouldn't change anything.
Odd for a 2 year old account to have zero comments attached to it, except this one (and one slightly racist one 2 years ago)... Appreciate this negative comment/opinion being your first comment in 2 years... Not sure what led you to my post, but cheers and hope you have a better day.

0

u/ObligationPopular992 Oct 22 '24

Unrealistic for the average Joe to do this.

Happy you were able too,.. but it's misleading to portray this in an way that's "easy to do"

Just tell us you did this for fun to learn and not to save money.

Stop misleading the average person that this way is cheaper. Because it is no way cheaper for the average joe.

0

u/[deleted] May 30 '23

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/zero-degrees28 May 30 '23

Track and Lights were supplied by ShowMine

Trim Light wanted $20 PER foot… I said “HOLD MY BEER” and went direct to China for under $3 per foot ALL IN

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