DIY battery powered cupboard lighting

Siliconslave · 14 Oct 2023 at 15:21

Hi,

I'm building some alcove cupboards and i'd like to put some warm white leds under a few of the shelves with a door operated switch on.

The big problem I have is there isn't an reasonable way to get power to the location so i'm thinking of just using a USB power bank and recharging it when needed. The doors aren't going to be open for huge amounts of time so shouldn't be a big issue recharging.

Has anyone done something like this before?

Its been a while since i've done any electronics projects but it looks like i'll just need a 5v cuttable LED strip, two push to break door switches in parallel (as there are two doors on a single cupboard), some wire, heat shrink, solder and a USB plug I can wire in.

Thanks
Sam

TheVoice · 14 Oct 2023 at 15:30

You can get rechargeable cupboard/wardrobe lights that are light/motion activated, might be worth considering?

The only problem you might encounter is that some USB power banks will turn off entirely when the draw drops which means you need to either press the button to turn it back on or disconnect and reconnect the USB connector. That's been my experience with some older TP Link and Anker ones anyway when trying to use them to power LED strips, so it'd be worth testing first.

Siliconslave · 14 Oct 2023 at 15:33

i've had a look for the pre-built ones and not come across any that seem reasonably setup (or with decent reviews)

Very good point on the power banks, i'll check the ones i have already as i've got a feeling atleast some of them exhibit that exact behaviour

Megahackerd · 14 Oct 2023 at 15:55

Siliconslave said:
i've had a look for the pre-built ones and not come across any that seem reasonably setup (or with decent reviews)

Very good point on the power banks, i'll check the ones i have already as i've got a feeling atleast some of them exhibit that exact behaviour

just searched on a rainforest website "motion activated light strip" and came across multiple ones, including ones than can be powered by USB, 4xAAA or have their powerbank built in. All of these are less than £15, which is cheaper than rolling out your own.