LED strip calculators

LED strip power,
worked out

Three tools for the decisions you make before you order parts: which voltage to run, how big a supply to buy, and how thick the wire has to be.

Open PSU calculatorStart with voltage
Example
Strip
WS2812B 60 LED/m
Length
5 m
Voltage
5 V
Brightness
Full white

300 LEDs × 0.202 W = 61 W

Supply needed73W61 W measured, plus a 20% margin

At 5 V over 5 m the calculator also marks 4 power injection points.

Decide in this order

  1. Voltage

    Pick the voltage

    It decides your run length, your wire thickness and how often you have to inject power.

    • 5V, 12V, 24V and 48V compared
    • Maximum run length per voltage
    • Which one suits which project
    Read the guide

  2. Power

    Size the supply

    Wattage for your strip, length and brightness, with the 20% margin a supply needs to not run flat out.

    • WS2812B, WS2815, COB, FCOB and more
    • Strip and matrix modes
    • Injection points marked for you
    Open the calculator

  3. Wire

    Size the wire

    The thinnest wire that still carries your current safely and keeps voltage drop under 5% over the whole run.

    • AWG and mm² side by side
    • Round-trip voltage drop
    • Every gauge compared
    Open the calculator

Already built, and something is wrong?

What a metre draws

At full white, before any safety margin. The calculator carries 39 strips in total.

StripVoltsLEDs/mWatts/mSupply for 5 m
WS2812B 60 LED/m5V6012.120000000000001 W73 W
WS2815 60 LED/m12V609.42 W57 W
SK6812 RGBW 60 LED/m5V6014.34 W86 W
SMD 5050 White 60 LED/m (12V)12V6014.4 W86 W
COB White 528 LED/m (24V)24V52814 W84 W
WS2811 FCOB 24V 720 LED/m24V72021 W126 W

Supply figures include the 20% margin. Run your own strip and length →