5. Lindrive Hardwired System

With this bathroom the customer went with a hardwired dimmable system using a LinDrive transformer, ultra bright flexible LED strips, custom in-wall cable, and a compatible Lutron DVCL dimmer.

Measuring the available space for flex:

 Start by measuring out the entire length of the space the flex strip will be mounted to. In this case you will need to find the measurements on the outside of the oval. When you find your measurement make sure to subtract 3” from the total to leave room for connections. In this job, since we are using only one side of the LED strip you can subtract 1.5” from the total.

Mounting options for LED strips:

When working with a mirror there are two ways we recommend mounting the LED strips. In this system we mounted the LED strip on the outside of the mirror with the LEDs pushing away from the mirror. This will allow us to keep the LED strip one long strip since it can follow the curve of the oval.

The second option would be to mount the LED strips on the back of the mirror so the LEDs face the wall. This will focus more light towards the wall and generally does not look as bright as the method above. To run the LED strip around the curves you will need to split the LED strip into multiple strips to follow the curves as the LED strip cannot bend in that direction.

Make sure to clean the surface you are mounting the LED strip to with an isopropyl alcohol or a strong cleaning solution. This will insure that the LED strip holds permanently.

Providing Power:

 The customer used a 40w LinDrive dimmable hardwire transformer to power the system, and used a Lutron DVCL dimmer to control the system. Unlike a standard power supply that plugs into an outlet the hardwire transformer splices directly to the high voltage coming from the dimmer. Make sure to hire a licensed electrician or contractor to install the transformer if you are not comfortable working with high voltage. Check out the instruction sheet titled ‘Transformer Wiring Guide’ on the right for more information.

Wiring the Cable:

To keep the cable completely out of sight, we ran two cables in the wall before the drywall went up. We ran the cable from below the sinks to the bottom of where the mirrors were mounted. This allowed us to easily terminate the cable from the transformer to the LED strip when the mirror was mounted. Make sure you are using an in-wall rated cable, you can buy an 18AWG in-wall rated cable from our store in bulk and custom lengths.