If you'd have asked me when I ran the cheap LED lighting strip the width of the balcony, I might've replied that I put it in last summer. So, I was surprised when I looked it up right here and discovered I ran a strip along under the balcony doors in August 2019. That is going on two years ago and longer than I thought.
I was never very happy with the old wifi controller that worked with an app called, Magic Home. Not only was set up tedious, but the controller often disconnected. This is important is because I control my balcony lights with Google Assistant. I would often request, "Hey Google, turn on the balcony LED strip," but hear a response saying, "Sorry, the LED strip isn't available right now."
So, last week, I ordered a new set of LED strips on Amazon with a different type of controller. Most all my lighting and plug products work with an app called Smart Life. It is dependable and I wanted the same for my LED strip. The box came with 2 reels which could've wrapped around the circumference of the balcony but I ended up putting up an existing unused reel I already had. The newer ones were more water-resistant but cheap ones with fewer LEDs per meter.
If I had wrapped around the entire balcony, the installation might have looked a bit tacky. As I just replaced along the wall of my apartment, five meters were sufficient. However, as my electrical box is in the center, I figured cutting the strip into two sections made sense. Before I had to run an extension cord to one end of the balcony to plug them in. Now the strip is powered in the middle with each half on a separate connection.
"Okay, Google. Turn on the LED strip and change the colour to green."