NeoPixel Garage Door Christmas Lights

Christmas is an awesome excuse to play with some RGB lights so I used it to create a light display for my garage door with a string of NeoPixel lights, NodeMCU, and WLED firmware.

The entire light show is simple, easily customizable, and full of effects that can be controlled over WiFi.

To make all the connections, I used one of my custom-designed project PCBs for the NodeMCU that were manufactured by PCBWay.

• NodeMCU Development Board - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DCsz2wb
• WS2811 RGB LED String - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DFqsF9N
• WS2812 LED String - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DlHKzOr
• Addressable LED strip - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DlHKzOr
• 5V 2A Power Supply - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DCAamnd
• Soldering station - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DDAjRKR
• Soldering kit - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DCHNgoX
• Multimeter - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Dc9VdLZ

You can also make this project without the PCB but for me, it was an easy way how to connect all the wires as well as have the NodeMCU removable and not permanently soldered to a project.

If you choose to get the PCB, you will need to solder pin headers to it for the NodeMCU, a pin header on the D4 relay output as well as a screw terminal on the 5V output for powering the LED string.

The WLED firmware is what will control our lights. It is a custom firmware for the ESP8266 and ESP32 chips that creates a webserver on the device and has plenty of effects pre-installed.

To flash the firmware there are several options but I used the ESPHome Flasher as it is fairly straightforward and I have already used it before when I was flashing the firmware for my living room temperature monitor.

Once the firmware is on the NodeMCU, we need to connect to its access point WiFi and we can then import the credentials for our regular WiFi.

After reset, the device will connect to our regular network and we can access the software through a web browser on the designated IP address.

Before mounting the lights at the garage door, I wanted to make sure that they work as expected so I quickly connected them on my bench and tested out the functionality.

Everything worked as expected so I then proceeded to mount them above my garage door.

To mount the LEDs, I took advantage of a small hole that exists between my garage door and the wall where it closes. The garage door closes this space with a rubber seal so it can be squished on the LEDs without damaging them and it still provides a nice seal from the elements.

The LED string is held in place by some cable clips that are simply hammered into the wall above.

The wire is extended to the side of the garage door and it is then plugged in the NodeMCU that is powered form a USB wall adapter that is rated for 2A.

With that our custom decoration is done and it really looks beautiful with all the light that bounces off the garage door. It would have been nice to have a larger string of LEDs so I can go all around the door but I guess it will have to wait for next year.

If this project was interesting to you, then you can check my other Instructables as well as my YouTube channel so you can stay tuned for my next projects.