Glowing Fireplace Insert with Edge-Lit Acrylic and WLED #LED Strips #AdafruitLearningSystem @Adafruit
Article excerpt
Check out the latest project from Erin St Blaine: build a 3 dimensional LED fireplace light system insert that turns your unused fireplace into a beautiful flickering fire that you can turn on and off using Alexa or any web browser. Create custom colored flame animations with a few clicks and sliders and save them […]
Check out the latest project from Erin St Blaine: build a 3 dimensional LED fireplace light system insert that turns your unused fireplace into a beautiful flickering fire that you can turn on and off using Alexa or any web browser. Create custom colored flame animations with a few clicks and sliders and save them into playlists for an ever-changing art piece in your hearth. The project is made on a laser cutter using cast acrylic and plywood and is powered over USB with a Mini Sparkle Motion controller. From the guide:
In this project, we’ll create an artistic LED fireplace insert for your fireplace. Laser-cut clear acrylic flames are placed above high-density LED strips controlled with WLED, a free, open-source control program that works over WiFi. The flames “disappear” when they’re turned off, but can be started up with a click on your phone or a request to Alexa. Make your own custom flame animations in WLED, which gives you sliders and palettes and all sorts of controls.
Take back your hearth.
Parts
Mini Sparkle Motion, WLED-friendly ESP32 NeoPixel LED Driver
The Adafruit Sparkle Motion Mini is part of our series of “Sparkle Motion” boards, that are our attempt to make the best…
$18.95
In Stock
Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip 144 LED, 1m White
We crammed ALL THE NEOPIXELS into this strip! An unbelievable 144 individually-controllable LED pixels on a flexible PCB. It’s completely out of control and ready for you to…
$59.95
In Stock
**Guide summary**
, This project turns an unused fireplace into a glowing Art Nouveau-style centerpiece by combining laser-cut cast acrylic flames, stacked plywood framing, and edge-lit NeoPixel strips for a convincing faux-fire effect.
, The build uses WLED on a Sparkle Motion controller to power, configure, and animate the LEDs through Wi-Fi, including preset scenes, layered segments, timing controls, and optional Alexa integration.
, The tutorial also covers careful strip wiring, cut-and-fit assembly, and troubleshooting tips so the flames light evenly and the installation stays serviceable inside the fireplace.
**Adafruit products used**
, **Adafruit Mini Sparkle Motion** is the WLED-ready controller used to drive the NeoPixel strips and power the project over USB: https://www.adafruit.com/product/5712
, **Adafruit NeoPixel LED strips** provide the edge-lit flame illumination and are wired in a zig-zag layout for the layered fire effect: https://www.adafruit.com/category/168
Read more at Glowing Fireplace Insert with Edge-Lit Acrylic and WLED