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Aluminium profile for an LED strip

Updated: 23 October 2026

You are lighting a cabinet or a plasterboard edge, and an aluminium profile for LED strip has to match the tape rather than the outside of the bar. None of the channels in this set includes the strip. Shoppers who judge the opening from the outer width order a housing the tape will not enter. Frame rail and mill-finish angle are the wrong family. The first family choice is the [aluminium profile buying guide](/hub/diy-supplies/aluminium-profile/sub/aluminium-profile-buying-guide). Prices from 19 October 2026 stay on the [aluminium profile comparison](/hub/diy-supplies/aluminium-profile). A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We did not install a kitchen.

You are lighting a cabinet or a plasterboard edge, and an aluminium profile for LED strip has to match the tape rather than the outside of the bar. None of the channels in this set includes the strip.

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The opening is the number that matters

Measure the inner width, or the widest strip the listing names, and ignore the outside until that number exists. LightingWill’s six 1 m pack, £21.55, states 12 mm inside for strips from 1 mm to 12 mm. The five-pack, £19.95, says about 12 mm. LightingWill’s double flange at £30.99 states 13 mm. inShareplus at £32.99 says strips of 1–15 mm without a separate inner-width figure. YGS-Tech at £34.99 says strips up to 18 mm. PULUME, £21.24, states 6 m of matte black track and does not state an inner width. On other sellers’ own sizes, a 12 mm tape will not enter a 10.2 mm channel. That pair is not a measurement of these bars. LED Technologies tells you to use the usable internal width and to allow for any sleeve. A Philips Hue strip in the LightingWill reviews fitted only after the rubber sleeve came off.

The strip is a second purchase

Every kept channel here is a housing. The six-pack is six channels, six milky covers, 12 end caps and 12 clips. The five-pack has no joiner, according to a review. PULUME lists clips, caps, screws and dowels, and one of six reviews calls the diffuser black while the listing says milky white. No driver and no strip sit in those lines. Buy the large-sample channel only when 12 mm matches the tape. That six-pack is 4.5 from 2,047 reviews, which is why it is the named lighting pick on best aluminium profile. PULUME is 5.0 from 6 reviews, and that star line does not fill in the missing opening. A milky cover still shows diodes when they sit about 2 cm apart and close to the plastic.

Plaster-in is a building job

A flange is the right channel only when the boards are still going up. LightingWill’s double-flange pack is six 1 m lengths, 13 mm inside, at 4.5 from 9 reviews. inShareplus is £32.99, 4.7 from 8 reviews, for strips stated as 1–15 mm. The same bullet says six 1 m pieces and also a 10 m total. Do not guess which one will arrive. YGS-Tech is £34.99, up to 18 mm, and the listing has no review score. A finished kitchen wants the surface U-channel. The saw is on how to cut an aluminium profile.

The channel is not a seal or a certificate

A milky cover does not always hide LED dots, and a dark cover in the six-pack review pool dims the light heavily. A review that still sees diodes is not a failed seal. Printed IP67, waterproof, remote or Wi-Fi rows on an empty channel are not a verified bathroom seal. inShareplus marks the profile not water resistant and indoor. Approved Document P makes a new circuit, a consumer-unit change, or work in a bath or shower special location notifiable in a dwelling. Clipping a channel and using a plug-in driver is a different job. If the tape is wider than the stated opening, change the channel. If the opening is missing, do not invent one.

Common questions

Do you measure the outside of the profile or the opening?
Measure the opening, or read the strip width the listing names. The six-pack states 12 mm inside. The outside of the extrusion is a different number and will not tell you whether the tape enters. LED Technologies calls this the usable internal width, with room for connectors and any sleeve.
Will a 12 mm strip fit the LightingWill channel?
The six-pack states an inner width of 12 mm for strips from 1 mm to 12 mm, and the strip is not included. A sleeved tape may need the sleeve removed, as a Hue review described. The five-pack says about 12 mm, so a tape that is a hard 12 mm including its coating is a tighter guess on that pack.
Is the LED strip in the box?
No. None of the kept listings includes the strip or the driver. You get channel, and usually a cover, caps and clips or, on the double-flange pack, screws and plugs. inShareplus and YGS-Tech do not list those fixings. Budget for the tape as a second purchase.
What if the listing never states the inner width?
Skip it until you can measure the metal. PULUME states 6 m of black track, clips and caps at £21.24, and 5.0 from 6 reviews, and it does not print an inner width. A high star line from six reviews does not tell you that a 12 mm tape will fit.
When is a plaster-in flange the right channel?
When you are boarding the wall or ceiling and can plaster up to the lip. The double-flange pack is £30.99 with a 13 mm opening. A cabinet that is already built wants a surface U-channel. Chasing a flange into a finished wall is the fiddly case inShareplus reviewers describe.
Why does one listing say 6 × 1 m and 10 m total?
inShareplus prints both in the same bullet: six 1 m channels, and a total of 10 m. Six metres and ten metres cannot both be the length in one box. The stored listing does not resolve it. Confirm the live contents line before you buy tape to match.
Can you put this channel in a bathroom because the table says IP67?
Do not treat that table row as a seal. The channels do not include a strip, and those waterproof, remote and Wi-Fi fields are not verified channel specs. inShareplus is marked not water resistant. Work in a bath or shower special location is notifiable under Approved Document P, which is an electrician’s limit, not a cutting tip.

Related pages

Sources

Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Prices and review counts were captured on 19 October 2026.

  1. Durbin Metals, 6063-T6 data sheet (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  2. Hydro EN AW-6063 datasheet (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  3. BSI, BS EN 755-2:2016 overview (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  4. GOV.UK Approved Document P (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  5. LED Technologies profile guide (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  6. LED Lighthouse plaster-in method (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  7. Ooznest extrusion category (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  8. HSE EH44, dust from cutting and grinding (retrieved 19.10.2026)