I understand, sorry @LarryD. I did this diagram few months ago and forgot I did not use the right schematic for the led before I posted.
"Lazy" was more of an expression here: from the elements I posted, you can probably see this project required a lot of work, especially for someone with no previous experience in electronics.
That being said, I respect the efforts it requires for volunteers trying to help, and I try to be as clear as I can be. Be sure I value your time and skills very much.
And as ever it bugs me that the 10k is connected to the gate and not to the input "LED_PWR_SIG" terminal.
It may make negligible (1%) practical difference, but it is just plain wrong. 
Feel your pain.
But there are bigger fish to fry.
A step back. Why do you think this?
N-MOSFETs are more efficient so all other things equal a low side switch should be more efficient. The difference should be very small here.
Itās just something I noticed empirically: when I tried to disconnect the VCC of the sk6812 I noticed it drew less current than when I disconnected the GND (and to give some context I want to disconnect the led because its chip draws some current even when the les is displaying black). But maybe I misinterpreted my observationā¦ again, Iām really a beginner in that field and try to figure out things as I can with my limited skills and time.
To minimize current consumption you need to disable digital buffers on analog input pins. When you turn off the LED subcircuit by low side switch you need
- Write all Arduino outputs connected to this circuit HIGH. This includes LDR_Vcc+ pin!
- Use internal pull-ups or write OUTPUT HIGH all digital inputs connected to the switched off circuit to prevent them floating.
I suspect the LDR_Vcc+ was causing the extra current consumption you were measuring.
Possible solution with P-channel MOSFET high side switch, see
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