How To Choose The Correct LED Driver For Your LED Lights

LED lights are great they last around 20 times longer and consume up to 90% less energy when compared to halogen or incandescent lighting which helps you save money on your energy bills while still maintaining similar levels of light quality and they also come in a wide variety of unique colours meaning you can achieve a great look to your rooms what did you know most LED lights require an LED driver in order to operate many Retrofits LED lights such as gu10 LED bulbs have drivers built into them to help make your transition from traditional lighting to LED lighting much easier all the types of LED lights such as LED strip lights require an external LED driver in order to operate why because unlike traditional Lighting's such as incandescent or halogen lights LED lights operates on lower more precise voltages such as 12 volts or 24 volts they also operate on DC which stands for direct current rather

Than AC which stands for alternating current there are two main types of LED driver one constant voltage LED drivers which convert the incoming mains voltage of 230 volts AC into a lower DC voltage such as 12 volts or 24 volts constant voltage LED drivers are ideal for powering LED tape and other low powered LED lighting setups the output voltage from this type of driver always remains the same and doesn't fluctuate the other type of LED driver is constant current bios these types of LED drivers also convert 230 volts ac into lower DC voltages they also maintain a constant current output this ensures that the sensitive LED chip achieves full brightness whilst also preventing it from being overpowered which would damage the chip electrical current is measured in milliamps and amps common milliamp ratings for constant current LED drivers include 350 milliamps and 700 milliamps whilst less common milliamp ratings are 500 milliamps 1050 milliamps and 1500 in Killian constant current LED drivers are usually required for more high performance LED lighting setups.

Such as brown lights and decking lights most of the integrated LED downlights we offer such as here's h2 Pro are fitted with a constant current 700 milliamp driver this driver is part of the fitting and is non-replaceable meaning that in the very unlikely event of the LED driver fails you have to replace the entire fitting so how do you know what LED driver you need here are four golden rules to follow when choosing your LED driver first and foremost you need to know if your LED lights require at a constant voltage or constant current supplied if your lights need to be wired in a series like some LED ground lights then you will need a constant current LED driver if your LED lights need to be wide in a parallel circuit like LED strip next they will need a constant voltage LED driver secondly make sure the milliamp rating on your LED light matches your LED driver although.

There are many different milliamp ratings the most common ratings are 350 milliamps and 700 milliamps if you've already established that you require a constant voltage LED driver you can skip this step and move on to step 3 thirdly make sure the wattage of the LED driver is higher than the total number of lights this means if you require for 3 watt LED ground lights the LED driver you will require will be 12 watts or higher because 4 times 3 Watts equals 12 watts if you're specifying an LED driver for LED tape you need to multiply the wattage per meter of the LED tape and the length of your rod or room so if the LED tape is 14 point 4 watts per meter and you have 3 meters you would require an LED driver rated that's over 40 three-on-two watts which could be a 60 watt LED driver such as the Meanwell l pv 60 12 or LP v 6 to 24 depending on the voltage of the LED tape finally make sure the output voltage of your LED driver is compatible with the input voltage of your LED lights some constant current LED drivers have a very wide output voltage of 6 to 26 volts meaning they're more Universal and compatible with more LED lights.

However, there are many constant currents LED drivers that output a very specific voltage which may not be compatible with your LED lights and if the incorrect voltage is used it can cause irreparable damage to it's very important and you check if you remember these four golden rules on choosing your LED drivers you'll have no problem installing the designed LED lighting in your home we've also detailed a few of the most commonly asked questions below this video to help you see how other customers are using LED drivers should you need further advice please don't hesitate to contact us our team of experienced lighting experts can be reached by emailing sales at downlights direct OpCo UK or calling one seven oh six five two one one double eight