LED Guide

LED Driver: The Definitive Guide

Advanced buying guide for LED driver & power supply. Just as Laptops need AC adapter, fluorescent demand ballast, LED lights & displays require suitable power supply as well. What is an LED driver? LED driver is know as LED power supply, which is the power source for an LED system. This guide of LED drivers will cover constant voltage or constant current led driver, dimming technology for led power supply, quality, control of led driver, and etc. The article is focusing on the LED industry.

Buying guide to led driver & power supplies

The definitive guide of LED driver will be covering below table of contents(Almost complete one)

Chapter #1 Types of power supplies
Go to Chapter #1
Chapter #2 Constant current or constant voltage led driver? Which is better ?
Go to Chapter #2
Chapter #3 Which power supply wattage do I need for LED light?
Go to Chapter #3
Chapter #4 Input voltage & Output voltage
Go to Chapter #4
Chapter #5 Dimming function (Dimmable LED driver)
Go to Chapter #5
Chapter #6 Waterproof or non-waterproof ?
Go to Chapter #6
Chapter #7 What is power quality of led driver?
Go to Chapter #7
Chapter #8 The future market of led driver
Go to Chapter #8

Chapter #1 Types of power supplies

LED driver has two types: constant voltageled driver and constant current led driver, depending on whether they regulate output to provide a constant voltage or current to the LEDs. Constant voltage led driver can be called voltage converter or ac to dc transformer, due to it covert the AC high voltage to DC low voltage, which normally has 5v power supply,12v power supply, 24v power supply, 36v power supply and 48v power supply (variable dc power supply).

Ac to dc converter: LED driver is a type of ac dc power, LEDs require a device that can transform incoming AC power to the proper DC voltage, and regulate the current flowing through the LED during operation. The LED driver & power supply converts 230V (or other voltage 110V) AC power to low-voltage DC power required by the LEDs, and protects the LEDs from line-voltage fluctuations.

There has some types of power supplies can be used for both traditional lights and LED lights, such as the switching power supply ( also known as switching-mode power supply, switch mode power supply, SMPS, or switcher) is an electronics power supply that incorporates a switching regulator to convert electrical power efficiently, which normally used for led strip lights today.

LED driver is the most important part for any LED system. You probably faced the situation that led driver power supply was broken but the LED was still good. As the rapid growing of led light during these years, there has many led driver manufacturers appear in the market, the quality and price is vary, how to find the best power supply for your LED lights among the different led drivers? Do you know the difference of constant current and constant voltage led driver or the information of wattage, power factor(PF), power factor correction (PFC), power efficiency, IP rate, housing shell,RoHS materials,electronic components,full load burn-in test,approval protection(over current, over load,short circuit and over temperature protection) ?

Chapter #2 Constant current or constant voltage led driver? Which is better?

constant current vs constant voltage led driver — Constant Current VS. Constant Voltage LED driver

Constant current or constant voltage led driver? Which is better?

Typically, LEDs are operated (or “Driven”) such that their (average) current is constant (Constant Current), power electronics components (led driver ICs, transformers. etc), are used to create power supply circuits which convert AC voltage into regulated LED constant (average) current.
A constant current power supply varies the voltage across an electronic circuit allowing the device to maintain a constant electric current. This thus ensures that, no matter the variation in voltage, the current delivered to LEDs does not change. In contrast to constant current led power supplies, constant voltage drivers are designed to operate with LED modules requiring a fixed voltage (ac to dc power supply), typically 12 or 24V DC. Modules are connected in parallel across the driver’s output power.

Advantages of using the constant current power supply: More consistent brightness and less light decay due to more stable and reliable output current for driving LEDs, as a result, it is able to have longer lifespan than the constant voltage led driver.

Constant voltage power supply: It is easier to design and develop with engineers and technicians, the cost is lower and the selling price is cheaper.

The constant voltage power supply is usually considered as not so good. During the working with LED lights, there might have the excessive forward current, which will result in extra heat generation and a significant reduction in LED lifespan. Therefore, a constant current source is the preferred method to drive one LED. In fact, LEDs are considered constant current driven devices.

According to the above information, does it mean constant voltage led driver is useless?

The answer is no, at present, constant voltage led driver is used a lot for led strip lights. Such as 12 volt power supply and 24 volt power supply.
Constant voltage led drivers are best suited to applications where the LED load is not known and the designer needs flexibility regarding the number of modules to be connected to the power supply. As constant-voltage LED modules are added to the load, driver current will increase to the maximum level. Typical applications include sign and track lighting.

Constant current led drivers (350 mA, 700 mA or etc.) are matched with constant-current LED modules, which are they connected in series or parallel. They provide higher efficiency, relatively easy dimming, longer expected life and greater control of brightness consistency across different LEDs in the same application. As a result, constant-current drivers are used in the large majority of LED products manufactured for general lighting applications. Many configurations are available to satisfy various applications.

Full collection of constant current and constant voltage led drivers with quality and competitive prices for your reference, 12 volt, 24 volt, 300mA 350mA 450mA 600mA 700mA 900mA and etc. Please contact us.

Chapter #3 Which power supply wattage do I need for LED light?

Which power supply wattage do I need for LED light?

Let us me ask you one question firstly: If the total power of led strip light is 100w, which power supply wattage do I need to drive the led strip light?

The answer is: 100w + power consumption of led driver.

How to know the power consumption of led driver? You need know the power efficiency (Performance per watt) of led driver (We’ve mentioned the relative information of “ Total Power Consumption” in the post of 5 tips to buy led strip lights)

If the power efficiency of led driver is 90%, the maximum power of 100w led driver supply 90w for led light, thus, it is not enough for 100w led strip light.

Now, you know how to count the enough power for your led light. You might ask, is high-efficiency led driver better? Yes!
There are several benefits to use high-efficiency LED drivers. The first thing is saving more energy, low the cost, (according to above calculation method for the power of led driver). In some applications, the cost saving can be more significant if taken into account the losses in the utility line and the reduced energy consumption of the air conditioning system (if the lamp is used indoor Energy savings in high efficiency drivers can be quite significant over the life of the driver.

In addition, the lower temperatures associated with higher efficiency drivers can significantly improve product life and MTBF. The power dissipated in a 90% efficient driver is less than half that dissipated in an 80% efficient driver. Doubling the heat in the lower efficiency driver significantly increases component temperatures. The life of the electrolytic capacitors in the driver decrease by about 50% with each 10 degree C increase in temperature. Therefore, higher efficiency drivers can easily have a 2-4 times longer projected life. As LED service life continues to improve, driver failure (rather than lumen depreciation) may be seen in the field as a lighting product end-of-life failure. LED drivers are designed with service-life ratings ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 hours, on par with the life expectancy of a majority of LEDs. These ratings are highly dependent on ambient temperature; the luminaire design and application characteristics (such as the installation space for heat dissipation, the working time of each day) can significantly affect actual life. When selecting a product, the temperature range of the driver should be evaluated and appropriately matched to the application.

Reliability is also a function of temperature and lowering temperature increases the reliability of all components in the driver. We adopt high quality electronic components from brand suppliers to ensure the long run of LED drivers.

From above information, you’ve learnt the suitable power for your led light and led driver in higher efficiency the better in power performance and lifespan.

Chapter #4 Input voltage & Output voltage

Next, below main power supply specifications:

Input voltage & Output voltage

Input voltage: (AC high voltage 110V/230V is worldwide, and DC voltage DC 110V etc.)

Unlike the traditional lights, LEDs need to be driven by DC low voltage. LEDs are low-voltage light sources, requiring a constant DC voltage or current to operate optimally. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) require a constant source of direct current (DC) during operation. Individual LEDs might require 2–4 volts (V) and several hundred mill amperes (mA) of current. The voltages are generally in the range 100–240 V (always expressed as root-mean-square voltage). The two commonly used frequencies are 50 and 60 Hz.

To ensure consistent light output, the light source must be protected from line-voltage fluctuations that can cause disproportional changes in current. Driving the LEDs at current higher than manufacturer design limits can result in a brighter LED, but its light output would degrade faster due to higher internal temperatures. For these reasons, the majority of general lighting products that use LEDs need an electronic device that can convert incoming alternating current (AC) to DC and protect the LED from line-voltage fluctuations.

In general, AC to DC power supply is a very common type of led driver, which is considered as a power source in everywhere. DC to DC power supply also has been adopted in boat, flight, or high speed train lighting place, there has DC to DC type led driver work with emergency power source as well.
Besides above led drivers, other types of led drivers can be used for LED light as well. Such as Switched-mode power supply (SMPS) and AC adapter are power source for led strip lights.

As for input voltage of led driver, there has two types: one is fixed voltage (such as 110V,220V,230V), the other is wide range (100-240V, 86-265V, etc.).

Most of Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and most of South America use a supply that is within 6% of 230 V. In the UK and Australia, the nominal supply voltage is 230 +10%/−6% to accommodate the fact that most supplies are in fact still 240 V. Japan, Taiwan, North America and some parts of northern South America use a voltage between 100 and 127 V.

For example, China needs the led driver with the input voltage of 220V AC, but the USA requires the input voltage in 110V AC.

The led driver with wide range input voltage, such as 100-240V AC can be used for almost worldwide area, due to the input voltage from 100v to 240v is available.

Output voltage: (constant voltage DC 5V, 12V, 24V, 36V, 48V; or constant current type)

The output voltage of led driver can be vary, which is depending on the working voltage of LED light and LED display.

As for the output voltage of constant voltage led driver, it usually has DC 5V, 12V, 24V, 36V and 48V. Let’s take led strip light as the example, the working voltage of led strip light normally has 12v or 24v dc, if one want to power led strip light in the USA, the led driver (input voltage should be AC110V or wide voltage input voltage type), the output voltage must be 12v dc or 24v dc (led driver with output voltage in 12v dc for 12v dc led strip light, likewise, 24v dc led driver for 24v dc led strip light)

However, due to the constant current led driver has the fixed current, the output voltage is vary. For example, the 10w 500mA (constant current) led driver has the output voltage: from 12 to 20v dc (The range of output voltage-“lowest voltage side:12v” can be customized by engineer so that it will meet with different requirements)

Constant voltage LED driver from Gaojie Electronics-best power supplies:
12v led driver (12v dc power supply)
24v led driver (24vdc power supply)
36v led driver (36v dc power supply)
48v led driver (48 volt power supply)

Output current:

If you purchase the constant current led driver, you should consider the output current. The output current of power supply stay constant for driving led, and the output voltage varies. Nowadays, the output current can be customized by customers for different needs of led light products. Gaojie Electronics is a leading supplier of constant current LED drivers & power supplies for the most cost-effective power solutions.

The Constant Current LED Driver is designed for driving LEDs in AC/DC high voltage applications. Universal input voltage ranged from 100-240VAC. LED drivers convert your power sources to constant current with a varying voltage, suitable for LEDs.

With years of proving high quality constant current led drivers in 300mA 350mA 450mA 600mA 700mA 900mA in different sizes, and installed in many small spaces and work well with led light products, we gain famous among our customers.

Table of Contents

Chapter #5 Dimming function (Dimmable LED driver)

dimming led driver — LED driver with dimming function

Dimming function (Dimmable LED driver)

LED dimming performance is determined by Driver capability and compatibility with the dimming equipment. Multiple compatibility issues are rooted in circuit level interactions between the LED Driver and dimmer. Good LED dimming solutions are available today. Dimming can reduce energy consumption and enhance a space’s function.
Drivers can enable dimming and color-changing or sequencing of LEDs. LEDs are easily integrated with circuits to control dimming and color-changing so that these functions can respond to preset commands or occupant presence or commands.

The two main dimming methods for dimming the LED lights:

Coincident AC power and control signal:
Phase-cut AC sine wave
a. Forward Phase Control Dimming (Triac dimming, Leading-edge or SCR dimming)
b. Reverse Phase Control Dimming (Trailing edge dimming)
Separate AC power and control signal
1) 0/1-10V
2) PWM signal,
3) Dali (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface)
4) DMX512

Phase-cut dimming

Forward Phase Control Dimming

It is known as “Triac dimming, Leading Edge dimming”, and SCR Dimming.
It is the most popular form of phasing dimming in the market. It usually uses a silicon device such as SCR or a Triac, to turn the mains waveform on part way through its cycle. By varying the point at which the waveform turns on, we can alter the amount of power delivered to the load. Triac dimmable led driver from Gaojie Electronics is compatible with most of brand leading edge dimmers in the market.

Leading edge dimmers (also called “triac dimmers” or “incandescent dimmers”):

The electrical current (sinusoidal signal) is turned off at the front of the AC input waveform immediately after the zero crossing
Traditionally used for incandescent lamps or magnetic low voltage transformers
Produces a quick inrush of voltage into the load every half cycle which leads to a high inrush current into the electronic components of the LED lamp
Causes buzzing sound when dimmed (though buzzing is not always perceptible and is dependent on many different factors, such as lamp design and number of lamps on a circuit. Even the dimmer itself, such as whether it allows dimming level adjustments and its minimum load requirements).

Reverse Phase Control Dimming

It is a “Trailing edge dimming”, which is a more complex circuit than a forward phase control dimmer. It is far more expensive and less common than the leading edge dimming type.
Trailing edge dimmers (“electronic dimmers”):

The electrical current (sinusoidal signal) is turned off at the end of the AC input waveform immediately before the zero crossing
Traditionally used for electronic drivers or low voltage transformers (capacitive loads)
Is not subject to a high inrush of voltage that leads to a high inrush of current
Does not cause buzzing sound when dimmed
Produce less EMI and mains distortion than a forward phase control dimmer.

Reverse Phase Control Dimming (Trailing edge dimming)

Trailing edge dimmers are a better fit for LED lamps. However, most of existing dimmers which are used for incandescent or halogen lamps, many manufacturers design and test their LED lamps to be compatible with leading edge dimmers.

Phase Control Dimmers in the market:
ELV (Electronic Low voltage)- Developed for use on electronic transformers & switch mode power supplies. Highest cost – Reverse Phase Dimmer

MLV (Magnetic Low voltage)-Developed for use on magnetics transformers. Medium cost – Froward Phase Dimmer that prevents DC in the output.

Incandescent – Developed for use on Resistive loads & bulb filaments. Lowest cost – Forward Phase Dimmer.

DALI – Remote controlled phase dimmer capable of either leading or trailing edge phase cuts dimming of the AC line.

Dimmer loading rules:

What is 0-10V Dimming?

Used as an early fluorescent dimming system and still used today, 0-10V dimming has been adapted to become a reliable LED dimming control protocol. This dimming method is more accurate than AC phase dimming.

0-10 V is one of the earliest and simplest electronic lighting control signaling systems; simply put, the control signal is a DC voltage that varies between zero and ten volts. The controlled lighting should scale its output so that at 10 V, the controlled light should be at 100% of its potential output, and at 0 V it should at the lowest possible dimming level. Gaojie Electronics 0-10v dimmable led drivers use CCR (Constant Current Reduction) based on the input signal level to achieve dimming.

Gaojie’s 0-10v dimming led drivers are compatible with Clipsal/Lutron/Dynalite dimmer (0-10V, 1-10V, PWM, and 100K Potentiometer dimmer), They are also perfectly work with Lutron & Clipsal lighting control system.

PWM led driver: In pulse-width modulation (PWM), the current sent through an LED is switched on and off at a high frequency-several thousand times per second. The current flow through the LED is the time-averaged value of the current when the LED is on and when it is off. Reducing the amount of time that the LED is on decreases the time-averaged current, or the effective current, delivered to the device and, as a result, its brightness.

Application of use PWM dimmable led driver: 1) Fixtures that must be dimmed lower than 40% and still maintain consistent color; 2) Color mixing applications, because of their need for precise levels of each color

The dimmable led power supply from Gaojie Electronics are made with built-in 3 in 1 dimming function (0/1~10VDC, PWM signal or resistance), which are compatibility with the general of led dimmers and lighting controls in the world.

Dali LED driver
LEDs can also work with devices governed by the DMX and digital addressable lighting interface (DALI) protocols and, in the future, may include wireless (RF) as a control option. Gaojie Electronics provide high power efficiency Dali controllable LED driver,built-in DALI interface and push dimming function.

The Gaojie Electronics as an Industry leader for led drivers, supplying full range of high performance Dali Dimmable Led Driver (Constant Current & Constant Voltage type), with full universal input voltage of 100-265VAC, the power of 10-235W, and the output current (amp) from 250mA/ 350mA/ 400mA/ 450mA/ 500mA/ 550mA/ 600mA/ 700mA/ 900mA/ 1050mA/ 1400mA/ 1750mA/ 2100mA/ 2450Ma/2500mA/ 2800mA /3000mA/ 3500mA/ 4200mA/ 6500mA, etc.

Dimming an LED source can change the behavior of the power supply.

– Efficiency can degrade, but may be offset by improving LED efficacy; unlike conventional sources, dimming does not affect the efficacy or longevity of LEDs. Lamp life is not affected by dimming, as is sometimes the case with frequently dimmed fluorescent lighting. Rather, dimming LEDs may lengthen the useful life of LEDs, because dimming can reduce operating temperatures inside the light source.”
– Flicker can be induced or increased; this is depending on the quality of led drivers. At present, it is not a problem. Solved by Gorgeous Lighting Co.,Ltd.
– Power quality, as quantitatively evaluated by the Power Factor and Total Harmonic Distortion metrics, can be degraded

Table of Contents

Chapter #6 Waterproof or Non-waterproof LED power supply

Waterproof or non-waterproof ?

The IP rate of Waterproof led power supply is start at IP65, which is the basis requirement of outdoor power supply transformer, otherwise, you have to put the led driver inside of a waterproof box (this is not good for heat dissipation sometimes). The housing shell of Waterproof LED power supply can be high Quality Aluminum Alloy or durable plastic case. In general, it is common to see waterproof led driver made in aluminum alloy housing shell, due to it is better for heat dissipation and stronger in outdoor use. High performance thermal management require high quality aluminum alloy housing. If you need the led power supply in water, we recommend the IP rate should be 68.

The connector for waterproof power supply must be waterproof as well, in case of any electric leakage. Same as water-poof led power, there has non-waterproof and waterproof connectors (IP20, IP44, IP65, IP68 etc)

Non-waterproof led power supply mainly used for indoor LED lighting, but not for wet space, such as bathroom, kitchen,etc. And there must have free space in installation area for heat dissipation of led driver. Durable plastic case is the main housing shell type for non-waterproof led power supply.

Protections
To protect the LED drivers and the light, a protection device is then required. Surge Protection (Over-voltage protection & over-current protection), A LED driver is required to provide a regulated supply of current. In addition, Short circuit protection; Over temperature protection, we need to think about protection modes for open and short circuits, and overheating conditions. The LED driver is likely to enter self-protection reset loops, either due to this dissipation causing an overheat, or due to short-circuit protection.

Table of Contents

Chapter #7 What is power quality of led driver?

High quality LED driver — High Quality LED driver

What is power quality of led driver?

It should be in high power factor, the closer to 1, the better it is (For example, the PF value of most of Gaojie’s led drivers is 0.95+.)
Power Factor relates Active Power (P) and Apparent Power (S) by PF = P/S.
Low(er) power factor loads DO NOT consume more energy, BUT they DO draw more RMS currentPFC is the abbreviation for Power Factor Correction. PFC allows power distribution to operate at its maximum efficiency. In order to maintain a high power factor, switch mode power supplies (including LED drivers) must employ some form of power factor correction. There are two types of PFC, Active PFC and Passive PFC. All of our power supplies are either Active PFC Power Supplies or Passive PFC Power Supplies. It is better have the active PFC function.
Active PFC uses a circuit to correct power factor so that the led driver could provide more efficient power frequency. Active PFC is able to generate a theoretical power factor of over 95%. It also markedly diminishes total harmonics, automatically corrects for AC input voltage, and is capable of a full range of input voltage. Since Active PFC is the more complex method of Power Factor Correction, it is more expensive to produce an Active PFC power supply
High power efficiency: The higher power efficiency of the led driver is, the better it is. High power efficiency led driver & power supply will definitely save more energy, and make the most use of the power, it can also save the cost, as a result, the led driver will be much more competitive in the market. Normally, if the power efficiency less than 80%, which is not a good power source, higher than 85% + is the good one, 90%+ is the best one in the market. We believe the power efficiency would probably higher than 95% in near future.One more thing about the power efficiency is: the smaller power of led driver is, the lower power efficiency is. For example: for the same series of led driver: the power efficiency of 20w led driver is about 80%, however, it will be 85% if it is a 60w led driver, and 88% if it is a 100w led driver. But one can’t say the 20w led driver is not good. If you want to know more about the power efficiency and led driver, please contact us.
Perfect dimming performance: As for led driver with dimming function, the light should have no flicker, and high compatibility with installed dimmers.
Lifespan: 50,000hrs +, the LED has more than 50,000hrs lifespan, as the power source for LED, the lifespan should be more than 50,000hrs. Which require the LED driver must have high quality electronic components inside, scientific design and perfect heat dissipation.

Chapter #8 The future market of led driver

The future market of led driver

In 2014, the gross output value of led drivers & power supplies was about US $4.4 billion, which was about 34% higher than the last year. And it will expand to more than $9 billion by 2019. According to the industrial report, there has more than 400pcs companies (enterprise above designated size) in China, among 90% percent are producing indoor led drivers.

This rapid growth is being driven by the fast developing of LED lighting and displays in the market. Also, the technologies for led drivers and power supply have been improved a lot: efficiency, stability and different functions, which will be mentioned in below articles. Last but not least, the demands of the replacement of defective power supply, some old led drivers probably broken after years of working or under bad situation, which need to be replaced with good led power.

The development of LED drivers & power supplies won’t stop just the same as the continuing innovations in LED technology.

The new control technologies require the updated led power supply:
Power line carrier
– Digital modulation of AC power
– Coincident AC power and control signal

Wireless
– Digital open spectrum communication
– Separate AC power and control signal

Centralized power supply or LED driver
– Low-voltage (CV or CC) wiring to LED source
– Coincident or separate AC power and control signal

ZigBee Light Link: Requires new control and LED driver

In conclusion, it is necessary & important to consider which type of led driver should be used as the power source for your LED lights. Constant current led driver is better than constant voltage led driver in relatively. You also need to think about what kind of dimming function do you need? The suitable dimming technology, and the existing dimmers, which installed in your place, does it compatible for your dimmable led driver? As the supplier of led driver and led lights, it should consider control technologies which separate AC power and the control signal. To consider using dimming controls designed for LED sources and/or new dimming technologies.

The buyer of led power also needs know the terminal connection type and length required for your led lights. The terminal connector can be waterproof or non-waterproof; it should be matched with your led lights.

Gorgeous Lighting Co.,Ltd.,- Gaojie Electronics have developed dimmable led drivers for 0-10v, PWM signal, DALI, Leading-edge and trailing-edge and ZigBee. It has perfect dimming performance and reliability, compatible with most of led dimmers in the market. Contact us now for more information.

Search for LED driver product list

Table of Contents

LED strip light: the definitive guide

LED strip lights,known as LED Tape lights,ribbon lights,are one of the earliest led lighting products almost ten years ago, it can be used in a variety of ways, for indoor or outdoor lighting (ceiling,wall,ground,window,swimming pool,almost everywhere). Buying LED strips may seem straight forward, but there are actually many different factors that buyers need to take into consideration to ensure they get the right led light strips for their needs.

LED strip lighting: individually triggered for chasing, strobing, and color changing. LED strip light require a driver and typically operate on 12 or 24 volts of direct. An LED strip consists of a self-adhesive tape and substrate on to which LEDs are placed at regular intervals. Once installed and power applied, the whole length of the strip is illuminated producing a forward light. LED strips make a great addition to any domestic or commercial environment. They are inexpensive and easy to install and can change the mood and look of a space instantly.

#1 Brightness of led strip lights

If one talk about the brightness or lumen of ledstrips, the light color must be white (warm white, natural white, pure white or cool white), because the brightness of other light colors such as red, green, blue, yellow, pink is very low, the light colors (except white ) are mainly for decorative lighting purpose. The flexible led strip light is considered as one of the decorative light product in led light industry. Some led light suppliers told the customers that they may not even want the light to be bright, such as if you are using it for accent lighting. (However, we have used led strips for main lighting purpose in some of our projects, and the lighting performance is very well,need more information, please contact us).

Nowadays, led strip lights mainly adopt below three types of SMD LED: (2015)

LED type	Lumen per piece (white light color)
SMD LED 3528	6-7lm or 8-10lm
SMD LED 5050	20-22lm
SMD LED 2835	22-24lm

The quantity of LED per meter: (2015)

LED type	LEDs per meter (pcs)
SMD LED 3528	60,96,120,180,240
SMD LED 5050	30,60,72,96,120,144
SMD LED 2835	60,120

It will be much easier for people to count the output lumen of one meter led strip light.

There also has 3014 SMD led, but it is abnormal, I believe there will have many better SMD led types in near future.

I’ve heard some companies told the clients that SMD 3528 is not suitable for accent lighting or ceiling lighting, that’s not correct, you can adopt 120pcs per meter or above 3528 LEDs, the ceiling usually needs several meters (usually has a circumference more than 10 meters). The key point is not the type of LED, but the total brightness.

#2 Light colors: Single color, color changing, RGB color

The material used in the semiconducting element of an LED determines its color. The two main types of LEDs presently used for lighting systems are aluminum gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP, sometimes rearranged as AlInGaP) alloys for red, orange and yellow LEDs; and indium gallium nitride (InGaN) alloys for green, blue and white LEDs. Slight changes in the composition of these alloys changes the color of the emitted light.

At present, led strip lights have three types of light colors: single color, color changing, and RGB LED Strip.
Single color: white color (color temperature: 2600-7000K), red, blue, green, yellow, and pink.
Color changing: warm white to cool white (2700-6500K) (or cool white to warm white is available as well), it is also called Bi-color led strip light. The principle of color changing is to adjust the color temperature of the led, then the light color will be changed accordingly.

The last type of light color is RGB color: Multiple colours and addresses. Red, Green and Blue LEDs that are mixed by using a remote control to produce a wide range of colours. Each LED has its own chip meaning they can be individually triggered for chasing, strobing, and colour changing.
Warm white(2700-3500K) can be used when people need comfort, ease and warm surroundings. It is widely used for living rooms, bedrooms,lobby and hallways.

Natural white(4500-5500K) and Cool white led strip light (6000-7000K) for outdoor and task lighting, office building, Bathrooms, school and public area which need bright light.

However, there is a study showing that,warm environments don’t just make us more productive – they also make us happier. In my opinion, the color temperature under 4000K can be used for some places need warm surroundings(I call it relaxing area), and the color temperature 5000-5500K can be used for work or study area, the color temperature above 6000K can be used for the area where needs the brightest light.

Bi-color led strip light: normally not bright enough for task lighting, it is a good supplementary lighting. The RGB color is also mainly for decorative lighting purpose, which is mainly adopted as the decorative lighting for entertainment venues.

In conclusion, different areas need appropriate color temperature. Not one building with only one color temperature.

#3 Waterproof or Non-waterproof ?

There has waterproof led strip lights and non-waterproof LED strips to meet different needs of the application. IP rating stands for “Ingress Protection”. This rating determines how waterproof and dust / small object proof a strip is (Refer IP Rating Lookup Table).In general, IP rate under IP65 is non-waterproof, if one need install led strip in water, the IP rate must be IP68.
Before you purchase the led strip lights, you should be clear that where will the strip be placed?Indoor or outdoor, dry, splash or wet areas is determine by the IP rating of the strip (Non-waterproof led strip light should be installed on a sound, clean and dry surface)

There are 5 main options:

Non-waterproof IP20 (popular) – perfect for indoor use and in areas without humidity and dust.
Epoxy coating (not popular now) IP44.
Gel coating (popular) IP65 – for areas prone to dust and humidity such as kitchens, bathrooms, garages, and workshops. Also okay for outdoor locations and gentle exposure to water/rain. Please note, silica gel is the best one, which is in high grade of transparency and can work under the temperature is 40 centigrade below zero. Gel coating type has better transmittance than hollow plastic plastic sleeving one.
Hollow plastic sleeving (silicon tube and PVC tube) IP65 (popular) – It can be used the same area as Gel coating type, but it is cheaper, and more likely to work for outdoor lighting. The lead time is shorter than the gel coating type.
Plastic sleeving with gel filling (popular)– only necessary for submersion in water up to 1m deep. Such as install in the swimming pool, outdoor footsteps etc.

#4 Suitable power supply/led driver for led strip lights

LED strip light should be driven by DC low voltage power supply, which means it need a power transformer/led driver/AC/DC adapter).
To select the suitable led driver (power supply/transformer/adapter) depend on the total wattage consumed by the flexible LED strip lights that will be attached to one power supply/transformer.

Total Power Consumption
This can be calculated by using the wattage per meter or ft information for each flexible LED Strip light. You also need to add the power consumption of the led driver, due to the power efficiency is 80%-85%, its maximum capacity (i.e. a 100 watt led driver should only be loaded with LED strip lights with a wattage draw of 85 watts at the most). Normally, led driver in higher power, the power efficiency will be higher accordingly.

Example
Total wattage of 5 meters of 60 LEDs per meter SMD LED 3528 is as follows:

4.8 watts per meter x 5 meter = 24 watts so a 30 watt led driver will be sufficient. (Kindly note, you don’t need a super higher power, such as 45 watt for 24 watt, the price will be higher for 45 watt one.)

You may wonder how to calculate the required led driver, let me show you below formula:
Required led driver = total power of led strip lights / 80%
It is very easy to select the right led driver not only for your led strip lights, but for most of other led lights, because the power efficiency of most of the power supply is 80% to 85% in the market. (Unless you use the led driver has the power efficiency more than 90% ).

Voltage
After you choose the right wattage of the led driver, now, you should consider the voltage.
There has two main AC input voltage of the led driver/power supply: 110V (120V) and 230V (220V/240V), it is easy to know the AC input voltage of your place. As for the output voltage of the led driver/power supply, it depending on the working voltage of led strip lights. At present, LED strip light works with DC 12V or DC 24V (Constant voltage) . (There also has AC220v working voltage of led strip light, you don’t need buy power transformer/led driver for it, however, it is not safe to use as least not now, I’m afraid this kind of led strip light mainly used in China)

How many meters of led strip lights can be connected?
Normally, SMD 3528 LED strip lights, its connection distance up to 20 meters, however, SMD 5050 one can work with a maximum connection distance of 15 meters. Why?
Besides LEDs, there also has resistance/ dynatron on the PCBs. The most important things to consider when connect LED Strip lights is the effect of what is called “Voltage Drop”

Voltage drop
Voltage drop describes how the supplied energy of a voltage source is reduced as electric current moves through the passive elements (elements that do not supply voltage) of an electrical circuit.

Whenever a current is flowing, the current will meet dynatron, which will impede its flow, the amount of voltage loss through the entirety of a circuit, or even a part is voltage drop. In low voltage lighting systems such as LED strip lights, voltage drops occur because the input voltage from the power supply gradually decreases over the length of the strip.

The longer the flexible led strip light is, the more resistance the current has to overcome; hence it loses voltage along the way. If the flexible LED strip light runs off a 12-volt power supply, then you have 12 volts going into the strip light system at the start but the other end will not have 12 volts due to the voltage drop.
Voltage drop is a function of wire length, wire thickness, and the total watts of power used by the flexible LED strip lights. A reduction of brightness and color accuracy in longer flexible LED strip lights is due to excessive voltage drop. The excessive voltage drop may result in unsatisfactory operation of, and damage to, electrical outlets and the flexible LED strip tape lights. The distance from the power source to the desired end distance of the flexible LED strip tape is called a run. Shorter and/or thicker wires will raise the brightness and color consistency to the strip lights’ full potential.

Solution to voltage drop

One solution to a voltage drop issue is to run the LED strip lights in parallel. Kindly note, if you need connect long led strip lights, we recommend 24V DC working voltage, its voltage drop less than the 12V DC one. Below connection drawing for your reference:

1) To connect the led strip lights in parallel

2) Not only parallel connection, but also connect each end of strip light to the power supply

3) To power each led strip light with one power supply

As mentioned above, SMD 3528 LED strip lights, its connection distance up to 20 meters, however, SMD 5050 one can work with a maximum connection distance of 15 meters. Every 20 meters of SMD 3528 led strip lights need one power supply to avoid voltage drop.

Protection

The power supply/led driver has non-waterproof, waterproof (there also has rain-proof).

Majority plastic case power supply (some of them are waterproof), wall mounted power adaptor, and desktop power adaptor are non-waterproof; however, aluminum housing power supply is water-proof (Kindly note, aluminum frame with open frame is non-waterproof), below picture of non-waterproof power supply has been used very often for led strip lights:

You can always find the information about waterproof or non-waterproof based on IP rate or description, which will be marked on the label of the power supply.

Besides, the IP rate, power supply should have protections of Short circuit/Over load/Over current, and it should pass100% full load burn-in test.
The power supply should be CE, GS, UL, SAA, FCC, VDE, RoHS approval to compliance with different needs of the market. Different market requires different certification.

One more thing about the installation of the power supply, make sure you should have enough space (not enclosed space) for heat dissipation, because the power supply needs cool by free air convection. If you are looking for more information of led driver, please contact us, which is our power supply department.

#5 Different control ways of led strip lights

DMX controller (mainly for RGB color)
Necessary conversions of DMX to PWM signals for driving LEDs

The RGB led strip lights or light bars can be controlled by DMX controller. DMX common controller adopts the advanced micro control unit, it receives standard DMX512 digital control signal and transforms it into PWM signal for driving LED; you could connect DMX controller with DMX digital console to achieve dimming or various changes in procedures. It is used for controlling a variety of led lights.

Controller can run in stand-alone mode using Address code switches or under DMX-512 digital control signals using XLR or RJ45 DMX-512 Input/output interfaces. DMX decoding driver converts universal DMX512/1990 digital signal to PWM signal, which can be controlled by DMX512 console with 16-bit gray scale output per channel. It receives standard DMX-512 digital control signals and converts to PWM (pulse width modulation) signals for driving LEDs. Connect to any DMX digital console to achieve dimming and various color changing patterns.

LED IR CONTROLLER
Infrared Radiation (IR) Handheld type: It is one kind of built-in AC-DC conversion can directly connect low AC voltage; it can work with any DC 12V led light, It can control all 4 lines and three channels (common anode or common cathode) led lighting products. RGB controller has common anode or common cathode for options, it can control all common RGB led lights.

It is able to control static modes, custom color programming, or dynamic color-changing modes with speed and ON/OFF controls. It can be used to program custom colors, control and dim any of our Red/Green/Blue (RGB) LED Light Bars and Light Strips. Several different static colors (including pure white) and dynamic color changing modes are directly selectable and adjustable on the IR remote. It can infinitely enlarge the output power by connecting with power amplifier.

LED RF controller
Radio Frequency (RF) Handheld type: It is automatically adaptation to lamps with operating voltage range of DC5V-24V or DC12-24V, including led strip lights and light bars. Unique synchronization function constricts remote to one controller or to multiple controllers for use with one remoter. Select from several static single color modes or dynamic color-changing modes with speed, dimming, ON/OFF controls.

Do not use this device near water, or moisture for indoor use only. This product should only be operated from the type of power source indicated on the label. When multiple receivers share one remote, it’s possible for the patterns to visually drift apart over time. The single color modes are unaffected and remain synced.

WiFi Compatible Controller & Dimmer
WiFi (Phone & Tablet) control type: RGB LED strips and light bars that will be linked and controlled by one or several wireless remotes or smartphones with the Wi-Fi LED Controller Hub. Synchronization function allows a single remote to operate one or multiple controllers. Before run all controller functions, you need using a Smartphone or tablet download Android or iOS APP offered by the controller supplier, then, you can control when run the APP.

Touchable switch panel

It uses capacitive touch technology, easy to operate, beautiful appearance, suitable for commercial or home application. It is able to control different lighting colors of led strip lights, including every single color, bi-color, and RGB color. It can be set up a DALI system. The function can be set as: Dimming control, RGB color control, color temperature (warm white to cool white) and etc. The model can be varies, such as jump changing, gradual changing, stroboscopic and so on. It can infinitely enlarge the output power by connecting with power amplifier.

In-line control type:

Mini Controller & Dimmer with built-in buttons can control most 5~24VDC RGB LED or single color products. It has several static color modes with brightness control, dynamic color-changing modes and Speed control. Controller can control a maximum of 30 meters of our Flexible RGB LED Strip. Over 30 meters, the strips have to connect with an amplifier to reinforce the transmission of signal. Use one RGB Amplifier for every 30 meters of additional LED Strips.

In conclusion, we hope this post would be helpful for you. To search for the best LED strip lights doesn’t have to be difficult so long as you know what to look for. You can check through brightness, light color, IP rate, suitable led driver/power supply and controller just as this ultimate guide shows you. Xiamen Huaju Industrial Co.,Ltd., which is specializing in developing and exporting led strip lights for many years, are very glad to support you and help you in selecting the right led strip lights, power supply and controllers for you.

If you have any help for product, installation, or technology information, please feel free to contact us. Our email address: ledlight@saving-star.com and savingledlight@gmail.com. Or call us 86 592 559 4418.