If you are wondering what an LED driver is and why you need one, you’ve come to the right place. Today we’ll be talking about the function of an LED driver.
What is an LED driver?
The LED driver provides LED light bulbs with electricity required for the best performance. LEDs function with three essential components: the chipset, the driver, and the heat sink.
The chipset emits the light, the driver regulates power and the heat sink makes sure it doesn’t overheat.
LED drivers are a very efficient way of converting electricity, as they can replace much higher voltage bulbs with a lot lower voltage.
Functions of an LED driver
The main reason customers buy LED drivers is because of their high efficiency which increases the energy savings. Higher efficiency power results in less heat, therefore an improved product lifetime is guaranteed. Let’s continue with the main functions of LED drivers.
- Dimming
In a lighting system, dimming is an essential feature. There are two main dimming methods: AC line dimming and DC Side dimming.
The AC line dimming method is also known as phase dimming and it requires the lighting system to work with legacy type phase dimmers, and the DC Side dimming method uses a low DC voltage or a digital signal. Not every LED driver is equal, so make sure to read specs before buying one. Our recommendation is GRE Alpha, which incorporates the newest innovative technology and supports both AC line dimming and DC Side dimming.
- Flexibility
Buying a high-quality LED driver will ensure that you have multiple options like adjustable output current and voltages, which will help you minimise SKUs and meet performance criteria at the same time, for a wide variety of lighting applications.
- Upgradability
Another great thing with high-quality LED drivers is their upgradability, meaning that additional wiring hardware and dimming technologies can be added to create different lighting systems.
Do you need an LED driver?
LEDs are designed to function on low voltage DC electricity, and most power suppliers offer higher voltage alternating current electricity. An LED driver’s main function is that it’s made to rectify higher voltage, alternating current to low voltage DC.
An LED driver also protects LEDs from current or voltage fluctuations, which can cause a change in the current that’s being supplied to the LEDs and they are made to operate within a certain current range.
Supplying too much or too little current can cause variation in light output and that may cause LEDs to degrade faster due to higher temperatures.
Therefore, LED drivers serve the purpose of converting high voltage and keeping the voltage at its current level.
Every LED light source needs a driver, and the only question is if you need to buy one separately. When an LED that requires a separate driver stops functioning, it can usually be saved if you replace the driver. If you would like to know more about LED drivers, click here for more in-detail information.
