When we buy LED strips, need to find the right power supply for your LED strip, to choose a constant current LED driver or a constant voltage power supply (or a combination of both) depending on your strip, which makes your LED strips work. There are many different factors to consider when choosing a power supply for LED strip. This article will cover these factors, and help you choose the right power supply for your LED strip!
Table of Contents
1 Determine the LED strip voltage
2 Make Sure the Wattage of the LED strip
3 How about the Size of Power Supply?
4 Efficiency of the Power Supply
5 Dimmable Power Supply or not?
6 Check the Temperature and Waterproof
7 Find the Power Supply Best for You
Determine the LED Strip Voltage
When you connect the power supply, it’s important to first verify that the output voltage is compatible with the LED strip voltage. LED products are often a good indicator of the input voltage that should be used, with built-in current regulators. For example, 12V LED flexible strip will use 12V power supply, 24V LED flexible strip will use 24V power supply,
Also, pls pay more attention to line voltage varies depending on which country in the world you are in, you should make sure if you are using low voltage AC power (90-120VAC), or high voltage AC power (200-240VAC).
Make Sure the Wattage of the LED Strip
First at all, you need find out how many watts your led strip will consume, you should make sure to have a large enough power supply, by giving yourself a 20% cushion over the total wattage you calculate from your LEDs. For example, we have 4meter of LED strips that run at about 12 watts, our system wattage should be right around 48 Watts. Now we can add the 20% recommended cushion on with 48 x 1.2 = 57.6 Watts. A 60-Watt (or higher) power supply will suffice for this project.
How about the Size of Power Supply?
When you select a power supply for your LED project, it is important to know where it needs to fit or be installed. If you wish to put it inside the product you are making, so it has to be small enough to fit in the space provided. If it is outside the application, it should have a way to mount close by. There are a variety of power supplies offered in different sizes and shapes to fit your needs.
Efficiency of the Power Supply
The efficiency of a power supply tells the amount of power, that actually goes toward making the LED light up. The higher the efficiency percentage of the power supply-the more power you end up saving. For LED applications, it is a good idea to select a power source with 80% efficiency or higher. Check out Mean Well and Phihong power supplies for the most efficient selection. As they have efficiency ratings running well into the 90 percentiles.
Dimmable Power Supply or Not?
If your LEDs are dimmable and you would like to adjust their brightness, make sure you choose a power supply that has dimming capabilities. Power supply specifications should list, whether a power source is dimmable or not and what dimmer control type it uses.
Check the Temperature and Waterproof
An important factor that cannot be overlooked, when choosing your power supply is the area and environment that it will be used in. Power supplies operate the most efficiently if they are used within their temperature parameters. Power supply specs should include a safe operating temperature range. It is best to operate within this and make sure not to stick your power supply somewhere, where heat can build up and go above this maximum operating temperature
Each LED power supply will also have an ingress-protection (IP) rating. IP ratings consist of a two-digit code that indicates the size of solids, and pressure of liquids that a power supply can resist. The first number refers to the size of solids that the unit can withstand, whereas the second number refers to the amount of liquid the unit can withstand. As each number increases, so does the level of protection.
Find the Power Supply Best for You
Hope this article helps you find the right power supply for your LED lights, there are actually many options to choose from, so please take your time to choose the one that best suits your situation and has the safety requirements of the surrounding area so you can put it Settings can be used for a long time. If you’re looking for a starting point, I highly recommend Mean Well Power Supplies, they are a reputable brand with a large selection of LED drivers and supplies with excellent warranties.
