Our Guide to LED Drivers

 

A question that our team is often asked is whether or not a light fitting requires a LED Driver. This guide aims to help answer this question. But before we get into drivers, let's start with understanding a few key electrical terms

Understanding Voltage

Voltage is the amount of pressure (from the power source) that pushes the charged electrical current through a circuit, it is measured in Volts.

In Australia most buildings run on a 240 Volts mains current, and as such most appliances are designed to run at 240v as a standard. Modern LED light bulbs are also mostly designed to work at 240v and for the majority of light fittings your electrician simply needs to wire them up to a circuit, pop in a bulb and everything should work perfectly.

An analogy often used is water in a hose pipe, the Electrical Current is the same as the flow of water through the hose, while Voltage would be the same as the pressure with which the water travels through the hose.

Understanding Wattage

Wattage is the quantity of electrical power required to power an electrical appliance and is measured in Watts. The higher the wattage of an appliance, the greater the amount of electrical energy it uses over a period of time.

In terms of lighting, this generally relates to the Wattage of the LED's and/or globes that provides illumination for a fitting. For light fittings that require a separate globe, we recommend selecting an appropriate LED globe which are much more energy efficient and longer lasting than traditional alternatives.

 

When you need a Driver

Some lights are specifically designed or are required to run on a lower voltage (generally 12v or 24v), this often includes some exterior lights, downlights, bathroom lights and garden lighting. This is where an LED Driver comes in. The LED driver is the middle-man that takes in the 240v mains current and safely reduces it down to the low voltage required.

LED Drivers either come integrated (where the driver is built into the light fitting) or as a separate component. This will be outlined in our product specifications.

Selecting the Right Driver

There are a few considerations to take into mind when selecting the right driver:-

How many lights will be on the same switch/run?

The most important question when calculating what driver you require is how many lights will be on the same switch/run. Your calculation needs to take into account that:-

  • LED Drivers should only be run between a minimum load of 20% and a max load of 80% of their wattage capacity.
  • There can be up to a 30% draw to start up a circuit, especially for garden lighting (due to the often longer runs) so extra wattage capacity is often good in these circumstances.
  • As a general rule of thumb you should only run a maximum of 25m of low voltage cable from each driver.

At Lighting Collective we generally recommend calculating the total wattage of all the lights on the switch/run, doubling that figure and then selecting the next driver up from what is available.

For example, if you need x6 1.5W step lights it would be advisable to go for a 20-watt driver (1.5 x 6 watts = 9 watts, double this is18 watts, 20-watt will most likely be the next driver increment up).

Overall it is always better to go with a higher driver capacity, you can then always add on more lights as/if you need to!  


What type of driver is best suited?

This will be stated on our product specification. For example, if the specifications say "12v Fittings Must Be Used With Suitable 12v DC LED Driver", you then know that you need to have a 12V DC driver with sufficient wattage to safely run the number of fittings you plan to put on one switch.


Is dimming required?

A compatible LED driver is always required to run low voltage fittings on a dimming system, so its important to ensure that the fittings, light sources and drivers are all compatible with the dimming system you are looking to use.

Commonly used dimming systems include;-

  • Triac = Basic traditional dimming that works with a rotator switch on the wall.
  • 0-10v Dimming = Computer controllable dimming.
  • Dali = Controllable via a digital interface.

Again please check out product specifications for dimming compatibly.


Are the fittings for external usage?

LED Drivers are available with different levels of IP rating, with a higher IP rating needed for any external usage (e.g. IP66 drivers would be recommended for garden usage).

 


The Summary

We recommend checking our product specifications to ensure you have taken into account all the factors that go into selecting the right driver, this includes understanding the voltage of the fitting, the wattage of the light source(s) and if any dimming and/or IP rating compatibility is required.

We always recommend consulting your electrician before making a purchase to ensure the products and drivers are suitable for your specific use scenario. You are also welcome to contact our friendly team to discuss your needs.

We suggest reading Our Guide to Exterior Lighting for more information about finding the right IP-rated product for your situation.

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