Here is part 5 of our new LEDucation series, it's called "How to Choose A Power Source For 12V LED Lighting". This slideshow offers some tips on choosing a power source for your LED lighting. This video gives you things to think about when choosing between a plug-in 12V adapter and a hardwire 12V driver; how to choose the best wiring for a large installation; and about how permanent you want your LED light setup to be.
To see our line of energy-efficient under cabinet LED light bars & under cabinet LED lighting solutions for residential or commercial use, visit our web site at http://www.elementalled.com
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Elemental LED presents
leducation
5 How to Choose a Power Source
Most of our LED light fixtures are 12 Volt DC, while some are 24V.
So what is 12V? And what does DC mean?
DC stands for Direct Current, while AC stands for Alternating Current.
AC current is 100 - 120V in most of the Americas, and 220 -- 240V in the rest of the world.
Though electricity is not generated at a high voltage, the voltage is increased to deliver it over long distances to customers.
Which is why power comes out of electrical outlets in high voltage AC form.
Like most electronics and small appliances, our LED lights are low voltage, that is 12 -- 24V DC.
So you need a 12V power source for your LED installation, the question is: how do you choose one?
Though we sell 18 different power supplies, we sell only 3 kinds: adapters, drivers, and batteries.
ADAPTERS DRIVERS
Adapters, of course, plug into the wall, while drivers are hard-wired to the AC wires in your home or business.
To you 12V DC light fixture To the 120V AC house power
So the adapter vs. driver dilemma sometimes boils down to: work to install vs. power needed.
To decide which you should use, ask yourself the following questions:
How many Watts of power do my lights need?
How big is my lighting installation?
What's the distance between the lights and the power source?
Where are the electrical outlets?
How permanent is my installation?
so many questions!
So, first, how many Watts of power do my lights need?
When we say Watts, we mean a Watt as a unit of power, not of brightness.
Bubble: (Brightness is measured in Lumens, you know)
Our waterproof flexible LED strip light
draws 1.4 Watts of power per foot.
So if you're installing 3 feet o it you'll need...
...that's right, 4.2 Watts.
We've made a wattage chart showing how many feet or fixtures each of our drivers and adapters can power.
You'll see on the chart that the most powerful adapter we sell is 60 Watts.
How big is my lighting installation?
Are we talkin'
or
or
In the living room, you'd probably use a driver, since you have a lot of lights to power...
...otherwise you might need to use more than one adapter.
And an adapter cable coming from the ceiling would be awkward!
In the bedroom scenario, you don't need much power, and probably won't want to put a hold in the wall to install a driver.
The kitchen could go either way.
This one has 2 RGB light bars and 3 puck lights, about 20 Watts total.
The advantage of a kitchen is that there are many places to hide both adapters and drivers.
So to decide what we'd use in a kitchen, let's ask:
Where are the electrical outlets?
The countertop outlets are used for appliances, and a visible adapter would not only take up an outlet, but would look bad.
But there's a handy outlet above the upper cabinets, and you could run an adapter cable down thorugh them to your under cabinet lights.
What's the distance between the lights and the power source?
Will your power source need to be farther away from your light than 5 feet? Our adapter cables are 5 feet long.
Will your 12V power source need to be in a different room or even building?
AC power 30ft DC fixture
The longer the distance between 12V power and the fixture, the more power you lose. This is called voltage drop.
Voltage drop varies, but it's a factor mostly when the distance is over 50 feet.
But voltage drop is a factor when the length of a strip light is over 20 ft., since past 20 ft. the light starts to dim.
That's why we recommend that strip light sections be a maximum of 20ft. long.
So in a large strip installation, each 20 foot section just needs its own connection to the power source.
20ft 20 ft whether you use a 12V driver...
...or a 12V adapter
Our final question sums up the pros and cons of adapters vs. drivers.
How permanent is my installation?
Drivers are: permanent hidden higher wattage hard-wired
Adapters are: plug-and-play easier to install mobile
Answering these questions will help you choose a power source for your LED installation.
Thanks for watching!
Music by Norbottens Jarn
www.elementalled.com
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LED Cabinet Light Tips: How To Make An Under Cabinet LED Light Installationby elementalLED62,269 views
Very easy to understand video. Explained all I wanted to know ..... very helpful indeed .Thank you!!!
Tattieboggel 2 months ago
@Tattieboggel You are very welcome!
elementalLED 1 month ago