Description

• LED lighting is becoming more widely used but until recently LED light sources have given low lighting levels and predominantly been used for local effect lighting. As the levels of lighting have been low the necessity to dim LEDs has been a low priority. LED Lamps capable of replacing 20-35w Tungsten halogen lamps are now being developed and the requirement for control and dimming has become more important . These LED lamps are considerably more efficient than tungsten and have long lamp life making this light source increasingly popular despite the expense. All LED lamps need an associated driver unit to limit the current driving the LED. Some newer lamps integrate the driver into the base of the lamp but many use a separate driver unit. Often there are drivers not able to be dimmed however some options are now becoming dimmable. There are two types of LED drivers:
  1. Constant current, generally used for high wattage LEDs where the LEDs are wired in series.
  2. Constant voltage where low wattage LEDS a rewired in parallel.