Power Supplies

LED Driver (constant current)

An LED driver is an electrical device that takes mains voltage in and produces a lower voltage and constant (regulated) current output to power LED light sources.

They are often dimmable, come with a variety of output power and max drive current limitations. Some have one output, and some have several. Some come with fixed currents and some with adjustable currents.

We carefully curate a selection of LED drivers that we trust and believe provide the best possible reliability and dimming performance.

LED PSU (constant voltage)

An LED power supply unit (PSU) is an electrical device that takes mains voltage and produces a lower constant (regulated) voltage suitable for powering LED light sources. Some produce a constant voltage and additional dimmer units are needed to provide control, some have integrated dimming features. They are typically 12V, 24V and 48V DC for Stoane Lighting products.

We carefully curate a selection of LED PSUs (and dimmers) that provide the best possible reliability and (where applicable) dimming performance.

Volt drop

When current passes through a conductor, the electrical resistance of that conductor results in some of the energy being lost as heat. In some products this is the intention, think of electric heaters where metallic elements get so hot due to the current passing through them that they glow red hot. In lighting installations, you might see an old filament in a traditional lamp doing the same. In lighting installations we can see volt drop in cables supplying power to luminaires, these certainly shouldn’t glow red and its rare you will feel any heat from the cable.

The resistance of a conductor is a function of the material used and the cross section of the conductor. The energy lost is a function of the current passing through the conductor and the length of the conductor

We can consider energy (power) with the units Watts (W).

In simplistic terms we can relate power lost in electrical supply cables to volt drop.

It is critical in design of electrical installations of luminaires to consider volt drop. In constant voltage product installations excessive volt drop in a supply cable and connections can result in insufficient voltage being available for the proper functioning of the luminaire connected.

For example, a constant voltage PSU supplying 24V to a linear product. In this case, if excessive volt drop in the system the luminaire may not have the intended output. In constant current systems generally current is lower and potential for problems less likely but power lost can result in overloading of constant current drivers and the luminaires connected to flash or not illuminate.  

We can advise on product input voltage tolerance for constant voltage luminaires and look at constant current driver loading. Get in touch if we can support you with some preliminary calculations.