19 Dec LED Drivers – Choosing Quality LED Lighting, Part 2

As we continue our guide on how to choose a quality LED fixture, we will look at another crucial component of a LED light, the LED driver.

The LED driver provides a LED fixture with the correct power supply needed to ensure optimal performance. Many premature LED failures are the result of a failed driver, so choosing a LED fixture with a high-quality driver goes a long way to ensure reliable operation.

A good indication that a LED fixture contains a quality LED driver is a DLC Standard or DLC Premium designation from the Design Lights Consortium, one of the major organizations that help set the standards for high quality in LED lighting. As part of the DLC certification process, the LED driver in a product undergoes rigorous testing to ensure it meets strict performance requirements. Almost all GKOLED products are DLC Standard or DLC Premium listed, which means that our LED drivers meet or exceed the high standards for quality designated by the Design Lights Consortium.

Another good way to determine the quality of a LED driver is to check its Power Factor (PF). Rated on a scale from 0 to 1, the Power Factor of a driver indicates its efficiency, with a PF of 1 providing perfect efficiency and lower numbers indicating a large amount of wasted electricity. For LED fixtures, a PF of 0.9 (or 90%) is considered excellent. If the LED driver has a low Power Factor, it can indicate that the manufacturer has tried to cut costs on a fixture by using a low quality driver.

Power Factor is an important consideration for a successful commercial LED lighting project. Most utility companies charge by the wattage used by the LED light and not by the actual amount of electricity delivered, however, the extra electricity wasted by inefficient LED drivers with a low Power Factor still has to be generated and provided by the power plant. Because of this, some utility companies will apply a penalty charge for low Power Factor energy use, which will eat into the savings the commercial customer hopes to obtain by switching to LED lighting in the first place.

Additionally, because the Power Factor of a LED driver affects the amount of current drawn by the driver, it determines the number of fixtures that can be accommodated by an electrical setup. The lower the Power Factor, the fewer the amount of fixtures that can be installed. This makes low Power Factor LED drivers problematic for bigger commercial LED lighting projects requiring a large number of LED lights.

All GKOLED LED fixtures feature a driver with a Power Factor of 90% or greater. We use high end proprietary LED drivers or source from respectable manufacturers such as Inventronics to ensure maximum efficiency and reliability in our LED products.

Would you like to test our LED fixtures before placing your order? We offer a risk-free 30-day trial on any of our LED products, and yes, shipping is on us. For more details, contact our Chicago-based sales team at 630-793-9449 or at info@gkoled.com.