You probably know what an LED is but what about an LED driver? LED drivers are essentially electrical components that manage electricity. They work much like transformers do with much lower voltage levels. The electricity coming from your household's mains power comes in at 240V but your LED lights work at either 12V or 24V.

This is where an LED light driver comes into play as it converts it from 240V to 12V or 24V so that your lights stay unharmed by the overwhelming amount of power.  An LED driver also helps make your LED lights work more efficiently as it regulates the amount of power provided especially when it comes to dimmable lights. 

The driver's wattage rating is one of many important specs. It determines how many lights you can have connected to one driver. That's because the total number of watts of the lights needs to be supported by the wattage of the LED power light driver.

Another spec you need to match with an LED driver is the milliamp rating of the lights. While LED drivers for sale do come with different milliamp ratings most are rated for 350mA and 700mA.

The output voltage of the LED driver and the input voltage of the light need to be compatible in order to be able to work together. If the voltage rating of the driver is higher or lower than that of the light, you'll experience issues.

To keep your LED lights working for as long as possible you should buy an LED driver that has an NTC thermistor. This is a negative temperature coefficient thermistor that detects when the temperature of the PCB in the light is too hot and it sends a signal to the driver to adjust the output and prevent the light from overheating.

Output lumen compensation helps provide a consistent light output during the lifespan of the LED light. This happens with the help of the driver which first makes the lights operate at a reduced current which the driver increases the more you use the lights.

An LED light driver should also last a long time and do so no matter the abuse it's subjected to. Therefore you should consider its IP rating which determines how well protected it is from dust and water ingress.

If you want to be able to use dimmable lights you should buy an LED driver that supports the timing dimming function. This way you can have lights dim during certain periods of the day or dim them yourself.

The simplicity of AC LED drivers for sale makes them more usable in applications where an organised electrical installation is key. That's because AC drivers power the lights directly from the power source and thus don't need an external converter. However, this also makes them less efficient than DC drivers.

A DC driver is more versatile than an AC driver since it uses power more effectively and can send it at a certain level and for a certain amount of time. Although more complex, DC drivers are more common than AC drivers.

With a constant current driver, you get to power lights at the same current level no matter what. This may sound like a bad idea but it isn't since it helps make a light more efficient and also longer lasting.

A constant voltage LED driver is similar to a constant current driver. As you'd expect a constant voltage driver keeps the voltage of the power running through at the same level. This only makes them better than constant current drivers when you have multiple LED lights connected in parallel. Unlike constant current drivers, constant voltage drivers let you remove or add lights without issue. The same can't be said for their setup process which is a bit more difficult.

As the name suggests, dimmable LED drivers for sale allow you to control the brightness of your lights. Dimmable LED drivers are available as both 12V and 24V units. LED drivers essentially let you control the output and current of the light.

1. Once you have the correct driver, start by locating the correct positive and neutral wires of your power source and then turn off mains power so that you're safe.

2. To install the driver, you first connect the positive terminal of the driver's output to the positive terminal of the light's input. Do the same with the negative terminal of the driver's output and the negative terminal of the light's input.

3. Then connect the driver's positive terminal from its input to the positive wire of the power source and then the negative terminal of the driver's input to the neutral wire of the power source.

4. Once everything is connected properly, install the driver in the most convenient spot. Double-check the wiring before mounting the driver and you can use the light.