Do Led Lights Have A Ballast

Energy savings associated with leds or light emitting diodes.

Do led lights have a ballast.

In the future they also will need replacing at some point. The difference is the mechanism they use to transform the incoming voltage. However many are not aware that these innovative light sources require specialized devices called led drivers to operate. If you installed direct fit led lights and kept the ballast intact what you are seeing is in fact a bad ballast not a bad bulb.

Led technology does not require a ballast to regulate the amount of energy flowing to the lights. Led lamps on the other hand operate differently from fluorescent lamps and do not utilize a ballast but do utilize electronic components that make up the led driver. Led light bulbs are great because they have a life of 50 000 hours. If you see bulbs out after months or even a few years it s likely to be a ballast issue not a bulb issue.

A ballast compatible led light has several disadvantages such as maintenance schedules that tend to be extremely inefficient. There are two types of ballasts we deal with for existing fluorescent lights magnetic and electronic. Ballasts have a average lifespan of two years so often especially with led lights it is the ballast that needs replacing more often than the actual lamp. Source t5 t8 and t12 fluorescent lamps operate slightly differently and therefore have different fluorescent ballast types.

Benefits of the ballast bypass. First large amounts of current aren t needed in led bulbs. Also the leds typically use direct current dc and thus need an ac to dc converter. Led s require less energy and can be sensitive to excess energy.

This wastes time and money in the long term. A ballast for light emitting diode led lights is not required instead a driver is required. Furthermore single power supply lamps are the safest option. No led bulbs require a ballast although some are engineered to work with an existing ballast.

You will find ballast compatible or plug and play leds that are designed to replace linear fluorescents compact fluorescents or hids. Incandescent and halogen lamps do not require a ballast. This is why when retrofitting to led corn light bulbs you need to direct wire the socket. A ballast bypass is a common procedure to remove the ballast from the existing fixture.

Magnetic ballasts heavier than bad news on a rainy day.