To install LED strips, you always need a transformer and an aluminium profile in addition to the LED strip.
The transformer is chosen according to the length of the LED strip to be installed and the power per meter. As every installation site is different, it is good to have a wide range of transformers. We have therefore renewed our transformers on the principle of continuous improvement. Most of our transformers will continue to be quality Mean Well products, with very high efficiency, extensive standardisation and very low stand-by power consumption. Guarantees are up to seven years.
Good transformer efficiencies bring savings on electricity bills
The target efficiency of the transformers is over 90%, with less than 10% of the current produced by the transformer being used for anything other than powering the LED strip. In other transformers commonly available on the market, the efficiency can be e.g. 85 %. When comparing 85% and 93% efficient transformers, the difference in "wasted watts" is quite significant.
Take for example a 1 000 W LED strip, which is about 12 rolls of 17 watt LedStore LED strip. This amount might be used, for example, to light a detached house if it is installed in more than one room. At this 1,000 watt consumption, 85% efficient transformers emit 150 watts per hour, while 93% efficient transformers waste only 70 watts, and are also more durable.
If the lighting is on for eight hours a day, every day of the year, the difference in electricity consumption between the two transformers of different efficiency is 233 kWh, which is about 3.7% of the estimated annual energy consumption of a family of four in a non-electrically heated detached house (estimated annual consumption of about 6208 kWh, 291 €). The longevity of the transformer also means that the replacement interval is many times longer, resulting in money savings.
Transformer standby consumption
When the lights are not on, the driver is in stand-by mode so that it can quickly supply power to the LED strip when the light switch is turned on. In recent years, transformers have paid attention to this, and our new transformers only consume around 0.05 - 0.5 watts per hour in standby mode, depending on the size of the transformer. Typically, a low-quality transformer can consume up to 2-3 watts per hour in standby mode, which is up to 30 times the power consumption of our new transformers. With plug-in transformers, it is possible to remove the plug from the wall, which of course means that the power consumption stops completely.
New Mean Well transformers
New drivers are available for 24V LED strips. We will also be adding our 24V LED strip models as part of our transformer renewal. You can find out more about it in the online shop, for example. Mean Well 90 watt dry room transformer. The other new dry room transformers at 24V are 40 watts, 60 watts and 120 watts.
The transformers in the dry room are plug-in. The price range for the products is between around €50 and €399. The transformers are dimmed with wireless dimmers, i.e. LedStore's VaLO series products.
The new Mean Well 90W 24V dry contact driver has a plug so that the power consumption can be completely zero if desired.Mean Well transformers have extensive certificationsTwo transformers of different quality, stand-by power consumption differences of 0 W and 1.4 W measured with a power consumption meter.
You can read more about wireless dimming here.
Read more about sizing and choosing a Led transformerin this article.
