Does Led Lights Require Ballast

Magnetic ballasts heavier than bad news on a rainy day.

Does led lights require ballast.

You will find ballast compatible or plug and play leds that are designed to replace linear fluorescents compact fluorescents or hids. Unlike fluorescent tubes leds don t require a ballast to regulate current. No led bulbs require a ballast although some are engineered to work with an existing ballast. Essentially led bulbs do not require ballasts in them to work.

Those are regulated with a component called a driver inside an led that serves a similar function to a ballast. When using direct fit leds the ballast is still using energy and eating into your possible energy savings. Leds don t need a ballast because of a number of reasons. Led s require less energy and can be sensitive to excess energy.

Led drivers can be engineered to be much smaller. Title 24 requirements in california there are new title 24 requirements that need to be met when you retrofit existing fixtures by replacing the ballast. 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.

Lastly the size of leds is much smaller than bulbs and tube lights which leaves no extra space for a ballast to fit in. This is why when retrofitting to led corn light bulbs you need to direct wire the socket. Unlike fluorescent lights it is not a ballast that controls the led s current and voltage regulation. Reinaldo philips instantfit led tubes are ballast dependent which means you must use the ballast.

With a ballast bypass you are only paying for the energy the led lights use which is up to 70 less than traditional bulbs. The need to replace the original fluorescent ballast with a new led driver requires more labor than plug and play solutions which work with the existing fluorescent ballast. Incandescent and halogen lamps do not require a ballast. I hope this helps.

A ballast is an intermediate device you connect to both your led headlights and vehicle for a seamless power delivery. Leds require less power than a traditional halogen light but requires it be delivered in a unique way. This is required for most retrofit installations of our dual ended and single ended tubes as fluorescent replacements except for our plug and play tubes. They are meant to be a plug and play option meaning you take the fluorescent out and put in the led bulb without any re wiring involved.

Led technology does not require a ballast to regulate the amount of energy flowing to the lights. There are two types of ballasts we deal with for existing fluorescent lights magnetic and electronic. Most led headlight kits come with some type of conversion device like a ballast or driver.