Does Led Lights Require Ballast
A ballast for light emitting diode led lights is not required instead a driver is required.
Does led lights require ballast. First large amounts of current aren t needed in led bulbs. Leds don t need a ballast because of a number of reasons. Magnetic ballasts heavier than bad news on a rainy day. 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.
Led drivers can be engineered to be much smaller. A ballast bypass is a common procedure to remove the ballast from the existing fixture. This is why when retrofitting to led corn light bulbs you need to direct wire the socket. 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.
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. Reinaldo philips instantfit led tubes are ballast dependent which means you must use the ballast. Lastly the size of leds is much smaller than bulbs and tube lights which leaves no extra space for a ballast to fit in. There are two types of ballasts we deal with for existing fluorescent lights magnetic and electronic.
I hope this helps. Essentially led bulbs do not require ballasts in them to work. With a ballast bypass you are only paying for the energy the led lights use which is up to 70 less than traditional bulbs. A ballast is an intermediate device you connect to both your led headlights and vehicle for a seamless power delivery.
Led s require less energy and can be sensitive to excess energy. Leds require less power than a traditional halogen light but requires it be delivered in a unique way. When using direct fit leds the ballast is still using energy and eating into your possible energy savings. Unlike fluorescent tubes leds don t require a ballast to regulate current.
You will find ballast compatible or plug and play leds that are designed to replace linear fluorescents compact fluorescents or hids. Unlike fluorescent lights it is not a ballast that controls the led s current and voltage regulation. Most led headlight kits come with some type of conversion device like a ballast or driver. Those are regulated with a component called a driver inside an led that serves a similar function to a ballast.
Incandescent and halogen lamps do not require a ballast. The difference is the mechanism they use to transform the incoming voltage. No led bulbs require a ballast although some are engineered to work with an existing ballast.