Does Led Lights Have A Ballast

Magnetic ballasts heavier than bad news on a rainy day.

Does led lights have a ballast.

Led light bulbs are great because they have a life of 50 000 hours. Leds don t need a ballast because of a number of reasons. There are two types of ballasts we deal with for existing fluorescent lights magnetic and electronic. Essentially led bulbs do not require ballasts in them to work.

A ballast for light emitting diode led lights is not required instead a driver is required. Incandescent and halogen lamps do not require a ballast. 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. Safety risk the most significant negative to a ballast bypass linear led is the risk of electric shock since the sockets carry line voltage.

Benefits of the ballast bypass. Leds require less power than a traditional halogen light but requires it be delivered in a unique way. This is called ballast factor. Furthermore single power supply lamps are the safest option.

An extra couple of watts is consumed when you pair an led lamp with a ballast. First large amounts of current aren t needed in led bulbs. You will find ballast compatible or plug and play leds that are designed to replace linear fluorescents compact fluorescents or hids. Since you re bypassing the ballast the wattage on the lamp is the wattage consumed.

Most led headlight kits come with some type of conversion device like a ballast or driver. This is why when retrofitting to led corn light bulbs you need to direct wire the socket. This wastes time and money in the long term. Unlike fluorescent lights it is not a ballast that controls the led s current and voltage regulation.

The difference is the mechanism they use to transform the incoming voltage. Also the leds typically use direct current dc and thus need an ac to dc converter. For those of you using retrofit led tubes you ll want to note that with fixtures that have instant start ballasts you ll need to replace the g13 socket also known as tombstone or lampholder nearest where the power comes into the fixture to a non shunted g13 socket. A ballast is an intermediate device you connect to both your led headlights and vehicle for a seamless power delivery.

Those are regulated with a component called a driver inside an led that serves a similar function to a ballast. No led bulbs require a ballast although some are engineered to work with an existing ballast. If you see bulbs out after months or even a few years it s likely to be a ballast issue not a bulb issue.