In recent years, LED performance has caused an abundance of hype in the lighting technology market. What’s all the fuss about LED bulbs? Turns out there’s quite a bit to rave about…

The history of LED light bulbs Light emitting diodes, or LEDs, are among the most rapidly advancing lighting technologies available today. Highly efficient, long lasting, and environmentally friendly, LED bulbs, like other forms of lighting technology, have progressed thanks to the work of multiple inventors….

LEDs – the future of lighting technology. Compared to the older lighting technology of incandescents and fluorescents, LEDs offer an array of advantages. Highly efficient, today’s LED bulbs are 100 percent efficient at turning energy into light, up to 50 percent more efficient than compact fluorescents (CFLs), and up to 85 percent more efficient than traditional incandescents. They also last 2-5 times longer than CFLs and 25 times longer than incandescents, reducing the need for frequent bulb replacement and excess landfill waste. Highly versatile, LED bulbs don’t flicker, are not affected by extreme temperatures, are dimmable, produce a high quality of light, and don’t emit UV light or contain hazardous materials such as mercury. What are LED bulbs made of? How do they work? Today’s LED bulbs feature solid-state lighting technology (SSL), emitting light from solid matter (a semiconductor), versus the vacuum in an incandescent or the gas in a CFL. Using a semiconductor made of a positively and negatively charged component, an LED produces light by moving electrons around its structure – a positive layer with holes for electrons and negative layer where free electrons can float. When electricity is used to move the electrons, they emit light as they flow into the positively charged holes. How common are LED bulbs?

Don’t throw away your hard earned money to the lighting costs associated with outdated incandescents. Contact Mr. Electric® for all of your LED bulb replacement needs. Start saving today with the help of Mr. Electric and the latest in lighting technology. 

To all of our fantastic customers who have reviewed our business on Angie’s List, thank you—because of your kind words, Kolb Electric has received the Angie’s List Super Service Award for 2013! This award goes out to the top 5 percent of service companies per industry, and we’re so pleased our customers think highly enough of us to have helped us win.

Since our founding in 1925, Kolb Electric has been dedicated to providing our customers with the most reliable electrical service they can find, services that come in on time and on budget every time. We have six local offices, five bucket trucks, and one of the largest fleets in the Mid-Atlantic Region we are able handle any size project.

Our services cover everything from new wiring to electrical maintenance to troubleshooting and more. No matter what your electrical needs are, we have the right solution, at the right price. Our electricians are fully licensed by state and local jurisdictions, assuring you that your electrical project will be installed to exact industry and code standards.

So, if you’re planning an electrical project, and you’re looking for a quality job without the outrageous prices, contact us today to arrange for a free quote.

Our MD, DC, and VA Electricians Are…

We want to give a special thanks to all of our customers who took the time to review our business on Angie’s List and helped us win the 2013 Super Service Award. We plan to uphold our commitment to excellence long into the future, so if you need electrical service in Washington, DC, Maryland, or Virginia, call the DC electricians at Kolb Electric today!

constant-current LED driver or constant-current driver is used to regulate the amount of current that is supplied to an LED or LED array to maximize LED lifetime. If current is not regulated, LED brightness can fluctuate and life span can be shortened. The constant-current driver is used for LEDs or light fixtures that require a stable output current and operate within a range of voltages. Most finished LED products already have a constant-current driver or resistors to regulate current. If you’re building an LED fixture or replacing a constant-current driver, it’s important to verify that the output current and voltage of the driver is compatible with the LEDs’ current and voltage. If your LED product already has a constant-current driver or uses resistors in the LED array, you might need a constant-voltage power supply.

If your LEDs are dimmable and you want to change their brightness, choose a Magnitude Dimmable Power Supplies. These dimmable power supplies work by varying the power on the AC input side of the power supply by means of a TRIAC dimmer. This change in power on the AC input side will vary the voltage on the DC output side and control the intensity of the LEDs. TRIAC dimmers are common hardware store and household dimmers, which include brand names such as Lutron and Leviton.

Pulse-Width Modulation Dimming: Pulse-width modulation (PWM) dimming can be used to control dimmable power supplies such as Mean Well LPF Series. This type of dimming control adjusts the output current based on the duty cycle. As the duty cycle increases, current will increase and the LEDs will be brighter. Conversely, if the duty cycle decreases, the current will decrease and the LEDs will be dimmer. Pulse-width modulation for these drivers is based on a 10-volt signal level with a frequency between 100Hz-3KHz. The MLD-5A are compatible for this application.

Resistive Dimming: Resistive dimming can be used to control dimmable power supplies such as 12-Volt Mean Well HLG-40-240 Series or 12-Volt Mean Well HLG-600 Series or here.

The efficiency of a power supply or driver indicates the percentage of power that goes toward making your LED product function. An efficiency of 80 percent or higher is recommended for operating LEDs. 

When choosing a driver or power supply, the size of an LED product’s housing or area of installation is important. If you wish to put a constant-current LED driver inside of a product, the driver must be small enough to fit in the product’s housing. Similarly, if the driver or power supply is used outside of the product’s housing, it should fit the area of installation. Drivers and power supplies are available in a variety of sizes to suit your needs.

A Class 2 driver or power supply is in accordance with limited power levels defined by the National Electric Code (NEC) and fulfills the requirements of Standard UL 1310. Output is limited to 60 volts DC and 100 watts. Because power sources with this rating have limited output, it might not be possible to power as many LEDs or lights as those that don’t have a Class 2 rating. However, these power supplies and drivers provide protection from fire and electric shock.

A Class II rating refers to a double insulation layer between AC input and DC output wires. These drivers and power supplies do not require a ground connection.