Can You Operate a 12V LED Strip at Less Than 12V?

You will probably find DC 12V or DC 24V as a standard while looking for LED strip lights. This is the input voltage needed to run the LED strip light, as you might expect.

However, what is meant by "required"? It goes without saying that applying more than 12V DC to a 12V LED strip is not a smart idea since doing so might overdrive the strip, burn out the diodes, or result in excessive heat buildup that could harm the circuit and on-board components. However, what if we provide 9V or even 11V? Is that "allowed"? Does it harm the LED?

The simple answer is no, not at all; it is safe and appropriate to use a voltage level below the specification. In order for you to know what to anticipate if you decide to under-drive your LED strip lights, we also conducted some experiments to provide you some actual data.

You may be asking what circumstances an LED strip may be under-driven under or whether under-driving an LED relates to your specific configuration before we get into our test setup and findings.

At the circuit level, LED strips are made to work with a particular voltage. For instance, we provide 12V and 24V DC power supplies to complement our 12V and 24V DC LED strips, and the voltage will often be precisely the same.

Almost every metric, including lumens per foot and power consumption per foot, is predicated on the supplied voltage being precisely at the stated voltage level, which is 12V DC or 24V DC.

Having said that, under-driving an LED strip by applying a lower voltage than the authorized voltage is entirely acceptable and safe. We chose to run our testing since the majority of LED strip manufacturers do not disclose any information on how and to what degree under-voltage impacts LED strip performance. The results of our tests provide some useful approximations.

You could have a power supply voltage that is below the LED strip voltage standard in three main scenarios. In the first, a lower voltage is purposefully used to provide a lower light output than the rated light output. For instance, you may decide that 450 lumens at 5.5 watts per foot is too high for your purposes and that 2.3 watts per foot is a better power level for the LED strips. An easy and efficient method to accomplish this without having to buy and install a dimmer is to use a 20V power source on a 24V LED strip.

Existing system limitations may give birth to the second scenario. For instance, the power supply voltage may fall below 12V DC when the system drains if you want to mount your LED strips on a battery system. If and when the supply voltage falls below the rated voltage of the LED strip, the information below should help you estimate the amount of power consumption that will occur.

Inadequate wire gauge and the ensuing voltage loss may be the cause of the third scenario. The voltage level may drop before it even starts powering the LED strip if an excessive amount of current flows via a long, thin copper cable.

We connected a 1-foot (30-cm) section of our Ultra High 95 CRI LED strip lights to a tabletop power source. We tested the current draw as a function of input voltage in increments of 0.1V using the benchtop power supply's variable input voltage capabilities.

For both the 12V and 24V models, we conducted this test again.

After measuring the current draw at each rated voltage, we lowered the voltage by 0.1V steps and recorded the current draw. The findings are represented on a chart below.

The LED strips do not illuminate until a minimal threshold voltage is reached, as we initially see. For 12V LED strips, this is around 7.5V, and for 24V LED strips, it is 15.5V. This is a little counterintuitive since it suggests that a 12V LED strip with a 6V power source input cannot only be expected to provide half as much electricity. Find out more about the operation of circuits and diode voltages, as well as the reasons behind this.

Power demand rises by around 1.0 watts per foot for every 0.75 volt and 1.5 volt increase for 12V and 24V LED strips, respectively, after this minimal threshold voltage.
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If you're in a rush and the only power supply you have on hand is 19.5V DC, you might find these results helpful. Our findings indicate that a 19.5V DC input will give a 24V DC LED strip a power level of around 2.0 watts per foot, which is a simple and quick method to purposefully cut light output by roughly 60%.

As previously mentioned, underdriving LED strips with a voltage lower than their rated voltage is totally safe and has no negative consequences on the circuitry or the LEDs.

If anything, the potential lifespan and durability of the LED strips will be increased by operating them below their rated current.

Technically speaking, there aren't many drawbacks. From the standpoint of practicality? The fact that you are somewhat overpaying for power capacity is the sole drawback.