How to Select Appropriate LED Power Supply for Your 12V LED Strips

Step 1: Calculate the power consumption of the strip you want

We can calculate each strip’s power by knowing the LED Type and its rated power for each LED. The formula to calculate is Power Consumption = Wattage of each LED*LED QTY of strip Length.

For example, for 100cm long SMD3528, 150LED/roll model, it’s 30LED per 100cm, so its power consumption is 30*0.08= 2.4Watt.

A: Single Chip SMD3528 0.08watt / LED

The strip made with this 3528 LED, the models we sell online have:

SMD3528, 150LED/roll, Single Row LED Strip

SMD3528, 300LED/roll, Single Row LED Strip

SMD3528, 600LED/roll, Single Row LED Strip

SMD3528, 1200LED/roll, Double row LED Strip

B: Side viewing SMD335 0.08watt / LED

The strip made with this 335 LED, the models we sell online have:

SMD335, 300LED/roll, Single Row LED Strip

SMD335, 600LED/roll, Single Row LED Strip

C: Tri-Chip SMD5050 0.24watt / LED

The strip made with this 5050 LED, the models we sell online have:

SMD5050, 150LED/roll, Single Row LED Strip

SMD5050, 300LED/roll, Single Row LED Strip

SMD5050, 600LED/roll, Double Row LED Strip

D: Other High Lumen Output LED

SAMSUNG5630 0.4watt / LED

SMD4014 0.2Watt/LED

SMD4014 0.2Watt/LED

The strip made with above LED, the models we sell online have:

SMD5630, 300LED per roll, Super Bright LED Flex Strip

SMD2835, 300LED per roll (brightness equal to SMD5050, 300LED/roll)

SMD4014, 300LED per roll (brightness equal to SMD5050, 300LED/roll)

Step 2: Select the Right AMP or Appropriate Quantity of transformer

The rule to choose transformer for strips is to give enough power . We can power several rolls of strip by one big enough transformer or by several pieces of transformer that can supply enough power.

Less power will do no harm to the strip, but jut without enough power, the strip cannot give out 100% of its brightness.

And when choose the transformer that we should to have in mind Transformer must be de-rated 20% to prevent overheating.

For example,

A: If you ordered 1 reel SMD3528 with 300 LED (24 watt), you can use the 36Watt transformer.

B: If you ordered 2 reel SMD5050 with 300LED (72Watt/roll, 2rolls total 0.24*600 = 144 watt), to power by one transformer to run, you can choose the 15AMP (180 watt); to power each row by one transformer, you can use 2pcs the 96Watt transformer, each roll by one 96watt.

Below please find the connection diagram for reference.