Category 03 / Drivers
A 24V LED strip power supply that never carries more than 80 % of its rating.
Two constant-voltage drivers for 24 V strip: a 100 W enclosed unit and a 150 W phase-dim unit. Cabinet shops and electricians across the United States buy them from us, and we size every one on a load sheet before it ships from Austin. The price basis is simple: quoted per unit in USD, by inquiry, as part of your parts list.
Rating times 0.8. That is the number on the load sheet, and the only one we quote against.
LED strip driver sizing: the 80 % rule
A 100 W driver gets 80 W of load. Not 95. Not "it'll be fine".
Most flicker we get asked about is a driver cooking inside a cabinet with no air. The pattern is always the same. Somebody adds up 9.6 m of 10 W/m strip, gets 96 W, buys a 100 W supply and closes it in a plinth void. It works for months. Then the output starts to sag as the case heats, the strip shimmers when the fridge compressor kicks in, and within a year the run goes dark.
Running at 80 % keeps the components inside the driver cooler and leaves headroom for the inrush when the strip first switches on. It also covers the gap between a strip's nameplate W/m and what a real reel draws on the day, which can run a few percent over.
So the arithmetic on every sheet is total strip watts divided by 0.8, then rounded up to the next stocked driver. If the answer is 130 W you get the 150 W unit. If it is 170 W you get two drivers and two feeds, and the sheet shows where the run splits.
| Run | Load | Load / 0.8 | Driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 m ZV-S24C at 10 W/m | 60 W | 75 W | ZV-D100 |
| 8 m ZV-S24C at 10 W/m | 80 W | 100 W | ZV-D100, full working load |
| 5 m ZV-S24D at 14.4 W/m | 72 W | 90 W | ZV-D100 |
| 7.5 m ZV-S24D at 14.4 W/m | 108 W | 135 W | ZV-D150P |
| 12 m ZV-S24C at 10 W/m | 120 W | 150 W | ZV-D150P, full working load |
| 16 m ZV-S24C at 10 W/m | 160 W | 200 W | 2 × ZV-D100, two feeds |
Two 24 V drivers, each with its own job
Both are constant voltage. Neither is sold on its own without a strip load to size it against.
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ZV-D100
100 W 24 V enclosed driver
The workhorse. A sealed metal case with screw terminals under a cover, mains in on one side and 24 V out on the other. It is the driver in our under-cabinet kit and the one we reach for on any single run up to 80 W: 8 m of COB, 5.5 m of the brighter SMD2835. It does not dim from a wall dimmer on its own. Pair it with the 0-10V dimmer module if you want a dimmed line.
Every unit goes on the bench under a dummy load and a meter before it is packed. If the output is outside tolerance at 80 W it does not ship.
ZV-D100 spec Output 24 V DC constant voltage Rating 100 W Working load 80 W maximum Current at 80 W 3.33 A Dimming None built in. Use ZV-M010 downstream. Suits ZV-S24C, ZV-S24D Price basis: quoted per unit, USD
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ZV-D150P
150 W 24 V phase-dim driver
This one dims straight from a compatible wall dimmer on the mains side, so there is no control wiring to run to the strip. It suits a renovation where the switch box is already there and nobody wants to open the wall again. Working load is 120 W, enough for 12 m of COB split over two feeds or a full stair.
Phase dimmers are not all alike. Send us the make and model of the wall dimmer you plan to use and we check it against the driver before the quote goes out. If we cannot confirm it, we say so and suggest the 0-10V route instead.
ZV-D150P spec Output 24 V DC constant voltage Rating 150 W Working load 120 W maximum Current at 120 W 5.0 A Dimming Phase, from a compatible wall dimmer Do not combine with ZV-M010. One dimmer per circuit. Price basis: quoted per unit, USD
Heat and ventilation
Where the driver lives decides how long it lives. We ask on every sheet.
- 01Give it air. Leave at least 50 mm of clear space around the case and do not bury it in insulation. A driver wedged behind towels in a vanity is the one we hear about next winter.
- 02A closed plinth or toe-kick void traps heat. Cut a vent in the kick plate, or put the driver in the next cabinet up where the door gets opened.
- 03Mount it flat against metal or timber, never hanging by its own leads. The case sheds heat through the face it sits on.
- 04Keep it reachable. A driver behind a glued panel is a driver you will be sawing out later.
- 05Long mains run, short low-voltage run. Put the driver close to the strip and bring 120 V to it, rather than dragging 24 V across a room and losing it in the wire. The gauge table on the connectors page shows how fast that loss adds up.
Mains wiring to a driver is work for a licensed electrician in most of the United States. We supply parts and the load sheet. We do not install, and we will not talk anyone through a mains connection over the phone.
How a driver gets onto your sheet
Four steps. You do the first one; we do the rest in writing.
You send run lengths
Metres of each run, which strip, and where the mains comes in. A sketch photo is fine.
In: run list
We add up the watts
Metres times W/m for each run, then the total divided by 0.8.
Out: required rating
We pick and place drivers
Next stocked size up, and a second unit where the run passes 10 m or 120 W.
Out: driver count and position
You get the quote
A parts list with quantities and a USD quote. Nothing ships until you confirm it.
Out: load sheet and quote
Questions buyers ask about drivers
I already have a 24 V power supply. Can I just buy strip?
Yes. Tell us its rating and we size the strip to 80 % of it. If your supply is 60 W, you get 48 W of strip on the sheet, and we will say so plainly even if you hoped for more.
Why not sell a 200 W or 300 W driver and keep it to one box?
Because a single 24 V feed tops out around 10 m before the far end dims, so one big driver ends up running several long feeds anyway. Two smaller drivers closer to the strip give shorter feeds and a spare if one fails.
What about the 48 V long-run strip?
Both stocked drivers are 24 V and will not run ZV-S48L. Send the 48 V run and the sheet names the supply we quote for it. Details of the strip are on the LED strip page.
Who is this page not for?
Anyone after 12 V drivers, RGB controllers or a supply for a single 1 m shelf strip plugged into a wall adapter. We do not stock those, and pointing you elsewhere is quicker than quoting something that will not fit.
Send a parts list
Tell us the watts. We pick the driver.
Send us the run lengths in metres and where the power comes in. That is the whole form. The reply is a load sheet with the driver named and a quote in USD.
- +1 (204) 555-4462
- [email protected]
- 34 River Road, Floor 2, Austin, Texas 37641