LED Strip lights can overheat in many cases. I have seen many people complaining about LED Strip lights overheating.
There can be several reasons for overheating of the LED such as extreme environmental conditions, power surges, and overload on the power supply.
Today, we will discuss LED overheating and why it happens. Have a thorough guide!
Can LED Strip lights overheat?
Yes,LED Strip lights overheat in numerous cases. Not a single factor contributes to this fact. For example, low-quality LEDs can cause excessive heat production, and in turn, overheating.
Similar cases include voltage spikes in the circuit and 100 percent load on the power supply. Avoid all these cases to prevent overheating of yourLED Strip lights.
What exactly does it mean to overheat?
Overheating of LED Strip lights refers to an increase in LED temperature above the normal range. When LED Strip lights glow, they dissipate some heat, which is negligible.
In some cases, when you observe there is high heat dissipation from LED strips, understand, this is the case of LED Strip lights overheating. In some words, the LED strip lights’ heat rises above the threshold level.
What is the operating temperature for the LED strip lights?
Operating temperature is the temperature at which yourLED Strip lights can work finely. This is not an exact value of temperature, instead, includes a specific range of temperature.
Most LED strip lights work within the range of 122 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit temperature. On the Celsius scale, it would be roughly 50-60 degrees.
Normally, the temperature doesn’t exceed an upper limit of 75 degrees Celsius. If it exceeds this temperature, it will have a serious impact on light decay.
If it does in some cases, you can expect the results—fire will result due to overheating.
How can you check the operating temperature of your LED Strip lights?
LED strip lights from different brands have different operating temperatures. By that means, you must know the temperature range for your strips. How will you do that? No problem. Check the manual guide of LED Strip lights, and you will get the range.
When do LED Strip lights overheat?
You might be thinking, “Why do LED strips overheat?” Am I right? Several reasons can contribute to this fact. Here are some of them.
- Inadequate Heat Sinking
LED strips have several mechanisms installed to convert electrical energy into light and heat energy. If there is excessive heat production, this might lead to burning out of strips.
Most strips have a heat sinking mechanism that flows the heat away from strips and enables their optimal performance.
Sometimes, there is inefficient heat sinking. Can you predict the direct consequence of it? LED Strip lights become hot because of no heat exchanging mechanism.
- High LED strip power
LED strip power matters a lot. If you want to calculate the power of your LED Strip lights, you can follow the formula.
Power = Current x Voltage
In actuality, electrical energy is transformed into two types—light energy and heat. If there is a high-power LED strip, there might be more heat production. Then, you know the results. LED might get hot. No worries.
- Multiple LED strips are connected in series
In the circuit, there are two basic patterns of connecting the LED strips. One is a parallel pattern and the second is a series connection. No matter which one you use, make sure your power supply supports the number of strips connected. If there are multiple strips connected in series, your circuit might get overloaded.
What will be the result? Obviously, you will see the overheating of LED strips. Even in some cases, your strips might burn out.
- Spikes in voltage and current
In some areas, where there are chances of lightning strikes. With every lightning strike, there are changes in the voltage and current. Sudden spikes in the voltage can adversely affect your devices. This might cause temporary damage to your LED strips.
If LEDs are not functioning properly, they might get overheated most of the time. So, this can be a probable cause for the LED strips overheating.
- Low quality LED strips
Everyone looks for economical LED strips. Sometimes, you get at those strips that are just a waste of money for the sake of low price. Why purchase that? Let me tell you one bigger defect. They quickly get hot whenever there is a sudden temperature rise.
Who would like to have such LEDs? Even there are life threats if they burn and lead to a fire in the whole circuit. So, low-quality LED strips are another cause of LED overheating.
Is it possible for the LED Strip lights to catch fire?
Yes, in some cases, your LED strips might catch the fire. This happens rarely compared to incandescent bulbs and other lightning devices.
Especially when the operating temperature of LED rises above, they might get the fire. Permanent damage happens in such a case. So, to prevent fire in your circuit, make sure your temperature is between 0-35 degrees Celsius.
There is another scenario as well in which your LED strips might get the fire. If there are voltage surges in your circuit, likely, there is a burning of LED strips.
How can you stop yourLED Strip lights from Overheating?
Do your LED strips get overheated at times? Sometimes, overheating might cause the burning of the circuit. Life threats are going to be a serious concern, right? Why not take some safety measures? Here, I have listed some of the tips to prevent your LED strips from overheating.
- Prevent overload on the power supply
There are many cases in which LED strip lights burn out only due to excessive load on your power supply. For example, your power supply is 100 watts.
If you suppose to connect multiple LED strips of 20 watts, connect not more than four strips. You know, why? Connecting five or more strips is going to put a 100 percent load on your power supply.
There are chances for breaking down of the power supply leading to burning out of LED strips. The circuit might catch fire ensuing permanent damage to your strips. To prevent overload, always put 80 percent load on your power supply in maximum.
- You should consider LED brightness at first sight
Usually, the more the LED brightness will be, the more power they will consume. Relate this concept to the heat production mechanism.
For example, you have just employed a high-power LED strip to increase the brightness of your room.
In fact, many customers need high-power, high-brightness light strips,
More power will produce more heat and brightness. If there is excessive heat production, you might feel your strips are very much hot.
In fact, many customers need high-power, high-brightness light strips, Is there any solution in this case? Yes, there is. Use LED Aluminum profile sinks. These will prevent excessive heat production. Possibly, there will be no overheating.
- Make sure your LED strips are of high quality and power supply
LED strip lights are far better than incandescent bulbs when it comes to heat production. They produce less heat and work for longer periods.
This is not true especially if you are using low-quality LED strips. There are many disadvantages of low-quality LED strips. For example,
- They don’t work for longer periods
- They quickly dissipate heat
- They won’t survive in high-temperature conditions
When you are soldering to connect the LED strips, they might burn out due to high-temperature conditions. Many other cases are possible as well.
That’s why try to use high-quality LED strips that will survive high-temperature conditions and are durable for longer periods.
- Avoid power surges in your circuit
Do you live in areas where there are lightning strikes? Most of your devices might have stopped working due to power surges. Am I right? Probably, yes if you are not using the surge protectors.
Surge protectors are devices that will prevent power surges. There will be less likely any case in which sudden fluctuations will cause overheating or permanent damage to LED strip lights.
- Purchase LED strips according to your environmental temperature
One of the most popular scenarios for LED overheating is high environmental temperature. As I already mentioned, there is a temperature range for LED strips lights. This range can be different for each LED strips if they are of different varieties and from different brands.
If you live in cold areas, there is no problem with temperature conditions unless your temperature falls below zero degrees Celsius. In a warm area, high environmental temperature causes overheating and burning out of the LED strips.
Any solution to this? Yes, determine the operating temperature range and purchase your LED strips accordingly.
Final Words:
LED strip overheating is not as usual as you might expect. This might happen in some cases. Sometimes, there are no issues with the LED just some safety measures will do all the jobs. While in other cases, there is a serious concern such as power overload, voltage spikes, etc.
If you want to purchase LED strip lights, you can visit our LED strip lights. They are quite safe and easy to handle. No fire risks, no worries. That’s all.
