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Home /  Support Center /  Knowledge Base /  LED power supplies /  Power Supply and Voltage Drop

Power Supply and Voltage Drop


I received and installed the CENTRIC HOME LED Strip Lights, FilmGrade™ 24V Power Supply, and Aluminum Channel. I have a couple of questions:

For turning the light on and off is it ok just to switch the 24 VDC output or would it be better to switch the 110 VAC input? 

The on/off switching on the 24-volt DC side or the AC line voltage side is both acceptable.

​We do agree that the only difference would be the concern for "stand-by" power consumption if switching on the DC side. Unfortunately, we do not have the stand-by power specification, but we believe it to be very negligible if not completely 0.

​On the other hand, we have noticed a short delay when switching the power on from the AC side, so if this is a concern for you, switching on the DC side may be preferred.

From the power supply to the furthest light tape is about 20 ft(16 ga wire), so the voltage drop is 0.60.V resulting in the voltage to the furthest tape being 23.4 VDC. Are these 0.6 volts going to make these furthest lights noticeably dimmer? 

Based on some informal testing we have conducted, we would estimate that the voltage drop of 0.6 volts would equate to a power/brightness drop of approximately 10%.

​This estimate is based on the chart shown in the article below titled "Input Voltage vs Power Draw (24V Rating)"

https://www.waveformlighting.com/home-residential/can-you-operate-a-12v-led-strip-at-less-than-12v

Do keep in mind that the 10% reduction would apply only at the extreme ends where the voltage drop is most significant. Across the majority of the LED strip run, your actual voltage drop is likely less than 0.6 volts, and would therefore be well below a 10% brightness drop overall.


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LED power suppliesLED strip lights


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