It depends on your project. Here's how to tell.
I've been handling commercial lighting orders for ABB for over 7 years. I've personally made (and documented) 12 significant mistakes, totaling roughly $28,000 in wasted budget—mostly from assumptions about compatibility. The question "Can a LED driver be used as a power supply?" came up three times in Q4 2024 alone. The answer was different each time.
The short answer: sometimes yes, but it's risky if you don't understand the load characteristics. The real question is: should you? And that depends on what you're powering, how critical the reliability is, and whether you're factoring in total cost of ownership (TCO) or just the initial price tag.
Let me break down the three common scenarios I've encountered—and the mistakes I made in each.
Scenario A: Powering LED Strip Lights in a Retail Display
The setup: You have a 24V constant voltage LED strip. The strip needs 2A. You have a 24V constant voltage LED driver rated for 3A. Can you use it as a power supply?
My 2018 mistake on this exact question: I ordered 40 units of a "multi-purpose" 48W driver for a large retail chain's in-store displays. On paper, it worked. Voltage matched. Current headroom was there. The strips ran fine for about 3 months. Then we started getting flicker reports. The issue? The LED driver's output ripple was designed for LED loads with specific capacitance onboard. The generic strip didn't have it. Result: $1,200 in replacement labor + replacement drivers + a pissed-off client.
What I learned the hard way: Constant voltage LED drivers are technically power supplies. But they're optimized for LED loads. If you're powering a pure resistive load or something with unusual startup current (like some sensors or small motors), you're going to see instability. The upside was immediate compatibility on paper. The risk was long-term reliability. I kept asking myself: is saving $6 per unit worth potentially re-lighting a 10,000 sq ft space?
My current rule for this scenario: Use a proper industrial power supply not an LED driver if:
- The load isn't purely LED (e.g., it includes small fans, controllers, or sensors)
- You need tight voltage regulation (±2% or better)
- The environment has high electrical noise (LED drivers can have more ripple)
If it's a straight LED strip with no additional electronics, a constant voltage LED driver works fine. (note to self: always check the datasheet for ripple and hold-up time—learned that one the expensive way).
Scenario B: Powering an Emergency Lighting System
The setup: You're designing an emergency lighting circuit with battery backup. You have a constant current LED driver. Could you use it to charge the battery?
I'll save you the trouble: don't. This was my September 2022 disaster. A $3,200 order where every single emergency lighting unit had the wrong driver. The constant current driver couldn't provide the float voltage needed for the battery. Result: no charging, no emergency lights, a failed inspection, and a 2-week delay. Total cost of the redo: $890 in expedited shipping + $450 in new drivers.
Why this fails: LED drivers are designed to regulate current, not voltage. Emergency lighting systems (with batteries) need a specific charging profile—constant voltage with current limiting, then float voltage. A standard LED driver can't do that. It's like trying to use a coffee grinder as a blender. Both spin things. Both have motors. But the results are... different.
If you're in this scenario: Use a proper emergency lighting power supply. ABB makes dedicated emergency lighting inverters and battery chargers. They cost more upfront (about 30% more, as of January 2025), but the TCO calculation is clear: a single failure costs more than the premium.
In hindsight, I should have checked the NEC requirements (Article 700, if you're in the US) before ordering. But with the deadline breathing down my neck, I went with what I had in inventory. Never again.
Scenario C: Integrating LED Drivers into an IoT System
This is where it gets interesting—and where ABB's ecosystem shines. The question wasn't just "can a LED driver be a power supply" but "can it be an intelligent power supply that communicates with the ABB IoT Platform Connect?"
The scenario: You're building a smart office with medium or large chandeliers that also need to dim, change color temperature, and report energy usage. Each chandelier has 12V LED modules. You need a power source that:
- Provides stable 12V DC
- Supports DALI or 0-10V dimming
- Reports to the building management system
Can an LED driver do all that? Yes—if it's the right LED driver. ABB's smart drivers are essentially power supplies with built-in intelligence. They convert mains AC to low-voltage DC, regulate the output for LEDs, and communicate via the IoT platform. I've used them on a project with 14 large chandeliers (each with 36 LED modules) for a hotel lobby. The surprise wasn't the compatibility—it was the energy savings. The drivers reported real-time consumption data that helped the facility team optimize schedules and reduce energy costs by 18% in the first year (as of the 2024 annual report).
But here's the catch: The driver must be designed for that dual role. A cheap LED driver from who-knows-where won't have the communication interface. (surprise, surprise.) The ABB drivers are UL listed for both LED driving and control signal integration. I've verified this on the datasheet—per UL 8750 and UL 924 for emergency units.
My recommendation for this scenario, from personal experience:
- If you need IoT integration: use an ABB smart LED driver designed for the platform. Don't try to use a generic driver + a separate power supply + a separate controller. The TCO of three separate components (purchase + installation + troubleshooting) will exceed the integrated solution by at least 20%.
- If you're just powering the chandelier with no controls: a standard constant voltage LED driver works fine. But plan for future upgrades—install a conduit with extra wires for controls. I didn't do this on a project in 2021, and retrofitting cost $75 per fixture in labor.
How to decide which scenario you're in
Here's the quick checklist I use after three expensive iterations. Be honest with yourself:
- What's the load? Pure LED? Or does it include sensors, batteries, motors, or communication modules? If the latter, use a dedicated power supply.
- What's the importance of uptime? Emergency lighting, critical processes, or revenue-generating displays? Spend the extra $50-100 per unit on a proper power supply designed for the job.
- What's the total cost if it fails? A $40 driver replacement sounds cheap. A $40 driver that fails in 6 months, causes a 3-day shutdown, and requires a $200 emergency service call isn't cheap. I've learned that lesson. Twice.
- Do you need data? If you're connecting to ABB IoT Platform Connect, use the smart driver ecosystem. Mixing components from different vendors to save 15% upfront creates a support nightmare. The worst case: 3 hours of debugging a compatibility issue between three different brands. Best case: it works but you get no data.
If you're still unsure, here's a rule of thumb I use after 7 years: if your project has any of these three factors—mixed loads, reliance on uptime, or integration requirements—invest in the right power supply or smart driver upfront. The $500 budget for a driver replacement is saving you from the $3,500 total cost of a failure.
As of March 2025, pricing for ABB's smart LED drivers starts at approximately $85 for a 60W unit (verify current pricing at abb.com/lighting as rates may have changed since this writing). A comparable industrial power supply with IoT interface is about $110. The difference is $25 per unit. The cost of one interoperability failure on a 50-unit install? Conservatively, $2,000 in labor and lost time.
Pick your challenge.