When it comes to track lights, the LED magnetic track lights have became very popular recently. But today, we mainly analyze the traditional LED track lights, and we hope that this article can help you better understand the track lights.
What is LED Track Lighting? How Does Tracklight Work?
LED Track Lights are LED lights mounted on a track, which slide along the track and adjust the angle of illumination. And they are often used in areas where accent lighting is required as an ideal replacement for traditional halogen and metal halide lamps.
LED track lights must be mounted on a dedicated track rail. The track has an internal voltage input (usually 110-120V or 220-240VAC, but can be customized to low voltage DC12V-24V on request). The rail has conductive metal strips on both sides of the track, which are usually made of copper for good quality (iron may be used for poor quality). The seams of the track light contain rotatable conductive copper tabs. When installing, make sure that the conductive copper sheet is in contact with the conductive metal strip inside the track to ensure that the track light is properly energized and luminous.
The benefits of LED Track Lights
Energy-saving:
A notable feature of LED track lights is their energy-saving. For the same brightness, LED track lights consume only 30%-40% of the energy used by conventional metal halide lights, greatly reducing energy consumption.
Eco-friendly and Pollution-free:
LED track lights use LED as the light source, which is a cold light source with no radiation, no heavy metal pollution, pure color, high luminous efficiency, low flicker, and energy-saving, making it a healthy option. In contrast, traditional metal halide track lights rely on mercury, a heavy metal, to vaporize and emit light, producing significant heat and radiation. When broken, they must be carefully disposed of to avoid environmental contamination (mercury is harmful to human health).
Long Lifespan:
LED track lights use semiconductor chips to emit light, with no filament or glass bulb, making them durable and resistant to vibration. They can last for at least 50,000 hours, compared to the typical 8,000-hour lifespan of traditional metal halide lamps.
The Types of LED Track Lights
From the perspective of light source, LED track lights can be categorized into high-power LED track lights, COB track lights, magnetic track lights, and GU10 track lights.
High-power track lights:
As the name suggests, the light source is mainly composed of individual 1W high-power LED beads. This is the first generation of LED track lights, with a power typically less than 20W, commonly available in 3W, 5W, 7W, 9W, 12W, 15W, and 18W. These lights generally have poor color rendering, larger sizes, and higher costs, and have mostly been replaced by COB track lights.
COB track lights:
These use COB (Chip on Board) LED chips as the light source, enhancing the brightness and color rendering (CRI>90) with good focusing effects. The maximum power can reach 30W-50W, making them suitable for large commercial spaces.
Magnetic track lights:
This is the latest solution in track lighting systems. Various types of track lights can be mounted on magnetic track rails. The magnetic track lighting system is highly popular for home or residential lighting.
GU10 track lights:
These consist of a track light housing combined with a GU10 lamp holder and a GU10 LED bulb. The primary advantage of this type is its ease of maintenance and replacement. The power is generally only 5W-7W, so it’s not suitable as the main lighting but rather as auxiliary lighting for kitchens, dining areas, or hallways.
From a circuit or track head perspective, LED track lights are divided into single-circuits and 2 circuits (3phases) track lights.
Track Light Wattages and Voltage
LED track lights are available in 110V/220V high voltage versions and 12V, 24V, and 48V low voltage versions. The wattage of a track light depends on its housing and design style; some styles can be as high as 50 watts, while others may be lower.
| Track light types | COB LED Track lights | Magnetic track lights | GU10 Track lights |
| Wattages | 7W 10W 15W 20W 25W 30W 40W 50W | 6W 12W 18W 20W 30W | 3W 5W 7W |
| Input voltage | 110/220V-240VAC 50/60Hz | 48Vdc or 24VDC | 110/220-240VAC 50/60Hz |
The application of LED Track Lights
LED track lights can be used for a variety of scenarios:
Commercial Lighting: commonly used in branded specialty stores such as clothing stores and furniture stores, as well as automotive showrooms, jewelry stores, star-rated hotels, upscale clubs, museums, and cultural relics exhibition halls, etc. It is also suitable for chain shopping malls, branded business halls, windows and counters.
Residential Lighting: can be used in spaces such as kitchen, living room, dining room, etc. It providing a modern feel and flexible light distribution.
Industrial Lighting: Used in warehouses and factories to meet the lighting needs of large areas.
With its flexibility and high efficiency, the LED tarck light is able to meet diverse lighting needs.
Track lighting rail and head types
To distinguish between different types of track lighting, you first need to understand the difference between track rails and track heads:
Track rail: It is divided into 2-wire, 3-wire, 4-wire and 6-wire track bars. The first three are the mainstream products in the LED lighting market. Here the “line” refers to the track inside the energized wire. 2 line said “L, N line”, 3 line added “G line” (ground wire), and 4 line on this basis to add a signal line, which is used to realize the control of track lights. Signal line, used to realize the multi-directional control of track fixtures.
Track head: The track header is the connection between the track light and the track bar. According to the type of track bar, track head is mainly divided into 2-wire, 3-wire and 4-wire track head. The track head can only be installed on the corresponding track bar.
Based on the configuration of the track bar and track head, track lights can be categorized into single-circuit and double-circuit track lights. Single-circuit track lights include 2-wire and 3-wire track lights, while 4-wire track lights are part of a dual-circuit system, also known as 3-phase track lights.
From a safety point of view, 3-wire track lights are safer than 2-wire track lights. If you need 0-10V or DALI dimming function, you must choose a track light with 4-wire track head and 4-wire track bar.
How to choose an LED track light?
High-quality LED track lights usually have the following characteristics, you can refer to these aspects when choosing:
Famous Isolated Drivers: Common high-quality track light drivers include LIFUD, OSRAM, PHILIPS, and more. These isolated drivers can ensure the track light’s service life in commercial environments for at least 5 years and even up to 10 years.
Track head selection: LED track lights are available in 2-wire, 3-wire and 4-wire track heads. If your existing track is 2-wire, simply choose the LED track light with matching 2-wire track head.
Beam angle: LED track light beam angles include 15°, 24°, 36° and 50°. For accent lighting, 15°, 24° or 36° beam angles are recommended; while 50° beam angle is more suitable for basic lighting.
High Brightness: High quality LED track lights should be equipped with top quality LED chips with high lumens, which are both energy efficient and provide excellent brightness performance.
High CRI: Track lights are commonly used in clothing stores, retail stores, museums, and other places that require accent lighting. The higher the color rendering index (CRI), the better the fixture’s ability to restore the true color of an object. High-quality track lights usually have a CRI of 90 or higher, preferably 97.
Low glare design: The best track lights usually feature an anti-glare design and a low-glare value lens. Deep reflector housings are effective in reducing glare and the UGR<19 is value, ideally less than 15.
Flicker-Free: High quality LED track lights do not ripple and the lamps do not flicker when shooting with cell phones, thus creating a comfortable lighting environment and reducing the impact on your eyesight.
Choosing an LED track light with these features can greatly enhance its performance and experience.
How to installation of LED track lights?
As mentioned above, LED track lights are categorized into 2-wire, 3-wire and 4-wire systems, which need to be used with the corresponding track poles. Different types of track lights have their own precautions when installing. Usually, the installation of LED track lights is part of the whole lighting system, including the installation of track rails, the installation of track fixtures, and the installation of corresponding accessories, such as adapters for L-shaped, shaped and T-shaped connectors.
Conclusion
To summarize, I believe you have a certain understanding of track lighting, so you can refer to this article when choosing track lighting, I hope it can help you. SUNME lighting has been committed to providing high-quality lighting fixtures. For more information, please leave your contact, we will reply you as soon as possible.
