Do Aluminum Channels Aid in Thermal Control?-Part 2

One of the main challenges in the design of light strips and fixtures in the early days of LED lighting was heat control. In particular, LED diodes are extremely sensitive to high temperatures, unlike incandescent or fluorescent bulbs, and incorrect thermal management can result in premature, or even catastrophic failure. You might even remember certain early domestic LED lamps with ornate aluminum fins that helped to expand the total surface area available for dissipating heat into the surrounding air.

Since aluminum has thermal conductivity values that are second only to copper (which is much more expensive per ounce), it is one of the best materials for managing heat. As a result, aluminum channels unquestionably aid in thermal management because direct contact enables heat to move from the LED strip to the aluminum channel body, where a larger surface area is available for heat transfer into the surrounding air.

The requirement for heat management has, however, significantly diminished in recent years, largely due to the drop in manufacturing prices. Lighting engineers and designers have been able to utilize more diodes in lamps and fixtures while driving each one at a lower drive current since the cost per diode has decreased. As a result of the diodes being spread out further than before, this not only improves diode efficiency but also reduces thermal buildup.

Similar to this, Waveform Lighting’s LED strip lights may be used safely without any form of thermal management since they employ a large number of diodes per foot (37 per foot), with each LED being pushed considerably below its rated current. Even with the LED strips dangling in still air, they are precisely tuned to stay considerably below maximum temperature limits despite the fact that they warm up a little bit during operation.

So, aluminum tubes for heatsinking are required for LED strip lights? The simple answer is no, provided that high-quality materials are used during the manufacturing of the LED strip and that no diodes are overdriven.

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