Dimming high amperage driver increase efficiency?

From reading threads on RIU i know that pairing up more cobs with a lower amp driver such as 700ma is more efficient than running it at 2100ma. But lets say I use a 2100ma driver and dim it so it's drawing the same power from the wall as a full power 700ma driver would it have the same efficiency?

My initial guess is no because we're running a constant current meaning its still driving 2100ma but at a lower voltage. If anyone could educate me on this that would be great.

Thanks!

its actually dimming current

but drivers are designed to work most efficiently in the 50-100% load range- see datasheet

so a 700 mA driver ran near 100% load will almost always be more efficient than a 2100 mA driver operating at 30% load (and youre paying for 2/3 of the driver capacity to sit unused)

CobKits said:

its actually dimming current

but drivers are designed to work most efficiently in the 50-100% load range- see datasheet

so a 700 mA driver ran near 100% load will almost always be more efficient than a 2100 mA driver operating at 30% load (and youre paying for 2/3 of the driver capacity to sit unused)

Click to expand...

Awesome I was hoping i was wrong. makes things so much better!! Thank you.

@89ers, I was wondering this myself and figured the answer would be what you thought. Thanks @CobKits for confirming!

CobKits said:

its actually dimming current

but drivers are designed to work most efficiently in the 50-100% load range- see datasheet

so a 700 mA driver ran near 100% load will almost always be more efficient than a 2100 mA driver operating at 30% load (and youre paying for 2/3 of the driver capacity to sit unused)

Click to expand...

@CobKits for the record I think I was confused because I thought I was buying "constant current" drivers (HLG240H-C1750B) so i assumed that I was dimming the voltage and not the current. thanks again for clarification

it is constant current as it applies whatever current it is set at to all cobs. this can be from 10-100% of max current, but its constant at wherever you set it

CobKits said:

it is constant current as it applies whatever current it is set at to all cobs. this can be from 10-100% of max current, but its constant at wherever you set it

Click to expand...

gotcha. thank you sir!

CobKits said:

its actually dimming current

but drivers are designed to work most efficiently in the 50-100% load range- see datasheet

so a 700 mA driver ran near 100% load will almost always be more efficient than a 2100 mA driver operating at 30% load (and youre paying for 2/3 of the driver capacity to sit unused)

Click to expand...

You said "almost always" so could you maybe advise on when it might not work this way?
I always thought it was most efficient when the driver was close to max capacity and run @ 240v no ?

i dunno, i havent studied all options

youre right about 240/277V voltage, but larger drivers are more efficient. you could potentially be comparing a 185 at 92-93% vs a 320 or 480 at 95-96% max efficiency