By the time someone asks me for a Mean Well 24V 5A power supply model, they usually have a chandelier, a metal ceiling, and a three-way switch diagram on their phone.
I've been handling lighting control orders for 11 years. I've personally made, and documented, 23 significant mistakes totaling roughly $38,000 in wasted budget. The costliest ones happened when I chose a power supply by wattage instead of current. So I want to compare two Mean Well options I've installed and had to replace: the HDR-60-24 DIN rail power supply and the LRS-120-24 enclosed 24V 5A supply.
If you skim Mean Well HDR-60-24 DIN rail power supply reviews, you'll see a pattern. The negative ones often say something like died after a week or cannot handle a 50W LED strip. In many of those cases, the supply wasn't defective. It was sized for the model number, not the load.
What you are comparing
The HDR-60-24 is a 24V, 60W DIN rail supply. That means the output is 2.5A, not 5A. The LRS-120-24 is a 24V, 120W enclosed supply with 5A output. Both are Mean Well, both are 24V DC, both have screw terminals. They are not interchangeable in every mounting situation.
Dimension 1: form factor and chandelier placement
Chandelier placement should be decided before power supply location. That sounds obvious, but I once watched a client buy a chandelier, install the power supply near the switch, and then realize the DC cable was too short.
With a metal chandelier, placement matters even more. The frame is conductive. If a terminal strip or the supply case touches the metal canopy and there is no proper ground, you can create a ground fault that is hard to find. I now mount the supply in a ventilated enclosure and keep at least a few inches between it and the chandelier frame.
Heat is another reason placement matters. A metal chandelier frame can conduct heat from lamps up to the ceiling. If you put a 24V supply into the same cavity, you are cooking it. The HDR-60-24 is slim, so it is tempting to tuck it into a panel. Fine. Just don't tuck it into a chandelier's wiring box.
Dimension 2: output current and the 24V 5A model
Mean Well has a lot of 24V supplies. The model number convention is the reason my original mistake happened. The 60 in HDR-60-24 means 60W. To get amps, divide 60W by 24V: 2.5A. The 120 in LRS-120-24 means 120W. 120W divided by 24V is 5A.
If you type mean well 24v 5a power supply model into a search engine, the LRS-120-24 is the model that should come up. For many chandelier projects, that's a better baseline.
There is no point in buying the HDR-60-24 because it looks neat if the fixture pulls 4A. It will eventually shut down. LED drivers can be overloaded and still power on for a while. The output current limit and thermal protection will kick in after the heat builds up. This is why HDR-60-24 reviews have a cluster of complaints from LED strip installers. Honestly, I'm not sure why installers skip the current check. My best guess is that wattage is easier to find on a spec sheet.
When I compared the two side by side after my mistake, I finally understood why I kept grabbing the wrong one. I was comparing by wattage, but the fixture was asking for current. Wattage tells you power capacity. Current tells you whether the supply can actually hold the load.
Dimension 3: three way switch wiring and metal chandelier grounding
The most common question I hear is how to wire three way light switch circuits. The question is valid, but it is separate from the Mean Well supply wiring. The three-way switch controls the AC side. The supply then outputs 24V DC to the LED modules.
- Line hot goes to the common terminal on the first three-way switch.
- Two traveler wires run between the first and second switches.
- The common terminal on the second switch goes to the L input on the Mean Well supply.
- Neutral goes to N, and ground goes to the ground terminal.
- If the chandelier is metal, run a separate grounding conductor from the fixture to the ground point in the ceiling box.
A metal chandelier must be grounded even if the power supply has an isolated output. Do not assume the DC output ground does the job.
If someone asks me how to wire three way light switch circuits, I also tell them not to run the DC low-voltage wiring through the same switch legs. Keep the line side and the low-voltage side separate.
Dimension 4: a mistake that still hurts
In September 2022, I ordered 18 HDR-60-24s for a series of 24V chandeliers. Each chandelier was 90W, so the current draw was 3.75A. I looked at the supply and read 60W. I told the client the HDR would be close enough. It wasn't. The fixtures ran for about 20 minutes during bench test, then the overload protection started cycling.
Total cost: $2,400 in replacement supplies, a weekend of overtime, and a client who no longer trusts me with math. The replacement was the LRS-120-24. 120W gives 5A, and a 3.75A load sits at 75% of the supply rating, inside my comfort zone.
So glad I tested one unit before ordering all 18. Almost sent the crew out with wrong supplies. Now I measure the actual fixture current before selecting any Mean Well supply.
Selection advice
Which Mean Well supply should you choose? No product is best for every install. Here is how I decide:
- Get the HDR-60-24 if you have a DIN rail panel, the load is 2A or less, and you need a narrow supply that integrates with other DIN rail devices.
- Get the LRS-120-24 if you need a Mean Well 24V 5A power supply model, you are okay with an enclosed metal housing, and you can mount it on a backboard or inside an enclosure away from the chandelier.
- Do not get the HDR-60-24 for a chandelier that pulls anywhere near 2.5A continuously. You need headroom for heat and inrush.
- If your load is more than 4A, do not use the LRS-120-24 at full tilt. Step up to the LRS-150-24 or split the chandelier into zones.
Final thought
If you are reading HDR-60-24 reviews because you already own one, look at the current draw. If it is above 2A, it is not a bad product. It is a mismatch. The fix is simple: use a larger supply or split the load across two supplies.
Chandelier placement, metal chandelier grounding, and three-way switch wiring are all important installation details. But the power supply choice is the detail that can fail silently. I learned that the hard way. Compare the current before you buy, and you won't have to tell a client the same story I did.