#183 How to select voltage regulators for small projects? (ESP8266, ESP32, Arduino)
Published at : 23 Dec 2025
Most of our modern processors and sensors need a stable power supply of 3.3 volts. Some older chips require 5 volts. And a raspberry pi needs nearly 1 ampere while an ESP in deep sleep requires only a few microamperes. Sometimes the current consumption is quite stable, and sometimes we have big current spikes like our ESP chips during Wi-Fi transfers. - We will discuss the two different principles for control of voltage: Linear and switching (buck, boost) regulators - We will find out why linear regulators efficiency often is bad and where this fact is not significant. We also look at the thermal design and how it influences maximum current - We try to understand why switching regulators have higher efficiencies and can be built smaller for high currents or higher differences between input- and output voltage - We look at the output ripple and on other high-frequency signals and where they can hurt - We will test how the different regulators behave when your processor is in deep sleep - Finally, you should be able to make the right decision for your project -And you should be able to do a small talk using all the buzzwords mentioned before
ERROR CORRECTION: Low Quiescent Regulator is HT7333, not HT7111. Sorry.
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