An LED light unit, in particular for a passenger transport vehicle, such as an aircraft, a road vehicle, a ship or a rail car, is disclosed that has at least one LED and is configured to be used with a high intensity discharge lamp power supply that is adapted to monitor its output behavior. The LED light unit comprises a power input coupleable to the high intensity discharge lamp power supply, a capacitor switchably coupled to the power input for absorbing electrical energy from the high intensity discharge lamp power supply, and a power dissipating element switchably coupled to the power input for dissipating electrical energy from the high intensity discharge lamp power supply.