A traffic lamp for use with a traffic controller, the traffic lamp comprising: a lamp unit comprising a power converter, a lamp load and a control command circuit; and a supplemental load circuit configured to provide a supplemental power consumption to the lamp unit, the supplemental load circuit comprising: a load; power input circuitry configured to receive a DC power signal; and a control switch configured to receive a control signal; wherein the control switch is configured to control an application of the DC power signal to the load by the power input circuitry based on the duty cycle of the control signal, wherein said DC power signal is received from the power converter of the lamp unit, and said control signal is generated by the control command circuit, wherein the duty cycle of the control signal corresponds to a pulse width of the control signal and the control switch is configured such that the DC power signal is applied to the load for the duration of the pulse width, the traffic lamp being characterized in that the pulse widths of the control signal are synchronized with an externally supplied AC power signal from the traffic controller received by the lamp unit by pre-programming the control command circuit with a pulse frequency that matches an anticipated frequency of the AC power signal, such that the supplemental load circuit enables the lamp unit operating at a low power consumption to operate with the traffic controller configured to test for a higher power consumption. a lamp unit comprising a power converter, a lamp load and a control command circuit; and a supplemental load circuit configured to provide a supplemental power consumption to the lamp unit, the supplemental load circuit comprising: a load; power input circuitry configured to receive a DC power signal; and a control switch configured to receive a control signal; wherein the control switch is configured to control an application of the DC power signal to the load by the power input circuitry based on the duty cycle of the control signal, wherein said DC power signal is received from the power converter of the lamp unit, and said control signal is generated by the control command circuit, wherein the duty cycle of the control signal corresponds to a pulse width of the control signal and the control switch is configured such that the DC power signal is applied to the load for the duration of the pulse width, a load; power input circuitry configured to receive a DC power signal; and a control switch configured to receive a control signal; wherein the control switch is configured to control an application of the DC power signal to the load by the power input circuitry based on the duty cycle of the control signal, wherein said DC power signal is received from the power converter of the lamp unit, and said control signal is generated by the control command circuit, wherein the duty cycle of the control signal corresponds to a pulse width of the control signal and the control switch is configured such that the DC power signal is applied to the load for the duration of the pulse width, the traffic lamp being characterized in that the pulse widths of the control signal are synchronized with an externally supplied AC power signal from the traffic controller received by the lamp unit by pre-programming the control command circuit with a pulse frequency that matches an anticipated frequency of the AC power signal, such that the supplemental load circuit enables the lamp unit operating at a low power consumption to operate with the traffic controller configured to test for a higher power consumption.