Posted: 7/12/2015 9:36:20 AM EDT
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Has anyone replace their 96" florescent tube lights with LEDs? Is there a drop in replacement? Do you remove the ballasts? Sources? I have a dozen two bulb fixtures that I would like to switch to LED. |
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Has anyone replace their 96" florescent tube lights with LEDs? Is there a drop in replacement? Do you remove the ballasts? Sources? I have a dozen two bulb fixtures that I would like to switch to LED. Yeah Man, Costco sells these for $30-$40 depending on if there is a rebate or not. Home Depot has a similar setup from a different brand. I have 5 in my garage - plug and play and super easy. 
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I replaced one of the workbench shop lights with an LED fixture. Huge difference in light and the color of the light is much better than florescent tubes. Comes on right away -no lag. I could have done the bulbs themselves but the LED bulbs were as expensive as the fixture an I would have to re-wire to eliminate the ballasts OR get the bulbs that just drop in with the ballast and they were way more pricey so I just went with the whole fixture with bulbs etc to save time. Home D and lowes carry them now in store and HD has an LED shop lite fixture for $40. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-4-ft-LED-Linkable-White-Shop-Light-54103161/205331022?N=5yc1vZc9h6 I like the linkable feature on this --so if you have two close together or in line you just plug them together. |
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Not 96" but I did replace all the 48" tubes in my home with LED ones.
They do put out equal or better light than the fluorescent tubes they replaced. I compared the ones I replace in the recessed fixture in the kitchen with the old fluorescent tubes side-by-side and the LEDs were brighter. Once I did the 6 in the kitchen I did the 4 in each of my bathrooms and the ones in my garage shop too. I used Hyperikon's everywhere but for the kitchen where I went with dimming ones. You will have to rewire the fixtures but it's not very hard at all if you can read even the simplest of diagrams or just simply watch one of the youtube how-to videos. You're just wiring around the ballast feeding the AC from the ballast either to one end or end-to-end depending on the type of LED tube. The Hyperikons have a noticable fraction of a second delay coming on but they come on full brightness where the fluorescent tubes come on faster but take longer to come to full brightness. The dimmable T8 Fulight tubes come on way faster than the Hyperikons if that's important. Either are on sub-second delay. |
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Kinda a shitty photo, but these lights have been great and at a super low cost: http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x208/TOO40GAWLF/IMAG0080.jpg What are they, etc.? |
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What are they, etc.? Quoted:
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Kinda a shitty photo, but these lights have been great and at a super low cost: http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x208/TOO40GAWLF/IMAG0080.jpg What are they, etc.? The ones on the side are the Feit costco ones and the one in the front and one in the rear (not pictured) is the HD ones. I find the HD ones a little bit better because they are linkeable - but either brand will do. |
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The ones on the side are the Feit costco ones and the one in the front and one in the rear (not pictured) is the HD ones. I find the HD ones a little bit better because they are linkeable - but either brand will do. Quoted:
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Kinda a shitty photo, but these lights have been great and at a super low cost: http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x208/TOO40GAWLF/IMAG0080.jpg What are they, etc.? The ones on the side are the Feit costco ones and the one in the front and one in the rear (not pictured) is the HD ones. I find the HD ones a little bit better because they are linkeable - but either brand will do. Thanks for the info. I want to buy a 4 bulb fixture. Any suggestions..........I have seen them on the internet but have no what is good, etc.? They are coming way down in price so maybe it won't matter soon? |
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We replaced the florescence tubes with the led strips in our wood working shop.
While they are certainly brighter, the light does not seem to diffuse/or blend the same and we can see the effect of the light in the wood. the effect is kind of like a rainbow pattern in the walnut. Its kind of strange but I do like the brighter conditions and you only notice is when the walnut is stacked up pretty good. I have no clue what brand they put in, but we did a retrofit of the overhead systems that have 4 tubes in each housing. With the kind of machines we run, the cost of the lights does not even matter so I dont really care about the efficiency of them. |
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I have 4 of the 48in LED tubes in my kitchen.
Holy crap they are bright. Been in place for about 3 years now, no problems to report other then the weird delay between hitting the switch and the lights turning on (about .25 of a second). I have 6 LED can lights in my garage and a 48in fluorescent shop light over my workbench. With the cans I seldom turn on the fluorescent anymore. |
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T5HO is probably more efficient with about 100 lumens per watt. Most LEDs aren't there yet T5HO's also have the shittiest ballast life known to man. We can get in to the lumen maintenance curve of T5HO's as well as operating temps, but we won't. The CREE LS8 is right at 90 lumens per watt (91lpw). The most efficient T5HO's that I know of are at 95lpw. Most are in the 80's. |
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Quoted: T5HO's also have the shittiest ballast life known to man. We can get in to the lumen maintenance curve of T5HO's as well as operating temps, but we won't. The CREE LS8 is right at 90 lumens per watt (91lpw). The most efficient T5HO's that I know of are at 95lpw. Most are in the 80's. Quoted: Quoted: T5HO is probably more efficient with about 100 lumens per watt. Most LEDs aren't there yet T5HO's also have the shittiest ballast life known to man. We can get in to the lumen maintenance curve of T5HO's as well as operating temps, but we won't. The CREE LS8 is right at 90 lumens per watt (91lpw). The most efficient T5HO's that I know of are at 95lpw. Most are in the 80's. |
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i used the hyperikon brand off amazon for mine i have both 4' and 8' lights.
one bulb basically replaced 2 fl tubes. the 4' fixtures require new tombstones. the 8' just require removal of the ballasts and direct wire of the existing ones. very easy conversion either way. remove ballasts and hook them up. hyperikon says the 8' tubes will devolpe a small amount of sagging but it does not affect the tube and they will provide free support clips if you want them. snagshout has a deal on the 8' tubes right now. one tube 9.95 shipped for prime members. only caviat is you have to register with snagshout and write a review when you recieve it. bulbs are regularly about 40.00. i HIGHLY recommend them. much less power, they run cooler so less heat in the room, no degredation of light output over time and should last for years. iirc they have a 5yr warranty. i was replacing 20+ tubes every year in my garage between the 10 4 tube fixtures i had. cut them down to 2 bulbs each and easily have a good bit more light than the 4 t12 tubes. |
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Have three of these installed, worth every penny.
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