T8 Double ended LED bulb recommendations

[Firebrick43]

Well I have finished off my stash of Hyperion LED bulbs with the installation of a few more fixtures.

Not a single failure yet after 5 years from the first install.

Went to order more and they are NLA

Any recommendations for another T8 Type B 4’ led bulb?

I don’t recognize and of the brands now on amazon except Sunco.

 

[kbuhagiar]

Well I have finished off my stash of Hyperion LED bulbs with the installation of a few more fixtures.

Not a single failure yet after 5 years from the first install.

Went to order more and they are NLA

Any recommendations for another T8 Type B 4’ led bulb?

I don’t recognize and of the brands now on amazon except Sunco.

Probably too soon to make a full recommendation, but last month I converted all of my existing garage fluorescent fixtures to LED and purchased a bunch of new LED tubes (and a couple of new fixtures) from these guys: https://www.1000bulbs.com/

Their customer service is excellent, their prices are reasonable, and based on my limited experience their products seem perfectly acceptable for home use. Due diligence indicated a well-established company with no obvious black flags in their past. (Full disclosure, they were running an excellent Black Friday deal which influenced my decision.)

I'm hoping that they are as good as they initially appear to be. It's been two months and no surprises yet. Fingers crossed!

 

[BrandonV]

I don’t recognize and of the brands now on amazon except Sunco.

Probably best to stay away from Amazon. There continues to be an exodus of real companies getting out of competing with imported junk.

 

[Firebrick43]

Probably best to stay away from Amazon. There continues to be an exodus of real companies getting out of competing with imported junk.

I don’t disagree, I have looked at other places as well including the 1000bulbs referenced above.

What brand from them? Some are the same as on Amazon.

And I have had terrible luck with sylvania LED A19 and A21 bulbs

 

[Innovate1]

I have had very good luck with Hyperion too. Think I got my last bulbs at Menards quite a while back, maybe a year or two, and haven't had any issues. I would have to look up the brand.

 

[kbuhagiar]

I don’t disagree, I have looked at other places as well including the 1000bulbs referenced above.

What brand from them? Some are the same as on Amazon.

And I have had terrible luck with sylvania LED A19 and A21 bulbs

The brand I purchased is Precision Lighting & Transformer - part number PLT-90031 for the 4ft LED T8 ballast bypass tubes, 4000K, rated at 1800 lumens.

 

[sparky 1971]

I've been using McLed since 2014. I have no idea how many I've installed, but it's in the thousands and I've had over 99% success. There has been the occasional strobing tube, or one with a section not working, but those are so few and far between that I haven't ever used the warranty. They do cost a little more because they are able to work single ended, double ended, or with an electronic ballast. New fixtures are pre-wired single end, retro fits I use them double ended, and I have a couple of customers I provided the lamps for so the maintenance man could install them plug and play. As the ballasts fail, I go in and do the ballast bypass.

 

[cybrdyke]

I don’t disagree, I have looked at other places as well including the 1000bulbs referenced above.

What brand from them? Some are the same as on Amazon.

And I have had terrible luck with sylvania LED A19 and A21 bulbs

The best brands on 1000bulbs.com are Archipelago, Green Creative, Halco, and Satco. The other brands are rubbish.
Also, there is no such brand as PLT, it's just a 1000bulb's "house brand" of unknown manufacturer.
Around here, you can find Halco in Home Depot, too.
Anything on Amazon is gonna be trash.
Good luck,
CD

 

[kbuhagiar]

The best brands on 1000bulbs.com are Archipelago, Green Creative, Halco, and Satco. The other brands are rubbish.
Also, there is no such brand as PLT, it's just a 1000bulb's "house brand" of unknown manufacturer.

Ay, caramba!

Ah, well. Still a step up from having 'fixed' LED fixtures.
At least if these tubes turn out to be crapalicious I can easily swap them out for better ones.

 

[CJ7VFR]

I converted all of my old 4 foot fluorescent two tube fixtures with ballast bypass tubes by Halco. I got them at Home Depot. They are double ended (load on one side neutral on the other) and they came in a 10 pack of tubes for $76.00. I put them in 4 years ago and they work great. The lenses are frosted, just like the old fluorescent tubes, so they don't make any weird or sharp shadows like the cheaper tubes where you can see each individual LED.

I bought the 5000K versions because I wanted a bit more of a day light color in my garage and basement. I tried the 4000K versions first, but they just didn't look as good to my eyes.

Here are the ones I bought. Home Depot still sells them in the 10 packs. The picture on the Home Depot website makes it look like the tubes are not round, but they are. The picture they used is a bit distorted.

The other picture is inside my garage after I converted the left side fixtures to the new Halco tubes. The right side is still the old fluorescent tubes in the fixtures. You can see the brightness and color difference on the garage doors. The left door where the Halco tubes are is a nicer white color (5000K) than the right side door with the old fluorescent tubes.

Jim

 

[Firebrick43]

I converted all of my old 4 foot fluorescent two tube fixtures with ballast bypass tubes by Halco. I got them at Home Depot. They are double ended (load on one side neutral on the other) and they came in a 10 pack of tubes for $76.00. I put them in 4 years ago and they work great. The lenses are frosted, just like the old fluorescent tubes, so they don't make any weird or sharp shadows like the cheaper tubes where you can see each individual LED.

I bought the 5000K versions because I wanted a bit more of a day light color in my garage and basement. I tried the 4000K versions first, but they just didn't look as good to my eyes.

Here are the ones I bought. Home Depot still sells them in the 10 packs. The picture on the Home Depot website makes it look like the tubes are not round, but they are. The picture they used is a bit distorted.

Jim

from the recommendation of @cybrdyke above I had these very bulbs in my Home Cheepo shopping cart. I think I will try a 10 pack and if the do ok buy another 50. I have used the 5000k color. I have so many installed in my basement (50 tubes) that when guest go down there they act like it’s when Chevy chase plugged in his Christmas lights.

The pic does make them look oval?

I spent too much time trying to find the McLED lights. Lots of info but no where to buy them?

Are they only sold thru electrical supply houses?

 

[CJ7VFR]

from the recommendation of @cybrdyke above I had these very bulbs in my Home Cheepo shopping cart. I think I will try a 10 pack and if the do ok buy another 50.

The pic does make them look oval?

I spent too much time trying to find the McLED lights. Lots of info but no where to buy them?

Are they only sold thru electrical supply houses?

Check out the picture I just added to my reply. You can see the difference in the color on the garage doors (left door is the ballast bypass tubes, right side is the old fluorescent tubes). These ballast bypass LED tubes really made a big difference in both my garage and basement.

The other huge difference is that the ballast bypass LED tubes are instant on, with no warm up time needed like the old fluorescent tubes. This made the biggest difference in the garage, where it can get down to below freezing if the outside temps get really cold here in NJ.

That alone was the main reason for my initial try at the ballast bypass tubes. And it worked out great!

Jim

 

[sparky 1971]

from the recommendation of @cybrdyke above I had these very bulbs in my Home Cheepo shopping cart. I think I will try a 10 pack and if the do ok buy another 50. I have used the 5000k color. I have so many installed in my basement (50 tubes) that when guest go down there they act like it’s when Chevy chase plugged in his Christmas lights.

The pic does make them look oval?

I spent too much time trying to find the McLED lights. Lots of info but no where to buy them?

Are they only sold thru electrical supply houses?

I get the mc's from Sitlers LED supplies. It's a pain because you have to call them to place an order even though there is a website. It's a little easier for me since I have an account.

sitlersledsupplies.com

 

[Larrywv]

I have been using SATCO S39915 T8 BP/SE/DE 14 Watt 4000K in my garage as the existing bulbs and ballast go bad. I have also been using them for a couple years in the old Bldg where my wife worked to retrofit the existing light fixtures as they redo offices for new tenants. I have been buying them thur one of our electrical supply houses State Electric Supply Co. (DBA Tolley Electric) for $5.66 each. Never had any issues yet with them.