Lowes Sale 4' LED bulbs 4 pack $5
- Thread starter mx500
- Start date
Model A Fan
Well-known member
Here's also a good deal, but not LED.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Utilitech-...right-White-T8-LED-Tube-Light-Bulb/1000083433
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Utilitech-...right-White-T8-LED-Tube-Light-Bulb/1000083433
Say what?
Right in the Title:
"Utilitech 2-Pack 32 W Equivalent Bright White T8 LED Tube Light Bulb"
jmiller_2308
Well-known member
Thanks mx500. Nice inexpensive replacement for my florescents that were going on 5 years old. I picked up 10 packages (40 bulbs) for <$50 
At 1600 Lumens I wasn't too sure how bright they would be but they are certainly a lot brighter than the florescents I had in place.
At 1600 Lumens I wasn't too sure how bright they would be but they are certainly a lot brighter than the florescents I had in place.
tfi racing
Well-known member
$1.25 a lamp. It never ceases to amaze me how badly we get gouged up here in Canada, I doubt you could find one for $12.50 up here...
techieman33
Well-known member
Nice price, but your not really saving any power since you would need 2 of them to replace the light output of one T8 lamp.
Gummi Bear
Well-known member
Not exactly
A good quality 32w fluorescent will put out 2,000 lumens, and will degrade in a few hours to about 80% of that.
LED wil stay at 90-95% output for most of its life.
This is a great deal at Lowes. I’m headed over there in just a little bit.
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...
Henry David Thoreau
A good quality 32w fluorescent will put out 2,000 lumens, and will degrade in a few hours to about 80% of that.
LED wil stay at 90-95% output for most of its life.
This is a great deal at Lowes. I’m headed over there in just a little bit.
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...
Henry David Thoreau
Fixin'Stuff
Well-known member
Even with the help of one of the workers climbing up and down the ladder, searching everything he could find, we couldn't find any 4-packs of the 4000K bulbs. Ended up buying a 16-pack for $17.23. $1.07 per bulb. The original price was $68 or so.
They seem to be slightly longer than they should be. They were a VERY tight fit. Perhaps that's why they're on clearance?
They seem to be slightly longer than they should be. They were a VERY tight fit. Perhaps that's why they're on clearance?
techieman33
Well-known member
T8's have come a long way since then. The ones we've been getting at work are just shy of 3k lumens, 85+CRI, and rated to maintain 94% output and have a 25k-40k hour life.
The LED tubes posted above are rated for a 20k hours. The life of an LED is measured by how long it takes to get down to 70% of it's original output.
Gummi Bear
Well-known member
I’ve put those T8’s in as well. They used to be common in specs for hospitals.
I’ve never seen them actually last as long as they’re rated for.
As good as they are, I’m glad to see the passing of fluorescent and HID fixtures. We have to replace drivers and boards in LED fixtures, but that is quick and easy stuff.
There seems to be maybe a little lower failure rate on the LED stuff from the factory. Over the course of the warranty period, there’s no comparison that the LED’s have a far lower failure rate. We just don’t have as many warranty service calls on them.
For garage use, I’m not terribly concerned about the CRI rating. (I’m sure it’s far more important to a painter or someone that is concerned about accurate color rendering). As for the longevity, they’ll still last me several years. I’m not out there all day everyday.
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...
Henry David Thoreau
I’ve never seen them actually last as long as they’re rated for.
As good as they are, I’m glad to see the passing of fluorescent and HID fixtures. We have to replace drivers and boards in LED fixtures, but that is quick and easy stuff.
There seems to be maybe a little lower failure rate on the LED stuff from the factory. Over the course of the warranty period, there’s no comparison that the LED’s have a far lower failure rate. We just don’t have as many warranty service calls on them.
For garage use, I’m not terribly concerned about the CRI rating. (I’m sure it’s far more important to a painter or someone that is concerned about accurate color rendering). As for the longevity, they’ll still last me several years. I’m not out there all day everyday.
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...
Henry David Thoreau
Those are the specs for a standard T8 lamp. Most of them are run on an electronic ballast that only allows 87% of the rated lumens to be created. Since the lamp creates that light in a 360 degree pattern, nearly 30% of it is lost in the fixture. That lamp is actually only delivering around 1700 to 1800 lumens when it's brand new.
The life rating of fluorescent is a rating until death. Thus, at 25,000 hours, 50% of the lamps are dead which means that you have lost 50% of your light. If that was in a shop or a retail store, it would be really really bad.
The life rating of an LED (usually) is measured to 70% full light output. This means that after 20,000 hours you've only lost 30% of your light and none of the lamps are dead....a far better situation.
CD
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Went to Lowe's last night to pick up some of these bulbs. Had 6 cases in the buggy and got to the register when I saw the clearance rack. There were 3 boxes of Sylvania 10ct led tubes. Ended up buying the 3 boxes for half the price of the Utilitech bulbs. Unfortunately, I didn't look at the color of the bulbs (3500k). Not sure if I can return them since they were in clearance. Back to Lowe's I go...
This is weird.... It's $4.99 at the lowes near my parents in a different state.
It's $19.99 here at the Lowes near me....
reader2580
Well-known member
The Lowe’s in Blaine, MN shows over 60 of the four packs at $4.99 each.
Falcon67
Well-known member
I got it done last sale - when the 16 packs were half price. Bought two, all done in the entire shop and race trailer. Took a whole box full of good T8 flous to the ReStore.
Lelandwelds
Well-known member
Well said! Each time you say it, you say it more clearly.
Gummi Bear
Well-known member
They will ring up correctly.
Same $20 here, and I walked out the door with 5 packages for $25
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...
Henry David Thoreau
Falcon67
Well-known member
I replaced 48 total and don't notice any reduced light levels. 12 fixtures. In fact, they actually seem a bit brighter. They also come on quicker and a LOT quicker in the cold (even thought everything installed is rated to zero).
Gummi Bear
Well-known member
This afternoon I replaced the lamps in my shed.
During the day, the difference was not noticeable
Tonight, however, it does seem much brighter. Part of that is likely the jump from 3500 to 5000 in light color. Everything does seem more crisp.
Yes, my shed is a disaster zone. There is simply too much stuff in too small of a space.
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...
Henry David Thoreau
During the day, the difference was not noticeable
Tonight, however, it does seem much brighter. Part of that is likely the jump from 3500 to 5000 in light color. Everything does seem more crisp.
Yes, my shed is a disaster zone. There is simply too much stuff in too small of a space.
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...
Henry David Thoreau
Crazyjake8493
Well-known member
Even with the help of one of the workers climbing up and down the ladder, searching everything he could find, we couldn't find any 4-packs of the 4000K bulbs. Ended up buying a 16-pack for $17.23. $1.07 per bulb. The original price was $68 or so.
They seem to be slightly longer than they should be. They were a VERY tight fit. Perhaps that's why they're on clearance?
In our area they're on clearance because almost all bulbs there have been switched from Utilitech to GE, with a few Sylvania CFL bulbs remaining.
Crazyjake8493
Well-known member
That's probably why so many of them are left over on clearance everywhere. Everyone wants to switch T12 over to LED, if they have T8 they're usually not in such a big hurry to switch, and if you're keeping the ballast then how much are they really gaining.
They had ballast-bypass LED tubes at one point, sku 778115. I looked all over for them on clearance but the stores that said they had them couldn't find them anywhere.
I bought them due to me slowly converting my 8ft T12 fixtures to 4 bulb T8 fixtures. The 5k T8 bulbs are about $4 each. These were only $1.25, so I saved a little. Using an Android lux app, the led bulbs are slightly dimmer than the fluorescent bulbs, but I can't tell by looking at them.
The ballast in the LED conversion as very little effect..........the experts have spoken on this topic in the forum dozens for times.
Real number wattage is normally cut in half and the light output numbers might increase by 20%........very dependent on the bulbs ....regular run of the mill drop in LED bulbs.
The spec on these bulbs are not too bad at 114 lumens per watt
Brightness: 1600 lm
Estimated yearly energy cost: 1.69 (based on 3 hours per day, 11 cents/kWh, costs depend on rates and use)
Life: 20,000 hours
Light appearance: 4000K (Bright white)
Energy used: 14 W (replaces a typical 32 watt fluorescent T8 lamp)
Lumens per watt: 114
Uses 56% less energy compared to a standard fluorescent lamp
Ideal for recessed troffer, wrap fixtures, under cabinet fixtures, sealed fixtures, deep cell troffer and strip/shop fixtures
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You're entitled to your opinion, of course.
Both technologies are valid and have their own pros and cons. Ballasted tubes are outselling bypass tubes by a good margin. If I got my crystal ball working, I think it would say that this will continue until such time as the fixture gets replaced entirely.
CD
The ballast is just another failure point. The (slight) increase in efficiency is just a side benefit.
And the far bigger pont is: No where in the description or specs does it say ballast bypass or not. You have to read the Q&A to find the answer to that question. Lowes should have made it clearer; bad on them.
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Led is the future. Flor isn't. Which means ballasts isn't. Pretty simple concept.
But that's the beauty of a free market: We each get to spend our $$$ as we see fit.
Maybe not as simple a concept as you think....
Nearly every LED fixture has a ballast, although now it's called a driver, and will have for years to come. So, yes, ballasts (drivers) are very much in the future. If you consider it a failure point, then it's the same failure point as fluorescent.
FWIW, there is a third kind of LED tube beside the ballasted and the non-ballasted. It uses an external driver to replace the existing ballast. It's the most efficient system and is extremely popular with large retail chains, colleges, and many others. In this case, they dont bypass, they actually add in a new driver, which you might consider a point of failure. Counter-intuitive?
CD
I think most people that can change T8 tubes, doesn't necessary knows how to wire a ballast bypass.... that is probably one of the main reason these LED tubes are popular, but not necessary better, just direct replacement. Especially with these ballast bypass T8 LEDs there are single end and dual end gets people even more confused. As far as efficient, there are always that lost at the driver/traditional magnetic ballast...I think some people plug it into their "Save a watt" or "kill a watt meter" to proof ballast was drawing some energy with the with/without comparison on energy usage. I dunno, if it is significant enough for some people to go through the trouble of cutting it out... I doubt a lot of folks would do it. Even I was hesitate until my ballast went... But after the first fixture, the rest is took about 15 minute or less each... very simple to do.
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Purchased 4 pack. 4000k temp.
Replaced the T8 bulbs in Menards “premium” shop light
Sylvania T8 3 years old unknown hours measured LUX values at fixture to bench distance 48”:
T8. 434 LUX
LED 537 LUX
23.7327% increase
No attempt to measure beam angle or LUX at other angles other than general bench top below the fixture.
122.8 volts
T8 amp draw .73
LED amp draw .54
26.0274% decrease
Are they best LED bulbs ever ? .....not likely but at $1.25 each they maybe a good value if the last. Only time will tell on longevity.
Note:
Tried the LED in T12 fixture they do not function. Bulbs are marked as T8 direct replacement.
Replaced the T8 bulbs in Menards “premium” shop light
Sylvania T8 3 years old unknown hours measured LUX values at fixture to bench distance 48”:
T8. 434 LUX
LED 537 LUX
23.7327% increase
No attempt to measure beam angle or LUX at other angles other than general bench top below the fixture.
122.8 volts
T8 amp draw .73
LED amp draw .54
26.0274% decrease
Are they best LED bulbs ever ? .....not likely but at $1.25 each they maybe a good value if the last. Only time will tell on longevity.
Note:
Tried the LED in T12 fixture they do not function. Bulbs are marked as T8 direct replacement.
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I had the opposite happen. I installed the LUX app from the Play Store. I left my phone laying in the bench and never moved it. Using fluorescent lights (5000k), I measure 655 LUX from a 4 bulb T8 fixture. Installed the LED bulbs (5000k) and measured 560 LUX. I couldn't tell the difference by looking at the bulbs. I actually changed the bulbs twice just to double check. The bulbs are cheaper and I can't tell a difference, so I'll use them until I run out.
One explanation for the difference is the age of the T8 ........that’s why I noted the age of my old T8.
In theory the LED are rated at less lumens than a NEW T8. So overall output should be less but there are many variables in play........especially beam angle and fixture design. The “premium” shop light fixture brag about more light directed to the work area.
Zaxxn
Well-known member
Hmmmm...guess I acted a little too fast on them - picked up a few 16-packs thinking they could be direct wired without ballast since they listed 120V / 14W in the specs. I wonder if they take clearance items back. Doubt it. Might have to find someone that has a use for them.
--ZAx
--ZAx
n20junkie
Well-known member
The last set of those I got from Lowes had a fast flicker to them and I had to return.
If your going to stock up, make sure they work in your fixtures. You don't want a pile sitting there and then realize in a year that they don't work.
If your going to stock up, make sure they work in your fixtures. You don't want a pile sitting there and then realize in a year that they don't work.