LED Flourescent Lights

[SI86]

Anyone every use these LED fluorescent Lights?? They look like they just take place of the standard fluorescent bulb. But also cost a lot more.


What do you guys think?

 

[jes_si]

I dont own any but they looked really bright at home depot lol If it didnt have such a big price tag I would get it lol.

 

[The Cobbler]

The ones I looked at on line were not really direct replacement, you had to disconnect the ballast . yes, they are very expensive

 

[breeaad]

My company has distribution centers with these in them. They are so bright that the fork lift drivers wear tinted safety glasses. They hurt my eyes every time I look up, and they are 60 ft in the air. Seems like it would be worse in a garage.

 

[2ManyProjects]

Anyone every use these LED fluorescent Lights??

Well first, the phrase "LED fluorescent Lights" is an oxymoron. There is literally no such thing.

There ARE pseudo-"T8" inserts based on LEDs, designed to be retrofitted into fixtures which normally use fluorescent tubes.

They look like they just take place of the standard fluorescent bulb. But also cost a lot more.

It's not that simple.

First, the fixtures need to be re-wired so as to eliminate the ballast (which is a fluorescent-only item).

Second, you need to consider the specific characteristics of the particular inserts you're talking about. There are easily dozens, if not hundreds, of different ones floating around out there; and their performance, quality & costs (both initial and operating) vary all over the map -- and that's when you can even GET reliable photometric data on whichever ones you happen to be looking at ("they looked really bright at Home Depot" tells you exactly NOTHING).

And finally, you need to do a REAL cost/benefit analysis, to determine how long it will take to recoup your investment in the form of reduced operating costs. And again, without RELIABLE photometric data, that is impossible.

What do you guys think?

I think that LEDs are over-hyped as the "flavor-of-the-month panacea" solution to the Federal government's prematurely legislating most conventional incandescent lamps out of existence. LED has its place (particularly low-intensity "accent" lighting, control indicators, and ultra-low-voltage applications); and eventually, it MIGHT prove worthy for general-purpose lighting applications. But so far, it's just not "there" yet.

Note that LEDs are often perceived (due in part to the over-hyping) as being hugely more efficient than fluorescent lighting. For the most part, that "popular" reputation is simply NOT deserved. At best, they are marginally (maybe 10-20%) more efficient than the best fluorescent tubes in terms of lumens/watt, but so initially expensive that the payback "break-even" point occurs along about the 12th of never.

Often, LEDs are even LESS efficient than fluorescent. Witness the often-discussed Lithonia IBH 11L (http://www.lithonia.com/commercial/led+bay+lighting.html and http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-2-ft-White-LED-High-Bay-Light-IBH-11L-MV/203812710), which claims 11,200 lumens from 150 watts, for just under 75 lumens/watt. Compare that to a run-of-the-mill F54T5HO fluorescent tube at ~5,000 lumens out of a nominal 54 watts (92.6 lumens/watt).

And that F54T5HO tube costs about $3.00.

 

[rlitman]

Note that LEDs are often perceived (due in part to the over-hyping) as being hugely more efficient than fluorescent lighting. For the most part, that "popular" reputation is simply NOT deserved. At best, they are marginally (maybe 10-20%) more efficient

Too true. LED only has a huge advantage in efficiency when it is monochromatic (such as in traffic lights). When you're talking "white" light, the efficiency compared against fluorescent just isn't worth making the jump.
And for street lighting where color isn't as important, sodium lighting still has greater efficiency.

But that doesn't mean that there aren't other reasons to choose LED.

LED is instant on. Full brightness right away. Always. Maybe a fluorescent is instant on, but it starts out dimmer, and over time that instant on doesn't work so good any more. When you find yourself leaving fluorescent lights on for hours so they're bright when you walk in the garage door, LED efficiency suddenly looks better than the numbers on paper against fluorescent.

LED works in the cold when fluorescent doesn't (or when cold weather fluorescents take a while to warm up to full brightness). I've been seeing LED lighting under gas station canopies, and the improvement there is amazing.

LED may be dimmable. Ok, so not all LED is, but dimmable LED vs dimmable fluorescent. You can't even begin to compare. Dimmable LED works. Dimmable fluorescent just plain *****.

LED has a longer lifetime, and works in any orientation.
Fluorescent bulbs are supposed to last 3000-12000 hours (cold cathode bulbs last longer), but I've had a lot of curlicue bulbs die in way less than that when installed tip down (hi-hat reflector bulbs). Tip down, fluorescent lifetime can be halved. LED even outlasts LPS (30000 hour bulbs) used in that awful yellowish street lighting. With the cost of replacement being what it is with union labor, I'm not too surprised that I've started to see LED street lighting being put into use lately.
For a place where getting to the fixture is difficult, LED may just be a great choice.