LED Fluorescent Lights

DWalt

DWalt

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Has anyone ever tried replacing 4' fluorescent tubes with 4' LEDs? There is some minor re-wiring needed (mainly bypassing the ballast). I ordered some off eBay last night to try them - not too expensive, about $12/tube including shipping. I have several fluorescent fixtures in my house that are very difficult to reach, and thought these LEDs would be pretty much "lifetime" replacements in those locations.

By the way, I have replaced 8 incandescent lightbulbs with LED bulbs, and am very pleased with them - just wish they were brighter than 60 Watt equivalent light output. One of the local supermarkets had them on sale for around $2 each awhile back. There are even dimmable LED bulbs, but I have not tried any of those yet.
 
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I bought two at Home Depot for 9 bucks a piece to replace 2 fluorescent tubes that started flickering. I bought the Phillips Daylight bulbs and couldn't believe how much brighter they were. They also run cool and use the same ballast in the light fixture. I was so impressed I replace all of the other fluorescent bulbs in my house with LED's, 12 total. A bit expensive, but they should last forever and they give off better light, plus save a bit on the electric bill.

Just checked the HD web site and now they are on sale....figures, I paid the $9.97 price!

Philips 4 ft. T8 17-Watt Daylight Linear LED Light Bulb-456608 - The Home Depot
 
A buddy has some 8'ers in his shop. I liked them and plan to order both 4' and 8' for my house and shop.
He said that they have both single and dual pin design and he didn't have to change bulb receps, only wire around the older mechanical ballasts. I'm assuming the same for electronic ballasts?
ETA:
Locally the 4' are $14 so thanks Lee for the HD link.
 
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Cheap ones don't last. I guess the circuits go bad. I see this in traffic signals all the time. Half the LEDs are out. I've had flashlight LEDs and car marker LEDs go bad. Adjust your expectations accordingly.


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I've been gradually replacing all the bulbs in the house with LEDs. I have had only one failure and it was some off brand I grabbed somewhere real cheap. I haven't found affordable replacements for the little halogen bulbs I have in one strip of track lights, but I bet they're out there. We can beef all we want about being forced to switch from incandescent bulbs, but LEDs are light years ahead and clearly superior. If I want to express my disfavor with the powers that be it'll not be by intentionally sticking with horse and buggy tech. Saw the 4' replacements at Costco. The only place I have flourescent is in my wife's painting studio and we'll replace those with LEDs as they go out.
 
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I think LEDs make a lot of sense now that the price has dropped to reasonable levels. When they first hit the market, they were so expensive I couldn't imagine anyone would buy them, but that seems to have changed. Cool (relatively), less power, last far longer (at least they are supposed to), and at present, reasonably priced. What could be wrong with that? I like the LED bulbs far more than compact fluorescents. They just need to be brighter, but OK in many applications.
 
Just got home from HD...bought 4 more for my shop at the sale price. My older ones are 8 months old and still as bright as the new ones. They are instant on with no flickering.
 
I have a compact fluorescent bug light by one door that I can tolerate leaving it on. It's a few years old.

Usually I get a old fashion bulb for the door I use the most because the C.F. seems to go out pretty quickly if it's cycled to much.

The other day I was at the home improvement store and they had neither.

So I bought an L.E.D. I really like it and hope it lasts. If it does I'll get more and replace the one I leave on all of the time when it goes.

I guess this has little to do with the original question but I drifted.
 
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I grabbed a couple of the 4' LEDs from Costco to use over the gun bench. Simple plug and play - couldn't be happier. They are more durable, brighter, instant on and don't "hum". Hope they last.
 
DWalt said:
By the way, I have replaced 8 incandescent lightbulbs with LED bulbs, and am very pleased with them - just wish they were brighter than 60 Watt equivalent light output. One of the local supermarkets had them on sale for around $2 each awhile back. There are even dimmable LED bulbs, but I have not tried any of those yet.
Click to expand...

You won't find the good stuff at a supermarket. You need to go to Lowes, Home Depot.... etc.

Color temperature is a big deal to me. All you'll find at supermarkets is 2700K, the yellowish "warm" light. I like at least 4200K or higher, the "cool blue" light.

I have a couple 4700K LED tubes in my garage. Love 'em! :D
 
I replaced the florescent with a 4' Led unit for $30+ and it is a 55,000 hour fixture, and is half again brighter than the old fixture. Operates on pennies, so I am well pleased. I have 7 4' florescent units in my basement, and will gradually replace them also.
 
My 4' LED tubes arrived today, and I converted one old fluorescent fixture successfully as an educational exercise. I did find out that there are at least two types of LED tubes, and the ballast bypass wiring is different for each. There were no installation instructions (just a crude, worthless drawing) which came with the tubes I bought, so I had to consult YouTube as to how to tell the difference. Dozens of "How-to" videos on swapping fluorescent tubes with LEDs are to be found there, far better than using an instruction sheet.
 
Just like the compact fluorescents.....

DWalt said:
Has anyone ever tried replacing 4' fluorescent tubes with 4' LEDs? There is some minor re-wiring needed (mainly bypassing the ballast). I ordered some off eBay last night to try them - not too expensive, about $12/tube including shipping. I have several fluorescent fixtures in my house that are very difficult to reach, and thought these LEDs would be pretty much "lifetime" replacements in those locations.

By the way, I have replaced 8 incandescent lightbulbs with LED bulbs, and am very pleased with them - just wish they were brighter than 60 Watt equivalent light output. One of the local supermarkets had them on sale for around $2 each awhile back. There are even dimmable LED bulbs, but I have not tried any of those yet.
Click to expand...

I always bought compact fluorescents one wattage up for an incandescent bulb, and I do the same with the LEDs.

I did go a little overboard. I put 100 w LEDs in some yard fixtures and it looks like the sun. I think it would interfere with some animal's navigation.
 
Lee in Quartzsite said:
Geez, I just took out the old bulbs and installed the new ones and turned them on. Didn't know I needed to watch YouTube......
Click to expand...

There is a type of LED tube which allegedly works with the ballast wired in place, but the standard procedure is to remove it. One video mentioned that using a ballast in conjunction with an LED tube uses much more power. True or not I have no idea. I did not try an LED tube with the ballast in place so I don't know if that works with the tubes I have. It's maybe a 10-minute job to remove the ballast and do a little wiring modification for the LED tube. Actually, the ballast can be left in place with the wires clipped instead of being removed..
 
The reason the Philips plug and play lamps are on sale at HD is that Philips discontinued them. Philips won't say it but too many returns. Better to buy the line voltage lamps and do the minor rewire. There are too many varieties of florescent ballast out there to make plug and play viable for now. They might work fine in most applications but maybe not in yours. The most common prproblem is shorter than expected life.
Speaking of LED lamp life; its true that the LED's will run for many thousands of hours.
The drivers (the electronic part that makes the system work) won't last nearly as long. Heat is their enemy. If you were to look at purpose built LED fixtures, they have large heat sinks as part of the design.
LED technology is evolving so rapidly. Fixture design cycles are measured in months not years.
 
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"...they have large heat sinks as part of the design."

The tubes I bought have a sort of thin aluminum integral reflector(?) running the length of the tube. Is that a heat sink or what? Would the LEDs produce enough heat to shorten the driver life?
 
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