If you find a therapy group for this same observation I am having, I will car pool with you.
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Let there be Light
- Thread starter John Conroy
- Start date
If you find a therapy group for this same observation I am having, I will car pool with you.
Colten Edwards
Fabricator
goto homedepot and pick up a couple of 6500k T8/T12(depending on what you have) bulbs and replace just one set of bulbs. 6500k are ALOT brighter than all the others. it's a very sharp light unlike the 3000k bulbs which are closer to the flourescant's you already own. You'll go back to get a case pretty damn quick. The differance is like night and day. I still need to replace 8 more tubes in my shop and then I'm completely LED. A little expensive but worth it. BTW, I did nothing to my fixtures. The old ballasts are still in place. The LED T12's plugged in and worked out of the box. So far it's been a year since I started replacing the bulbs and nothing has broken.
DPittman
Ultra Member
Ya and they keep on changing on us...just a few years ago (Maybe 5) I bought a bathroom light fixture from Home Depot and I asked about the weird bulb base/socket...."that's the new style they are going to" the sales person told me. Now I have a odd ball fixture thats hard to find bulbs for. Grrrrr.
oh ya. Got one of those too circa 2008. The ever so popular double pin & twirly bulb. Aren't those landfill unfriendly too? Another donation to the Betamax museum.
Like herding cattle to the McDonald's 'this way for a good time' door - the solution is to buy a brand new Chinese fixture for 49$ using 'current' light bulbs.
Like herding cattle to the McDonald's 'this way for a good time' door - the solution is to buy a brand new Chinese fixture for 49$ using 'current' light bulbs.
I bought a bunch (12 in my garage) of the Costco LED replacement tubes for my old school T12 fluorescent fixtures in my garage. The instructions say they are plug and play with T8 ballasts. T12 ballasts have a higher starting voltage than T8 ones but it's been 2 years and the LED tubes are still going strong and I use them a lot. They use 18 watts per tube instead of 40 that the T12's used. They cost about $19 each. Side benefits (beside half the power consumption) are they are way brighter and work no matter how cold it is.
News to me as well but will look into these when mine go. By then we'll probably be looking at laser retrofits though.
JC> old school T12 fluorescent fixtures in my garage. The instructions say they are plug and play with T8 ballasts.
Just so I have my terminology straight, if I have 2-tube x 48" fluorescent fixture now - those are T12?
And you're saying you just replaced tubes with LED T8 without the ballast swap & that worked ok?
I always assume you had to get a matching ballast & then you may as well get a new LED fixture.
Just so I have my terminology straight, if I have 2-tube x 48" fluorescent fixture now - those are T12?
And you're saying you just replaced tubes with LED T8 without the ballast swap & that worked ok?
I always assume you had to get a matching ballast & then you may as well get a new LED fixture.
Yes 48" T12 tubes. You can tell T12 from T8 by the diameter of the tubes. T12 are 12/8ths or 1.5" and T8 are 8/8 or 1". There are also T5 bulbs available. Anyway I wasn't sure they would work with the T12 ballasts so I only bought 2 a first. If they had failed my plan was to just return them to Costco. They didn't fail and I bought 10 more and installed them directly where the T12 tubes were and they work perfectly. 2 years later and still no failures. A couple of my buddies have done the same for a total of about 36 tubes, none have failed.
Colten Edwards
Fabricator
That's all I did. Replace the T12 bulbs I had with T12 LED's from Home Depot. I bought 6500k 2100lumen tubes which are super white and bright. 3000k is soft, whereas 5000k is natural I believe. Pic's of the box I used to replace the tubes next to them. close up of the bulb box. I don't know how old the ballasts are in my fixtures. I purchased them used for $25 from someone upgrading there basement. I've had them for 10 years.
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Dabbler
ersatz engineer
Wait - wait!
There are both kinds of LED retrofit kits available! You can get the ballast types, and till lose energy in the ballast. for a dual 40 watt ballast they consume about 8-10 watts of power. When using the LEDs at 19 watts they still use 10 watts of power, meaning almost 30% energy loss (even with net light gain).
The other kind of retrofit uses 120 volts directly to the tube, so you emiminate the ballast. these are actually slightly brighter on average than the ballasted LED tubes, and don't waste almost 10 watts per ballast. These tubes are often cheaper than the ones that jsut plug in, but require rewiring the fixture. Not a terrible burden, but still work.
I'm running 55W flat panels and 16W unballasted retrofit tubes in my shop. both work very well.
There are both kinds of LED retrofit kits available! You can get the ballast types, and till lose energy in the ballast. for a dual 40 watt ballast they consume about 8-10 watts of power. When using the LEDs at 19 watts they still use 10 watts of power, meaning almost 30% energy loss (even with net light gain).
The other kind of retrofit uses 120 volts directly to the tube, so you emiminate the ballast. these are actually slightly brighter on average than the ballasted LED tubes, and don't waste almost 10 watts per ballast. These tubes are often cheaper than the ones that jsut plug in, but require rewiring the fixture. Not a terrible burden, but still work.
I'm running 55W flat panels and 16W unballasted retrofit tubes in my shop. both work very well.
Tom Kitta
Ultra Member
I got mine at amazon.ca - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B015PCTXMI...m/images/I/91dK41VuOLL.jpg&sb-ci-a=B015PCTXMI
I got 34 tubes at 2320 lumens each buring 18w each. It is bright but not too bright. Had it for almost 2 years. Work great. Power usage is a bit high but manageable at over 600w. Total power per sq ft is around 100 - which is not bad - about average. You still need point/ task light.
Some people go 2x as much some 1/2 that. I guess its personal preference.
I got 34 tubes at 2320 lumens each buring 18w each. It is bright but not too bright. Had it for almost 2 years. Work great. Power usage is a bit high but manageable at over 600w. Total power per sq ft is around 100 - which is not bad - about average. You still need point/ task light.
Some people go 2x as much some 1/2 that. I guess its personal preference.
Chicken lights
Forum Pony Express Driver
I just got done wiring up four 4’ LED light fixtures yesterday. I’m aiming to add 3 more when I get a chance. You guys weren’t kidding on the improvement they make.
Home Depot had a box of 10 LED bulbs for $52 I think.
Home Depot had a box of 10 LED bulbs for $52 I think.
According EN 12464 Light and lighting - Lighting of workplaces -Indoor work places, the minimum illuminance is 50 lx for walls and 30 lx for ceilings. Earlier it was common with light levels in the range 100 - 300 lux for normal activities. Today the light level is more common in the range 500 - 1000 lux - depending on activity. For precision and detailed works the light level may even approach 1500 - 2000 lux.
In my shop, 20'x20', I have 14 fluorescent fixtures (28 bulbs), and I have an average light intensity of 1400 lux, (without task lights switched on.) I wish I had more light!!
In my shop, 20'x20', I have 14 fluorescent fixtures (28 bulbs), and I have an average light intensity of 1400 lux, (without task lights switched on.) I wish I had more light!!
