Who has upgraded to LED Fluorescent light tubes . I have 4 buildings to do

[CDN-VT]

 T8 LED Light Tube, 4ft, 22W(48W Equivalent) 2310 Lumens, 6000K Daylight, Single-Ended Power Frosted Cover, that uses non shunted  and removes the ballast seems to be the most efficient.
I have done the house , and the China bought stuff toasted out , So i bought all Bosch German type & 4 years later were still great.
My shops are 15 8 foot units(200W/lamp)  (hanger) 20 4foot(100W/lamp)  (wood, garden shed,electrical/auto & barn).
Im thinking if I supply them with 220Vac I get a better wave & more efficient.

They rate them as 100Vac-277Vac .
During the summer the lights are on when Im trying to keep my fingers still attached or working in them, come the winter they are on when Im in the shop/ s.

I see many on Amazon /E-bay but im thinking many are selling offshore ready to toast out after a few months.
This will be expensive , I know

Thanks for any direction Or  !

VT

[mike90045]

Lumens per watt, is about even now Fluorescent vs LED  ( 85 Lumens per watt)

PLASMA Lamps @ 114 L per watt  (Light Emitting Plasma (LEP))

LED lifetime is getting better

But the driver circuit/ballast is going to be the energy factor.    Cheap systems have very low power factor
so that your 22w light will really be pulling 35w.  Get enough crummy ballasts together and you overload the
system.
nice  (long) article :
http://www.screenlightandgrip.com/html/emailnewsletter_generators.html#anchorPrinciples%20of%20Operation

images illustrates the poor power factor:

[CDN-VT]

Thanks Mike, Lots of good info .
I watched / read a few things about Titan LED USA built & all .




The favorite analogy electricians like to use to explain these terms is that if Apparent Power is a glass of beer, Reactive Power is the foam that prevents you from filling it up all the way, so that you are left with less beer or Ture Power. In other words, the thirst-quenching portion of your beer is represented by KW in the figure above. The foam is represented by KVAR. The total contents of your mug, KVA, is this summation of KW (the beer) and KVAR (the foam). In our beer mug analogy, Power Factor (P.F.) is then the ratio of Beer (True Power) to the entire volume of the mug (beer plus foam or Apparent Power.)

Thus, for a given KVA: the more foam you have (the higher the percentage of KVAR), the lower your ratio of KW (beer) to KVA (beer plus foam). Thus, the lower your power factor. Or, the less foam you have (the lower the percentage of KVAR), the higher your ratio of KW (beer) to KVA (beer plus foam). In fact, as your foam (or KVAR) approaches zero, your power factor approaches 1.0. When lights with a low power factor are used, a generator must be sized to supply the apparent power (beer plus foam), even though only the beer (true power) counts as far as how much actual drinking is possible.

Edit add , took me awhile to find the video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icoObJaZJSE

https://youtu.be/icoObJaZJSE?t=1m56s

Start at 1:56  and owner states SMD (Surface Mounted  Diode )with a "Smart Driver" with a PF of .9 !!
So  thats what I have so far , but reading your link Mike looks like there is lots to learn,

He said his 4 foot tubes were in the 73-78 $ range .

VT

[russ_drinkwater]

Hi,
I have fitted 10 led fluro tubes with their ballast free frames in my house and my sons as we were building it.
They are only 18watt draw and I went for the stark arctic type light as I am older an the light is "crisper".
To be honest the frames are light and super tinny and if I had not been so lazy I should have just rewired the original fluro tube frames.
The tubes are AEG and I have not had a failure since installing them.
The costs was $100 for 10 frames and $100 for 10 led tubes including postage.
Power consumption is minimal and the main feature I like is the light comes on when you switch it on and no blinking and pounding of the ballast switch is heard.
Our walls are all [painted white so the light supplied is more than adequate in the houses.
How long they will last I have no idea, but I will be buying a couple more cartons of tubes soon to store away.
That was off evil bay australia in regard to the purchase.

[CDN-VT]

Well after i bought  a few quick just swap in units , no rewiring etc
Standard t-8 in 5600K daylight units Give great light that uses 48W or 47VA on a kill-a-watt  unit using twin tubes  .

So the LED units that just pop in and the ballast stays & the tube holder (tombstones ) are not replaced .
From box stores are CRAP !!!

43 watts usages but the lamp is brown 4000k and is NOT 360* lamp ..
I gave it 120V ac & it was close to the right light & used 188 W  , got hot & smelt like done!

VT

I have the rewiring style on order , so we will see.

[ralph day]

I've used the led replacement 4foot lamps (where you need a T8 ballast) and have had no trouble with them.  36 lamps so far.  These are not cheap, $27cdn per lamp.  My experience with lighting is you get what you pay for.  Cheap cfl, cheap led, cheap fixtures = more money spent than if you bought the better stuff first time.

Ralph

[russ_drinkwater]

Ok, I bought cheaper led tubes (AEG) and my bases are super tinny!
But it has been over 18 months now and all tubes are still super crisp and bright and have performed very well.
I will be buying more of the same and storing away for the future.

[CDN-VT]

Ok, I bought cheaper led tubes (AEG) and my bases are super tinny!
But it has been over 18 months now and all tubes are still super crisp and bright and have performed very well.
I will be buying more of the same and storing away for the future.

These were Costco 2 for 27.00 beans.
Green boxes 2 tubes/box but 4900K  (yellow) or warm white .

[russ_drinkwater]

Ok,
AEG tubes 6500K stark white $10 AU a tube.
Mounts were $10 each and really light grade, but functional.
Russ

[niel]

i obtained a t8 fixture and placed 2 cheap led tubes from home depot into it last january. it's been operating just fine, but if my eyes aren't playing tricks on me i noticed a slight change in it to a slightly lower degree k temperature after about a month. i'm fine with that even if it did so as the light output is strong.

i also took a chance and replaced an old 4 tube 4ft fixture with a straight led fixture from home depot, no tubes. i'm amazed at the light output from something just under 20w. it is more shadowy due to only one line of a light source because 4 tubes eliminate shadows much better than 1 line of leds could. it's very bright and it maintained its temperature btw.

i don't remember their costs, but i was going broke replacing 4ft fluorescents constantly, not to mention failing ballasts. the leds are great and saving a tad of electric is good too.

[russ_drinkwater]

It has been over 2 years for me and not one problem or tube failure!
I am super happy to say the least.
Love that instant light when the switch is tripped and no waiting for the pulsing to stop and wonder if the tube is actually going to fire up!

[CDN-VT]

Agreed , But If i buy , I need to make sure .
I did LED 6 years + ago & the china stuff was 50/50 & then i went looking into house dead draw (doorbells & built in vacuums plus ) Dropped 50 watts for something we never used.

[russ_drinkwater]

Can only say what I have experienced. As I said before I will be buying a couple more boxes (20 tubes) and another 10 mounting frames.
Spares and kit part of mum's house out as well.

[CDN-VT]

Thanks Russ & Neil
I bought a few straight NO Ballast units from USA suppliers & a few Titan ones (expensive ) BUT !! Im looking for low watt draw & power factor plus nice ugly bright 6000K light . This is for my wood shop & my Hanger mechanical shop 10Ksq'  that needs to be well lit . Still have all digits & opposing thumbs.. then I'll do the tractor / garden shed and the other out buildings .
Trying to idle the ranch down to 300w/off mode , getting close

[russ_drinkwater]

At my age everything idles back a bit except for my desire for things that cost more cash than I have had before!
Enjoy your 18 watt draw lights!