I've got a 5 foot T12 fluorescent tube in my utility room that needs to be replaced. It's a 65W tube (marked F65W / 54-765 / RS) that gives 4200 lumens when new according to the specification.
I was considering a T8 battern with LED replacement tube, but it seems these have now been superceeded by integrated LED battern fittings. Not a problem if the integrated LEDs & driver last for years, but I'm a bit wary as I've had a few LED candle bulbs fail within a year with occasional use despite being rated for 20,000 hours.
What's the group's recommended modern option for T12 fluorescent tube replacement? Any types or brands to look to or to steer clear of?
For the low power (candle bulb) type, they can use a "capacitor dropper" method. Which is unregulated. Since any sort of line transient can damage such a product, you would not expect it to reach 20,000 hours.
Modern LED bulbs, use an SMPS (switched mode power supply) in the base. These aren't exceptionally reliable either. And such a thing might fail before the 25,000 hours is up. To handle this, in the specs it will say "rated for 50,000 starts", which helps to describe the root cause of potential failures. It implies more stress is present during starting (inrush current into the front end of the SMPS). I don't consider this when flicking a light switch, because it would take quite a while to get to 50,000.
I see no reason to ascribe "candle bulb" reliability to anything except candle bulbs. The candle bulb is its own animal, separate from others. It trades exceptionally low RF output, for increased susceptibility to damage.
There will be plenty of web pages out there, describing "plug and play" replacements (zero labor, less efficient) as well as replacement strategies (replace ballast, bypass ballast, replace fixture, use entirely different LED solution, more energy efficient if anyone cares). Then, not only must you consider colour temperature and lumen output, but how the product is fitted to the room.
I have the same issue on my low priority list. I think it was John Rumm a little while ago recommending the "flat panel" units for kitchens, etc.
I'm sure Paul was trying to be helpful, but a post saying "There's lots of options" and then a link saying "There's lots of options" wasn't what I was hoping for either :-)
I've moved to rectangular LED panels in the kitchen, utility and larder
- they look great (as in, they don't attract attention) and the diffuse light is excellent. They're fairly cheap so, before committing, I bought one and lashed it up to see whether SWMBO liked the result - a win!
LED Flat panels - thanks, I hadn't considered those. I'll add them to my list of options.
I think sometimes it's the case that there are lots of options though. In these cases I prefer articles that detail the options so I can determine the best one for my situation rather than "salesy" articles that say "this is the best option for all use cases".
It's very little work. The frame is held by 4 screws and the power supply sits in the space between the panel and the ceiling. The panels are so light that fixings don't need to be in timber. Simply remove the existing light fitting, connect the little power supply, fix three sides of the mounting frame to the ceiling, slide-in the panel, tap on the last side. Admire the light, bask in DIY-god glory and wonder why you didn't do it earlier ;-)
But what if you don't want to remove a fitting and have to repaint and decorate everything as were it is was never painted. Can one still, for example get the led conversion kits that one could continue to use the old Thorn single and double fittings with 40 watt tubes but with LEDs instead of the now obsolete tubes. (the fat ones) Brian
+1 for the light weight and fitting to plasterboard. I got two of these
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replace single 4ft flourescents - the only downside was that the flourescents were cabled from the underside, at the centre, whereas the leds were wired from the end, so not quite as easy, or as like-for-like, as I'd expected. I've had integral led light fittings for several years, and none of them have failed, neither have any recent led 'bulb' purchases. (But earlier generations did fail in some fittings.)
There's a variety of cheap 'linkable' LED battens, eg:
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others:
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They appear to be LED tape/PCB on the chassis which forms a heatsink. They're interesting in that they can be easily daisy-chained.
Although it seems there's not much standardisation of the (moulded) connectors and the interconnection cables are short (under 1m). So if you want to extend them you need to cut one in half and junction box both ends, which is a bit annoying.
For the loft, I'm actually tempted to buy more lights to save having to junction box. At £5 a light that's not implausible.
Many of my light fittings are of the panel type. All mine are surface mount (mounted beneath a flat ceiling) but I have different designs including "designer" type more suited for living rooms.
Also consider the colour temperature of the LEDs. Although this is down to personal preference I like cool/daylight/blue LEDS for places I'm working such as a kitchen. I also prefer this end of the spectrum for when I'm reading as it gives better contrast to the page. In my main living room I have a large circular panel where the colour temperature can be changed.
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