It does seem to depend on the site - probably the quality/stability of the electric supply.
My previous shop, a free standing shed, did have to replace tubes every year or two. My current shop is in the garage and I wired it myself. Been there 4 years and had one tube out of 18 burn out.
Don't know the color temps, but I've found the combination of a "cool white" and a GE Kitchen and Bath gives as close to "natural" light as I can get. But I suspect that everyone's conception of natural light is a little different.
I think the difference is in the continuous hours of usage. I suspect the business lights are on for 8 or more hours at a time. Residential lights are likely turned off when you leave the room, and seldom on for more than an hour or so at a time. It's the frequent starts that kill the ballast/bulb.
I like the spell checkers. Don't like those too lazy to look before sending.
That's true. It is also true that T-8 replacement LEDs emit fewer lumens than do T-8 fluorescents.
However, the fluorescent lumens are coming from all areas of the round tube while the T-8 replacement LED lumens are coming from maybe a 100 degree area of the tube which means that the light falling on an object may be very similar for both.
In reality, "lumens" is not a good way to measure the real life effectiveness of illumination. For example, if one uses diffusers on their fluorescents they are immediately losing 1/2 the light output from the tubes.
In my shop, the fluorescent lights are recessed into a cavity between the trusses. That cavity is painted white which reflects about 90 % of the light hitting it which means that I am capturing some of the lost light ffom the fluorescents that is going up/sideways (a more reflective surface could capture more). If I were to replace them with LEDs, my shop would be less bright.
How did you measure the brightness? Also, how bright and what is "daylight"? Is it sunlight? A light cloudy sky? A dark cloudy sky?
May also have to do with price/quality. As others have pointed out, the ballasts are a huge part of the equation. Last time I install florescent tubes, I didn't feel like spending 150 bucks per fixture, which is what a good commercial/industrial one can cost.
Not all LED tubes are equal, to the best of my knowledge.
Interesting observation and again, not all are the same design. However, on that tangent, I actually took the reflectors off mine because I was getting more reflection from my white ceiling than the fixture reflectors.
With my eyes. :-) I could see a lot better. Everything was lighted up with not dark spots in the room. Everyday, any time of day/night, any weather, all the time.
FWIW, in video production we considered daylight to be midday with evenly overcast skies.
Before I sold the farm I had a shop with 8 foot T12 bulbs in 7 nice fixtures -2 bulbs each- with refective tops and they worked very well but ballast life was poor and the last time I bought bulbs I had to buy a whole box. $160 + tax.
For my new shop I bought only flush mount pure LEDs. No bulbs just a strip of LEDs rated for 30,000 hours (12W 790 lumens) and came with a
5 year guarantee. A major investment but with no bulbs to burn out and a 5 year guarantee I think I will come out ahead.Time will tell and YMMV
Jim
In my case, both sites had the cheap fixtures and tubes on sale at the Borg. In fact, most of the fixtures moved with me.
I wouldn't want 6500K for living areas but they're great for work areas, including kitchens.
"White" LEDs are actually blue, with various phosphors to convert the blue light down, much as a fluorescent. Like a fluorescent, a mix of phosphors can be used to tune the "color". Also like fluorescents, LEDs output light in narrow wavelength bands. A filter would filter these out, leaving you in the dark. ;-)
Indeed it is and our memory for such things is really lousy. The brain adjusts color of objects to match what we think they should be (automatic color balancing, if you will). This can lead to some odd effects. It's also why I can't tell the difference between black, blue, or brown sox in the morning. Blue and brown sox are banned from the house. ;-)
But 2-fold isn't anything close to the advertised life. We'll see but I *highly* doubt you're going to get 10 years, much less 20. Heat is a killer of semiconductors and those LEDs run *hot*. If you want to extend the life of the medium screw base LED "bulbs", a beer-can heatsink (cut it up to look like a fan radiating away from the base) will probably double its life.
I think you're onto something there. For the number of hours a fluorescent will run in a home, it's probably not worth the more expensive ballast.
I laugh at SWMBO's text messages. She never reads them before sending. Some are really funny.
Apples and oranges. Yes, the compact ones (why the heck are we still trying to visually imitate a century old designs is beyond me) get hot, but there's a lot more room for the electronics in the tube versions. Mine don't even run warm.
-MIKE- wrote in news:o0b4f1$2l4$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:
Inertia... The "clip on bulb" style of lamp shades have been scarce for years, and there's litterally millions of fixtures with a standard medium base out there. What worked for the old bulbs space wise will work for the new ones.
Although, for new construction a flat "pancake" style box and a shallow fixture would allow you to have "recessed" pot lights without actually recessing them. They're currently a favorite design it seems, but I'm not all that keen on them.
In one library (bathroom) the new HVAC return went right over the reading chair (toilet). The light that was there was removed and I haven't been bothered enough to put one back. A flat pot light (especially one that could be surface mounted) would fit that location quite nicely. (I think I hear somebody saying "fire up Google". Yeah, I know... It's on the list.)
Puckdropper
Bright LEDs are *hot* LEDs. They go together.
Don't fool yourself. Lumens is the official international standard. The Process or setup is what you are talking about before light is measured. And what process did you use to determine the '90%' from paint. What paint color and what paint surface and .... who cares really. Just say a lot of light and you would be ok.
I have advanced work in Physics and Electronics.
Mart>> >>>> Need to add some lighting. T8 or T12? Probably going with 2-tube >>>> 4 footers.
My point is there's a lot more room for the heat to dissipate in a 4ft. tube than in a tiny little bulb-sized cluster, which would easily explain the longer life span using your criteria for the reason for failure.
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