Fluoresent or LED

[hllns]

LED battens can be and often are brighter than fluorescent battens of the same electrical power, As Sunray has pointed out it may that two LED battens will be needed to achieve the required illumination but the two together will take about the same electrical power as the single fluorescent batten.

https://www.lyco.co.uk/force-50w-daylight-led-batten-5ft.html being just one example.

Best to avoid low cost battens as they can be overdriven LED elements and thus short lived.

Another plus and the reason that I've replaced all the flouro fittings that were in my sheds and loft is that led fixtures tend to be a lot shorter (and in my case made of plastic). The old fixtures in the sheds were obscuring the shelves and the the ones in the loft were in danger of being broken by my head as the head height is a bit tight.

 

[scooby1]

Many thanks to all of you yet again. I have certainly learnt a lot in these last few hours. I stupidly thought that LED would be so much brighter than fluourescent and so my current intention is to return the LED batten and buy a longer fluourescent with a cable that emanates from the centre top of the unit. As can be seen I can fit it to the ceiling battens and all should be well. Thank you again for all your help. I have always received lots of help from this site for which I will be eternally grateful. Thank you.

 

[flameport]

. I automatically assumed that more lumens = brighter light.

More lumens is brighter, but whether that makes the room brighter or not depends on how the light is distributed.

I just want a brighter light and so I may just go for a longer length fluorescent than the current 1200mm.

The only sensible option is an entire new LED light fitting.
LED replacement tubes are generally rubbish as shoving LED elements into the space designed for a fluorescent tube is far from optimal and by the time the existing fitting has been rewired to accept them it would be quicker to just install an entire new one.
New fluorescent fittings can still be obtained from some places, but the tubes for them are going away in less than a year.

 

[Notch7]

one thing to consider, if the light is in a room where you might "pop" in for a few minutes at a time -like a garage or shed then LEDs are great because they have instant brightness, fluorescents take quite a few minutes to reach full output

 

[scooby1]

New fluorescent fittings can still be obtained from some places, but the tubes for them are going away in less than a year.

Crikey, does that mean that in a years time we won't be able to replace any dead Fluorescent tubes ? We have quite a few in the house and that is quite worrying.

 

[SUNRAY]

As a photographer the LED is great, it gives in the main the red, green, blue output expected from daylight. And nearly all my home is illuminated with LED. However as far as lumen per watt, LED and fluorescent are nearly the same.

Yes I am moving towards LED when existing products fail, however I'm not convinced they are the be-all and end-all that some seem to advocate, I'm certainly not finding the longevity that is being claimed.

in the main florescent and LED are on a par, so no point replacing fluorescent with LED.

Are you referring to Watt for Watt comparison or tube for tube?

 

[flameport]

Crikey, does that mean that in a years time we won't be able to replace any dead Fluorescent tubes

Yes. Circular T5 and T9 tubes, and all compact fluorescents with a plug in base such as the 2D, PL, GX24q and similar are gone from 25 February 2023.
All linear T5 and T8 fluorescent tubes gone from 25 August 2023.

After those dates, new ones can't be 'placed on the market' which puts a stop to manufacturing or importing them.
Some may still be available after that as existing stocks can still be sold, but once gone, that is the end.

They are being removed because of changes to the RoHS directive which involves the removal of products containing mercury.

 

[winston1]

As a photographer the LED is great, it gives in the main the red, green, blue output expected from daylight. And nearly all my home is illuminated with LED. However as far as lumen per watt, LED and fluorescent are nearly the same.

So to move from tungsten to LED, one 100 watt tungsten has been replaced with 8 x 6 watt LED. So moving to LED has reduced the power used by half. But the claims are well in excess of 50%, and this is compared with tungsten.

The compact fluorescent lamp CFL was a failure, we got 11 watt units to replace 100 watt, but in real terms it was a failure. And the fluorescent did not work well to being folded so the CFL was a failure since day one.

There are exceptions, the 2D seems to have worked well, but in the main florescent and LED are on a par, so no point replacing fluorescent with LED.

I don’t think CFL was a failure. The 11w size replaced 60w tungsten not 100. That is a 6 times improvement.

 

[winston1]

Yes. Circular T5 and T9 tubes, and all compact fluorescents with a plug in base such as the 2D, PL, GX24q and similar are gone from 25 February 2023.
All linear T5 and T8 fluorescent tubes gone from 25 August 2023.

After those dates, new ones can't be 'placed on the market' which puts a stop to manufacturing or importing them.
Some may still be available after that as existing stocks can still be sold, but once gone, that is the end.

They are being removed because of changes to the RoHS directive which involves the removal of products containing mercury.

Stock up now but don’t overdo it as they do actually last a long time.

 

[SUNRAY]

Crikey, does that mean that in a years time we won't be able to replace any dead Fluorescent tubes ? We have quite a few in the house and that is quite worrying.

At my current rate of fluo failure (actually replacement rather than failure) I have maybe 20 years of stock

 

[ericmark]

So the nasties in LED are OK but not those in fluorescent? So with LED we can put them in general rubbish?

 

[bernardgreen]

So the nasties in LED are OK

I wonder how much beryllia ( beryllium oxide ) used in heatsinks in LED lamps finds it's way into landfill,

https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg311.pdf

I recall an incident where transistors in a high power wireless transmitter literall burst open and the repair crew having to wear HazChem suits to carry out repairs due to the risk of exposure to beryllium

 

[winston1]

So the nasties in LED are OK but not those in fluorescent? So with LED we can put them in general rubbish?

Don’t assume those in charge know what they are doing.

 

[Alan 483256]

I've been reading this thread and I'm a bit puzzled!

A while ago, the 4' tube in my kitchen blew.
After consulting the 'experts' in my local, I replaced it with a "Philips G13 T8 LED Tube 1600lm 16W 1200mm" from Screwfix - £12.99.

It's much brighter, lights instantly and actually seems to give a better 'spread' of light.
I was so pleased with it, I replaced the 3 tubes in my garage as well, even though they didn't need it (But bought them from TLC at half of Screwfix's price)

 

[winston1]

I've been reading this thread and I'm a bit puzzled!

A while ago, the 4' tube in my kitchen blew.
After consulting the 'experts' in my local, I replaced it with a "Philips G13 T8 LED Tube 1600lm 16W 1200mm" from Screwfix - £12.99.

It's much brighter, lights instantly and actually seems to give a better 'spread' of light.
I was so pleased with it, I replaced the 3 tubes in my garage as well, even though they didn't need it (But bought them from TLC at half of Screwfix's price)

Well the facts are LED tubes give less light than florescents of the same size. Just look up the specs. But old florescents can be dim especially if you have never taken them out and cleaned them. The same thing will happen with LEDs if you don’t clean them.