LED tube replacement

[SUNRAY]

Been done to death but...

Our kitchen has 3 5ft flou fittings in a line above the suspended ceiling used as a two and a one and time to replace the tubes, actually one failed to strike properly last week so replaced with one retained from last change.

So time for a change to LED? Until recently I have failed to see any advantage, only disadvantage... However I recently replaced a 2ft fitting (Failed magnetic) with 2ft LED from Lidl and oh boy it's good, the 9W knocks spots of the 18W fluo and I'm waiting for them to comeback in the store to replace another.

Moving on I got a VTAC 5ft tube 20W 2100LM 6500K (Toolstation) and replaced the fluo in the kitchen. Dingy doesn't go anywhere near the description, removing the prismatic tiles makes virtually no difference. For a Zoom meeting the light level was so poor the video was too noisy so I replaced the old darkened ends tube. Looking directly at he lights the LED looks to be very much brighter than the fluo but I don't know how much of that is due to colour cast.

My question is simply: I hear so many say how good, how bright LED tubes are, what brands are you using and what colour?

 

[RandomGrinch]

5ft 24w LED Fluorescent Tube - Daylight - 4000 Lumens | LEDlite (LTT524HDL)

It's in my loft, a tad brighter than the 58W tube it replaced, and I like the daylight tone.

 

[flameport]

I have said this before - but unless someone is desperate to keep the old fittings, sling them away and buy new dedicated LED battens. Decent ones which will have full specifications and photometric data available before purchase so you know exactly what you are getting in terms of colour temperature, light output and quality.

Replacement tubes are a total lottery as to what you get and whether they will work in existing fittings without rewiring. They are also compromised in terms of cooling due to the form factor.

 

[ericmark]

The LED tube I got sends out light in one direction only, 90º to direction of the two pins, I remember my father-in-laws old house with recessed fluorescent fittings and I am assuming you have the same problem as he would have had in that the tube faces in the wrong direction.

The fluorescent is wired like this

when you fit a LED it is like this

the ballast just warms up and does nothing, so better simply shorted out, many show feed to one end only

but this means if tube fitted wrong way around it is a short circuit. I would think a strip light would work better, these can be placed so light is in correct direction I assume your looking for something like this? However my problem was the driver or power supply is often built into a plug.

I had a problem lighting my living room, and I have a collection of lights from ceiling to display cabinet, to up-lighters and reading lamps, and using a number of lights together there is enough light, but clearly when entering or leaving the room one wants to turn multi lamps on/off, I got around the problem by using smart controls, but it was not cheap.

I have two of these at 17 watt, £25, 1500 lumen each colour changing but the 5 foot fluorescent is around 5500 lumen so to get that amount of light takes some doing. My son replaced one 5 foot fluorescent with 14 down lights, I would think around 3.5 watt each, so 49 watt instead of 58 watt, not much of a saving.

I got a couple of these from Lidi and they seem very good, but never seen them for sale again.

 

[Sureitsoff?]

I also used v-tac tubes above a suspended ceiling and am very pleased so unless you have a duff one I can't understand why you think it's dingy.

Edit... Is the ceiling painted white or just plaster coloured? It makes a big difference.

 

[SUNRAY]

I also used v-tac tubes above a suspended ceiling and am very pleased so unless you have a duff one I can't understand why you think it's dingy.

Well at 2100lm compared to 5000lm or so I'm really not surprised we noticed the difference

Edit... Is the ceiling painted white or just plaster coloured? It makes a big difference.

It had a fresh coat of white emulsion just before we decided to fit the suspended ceiling albeit a number of years ago but yes white.

I have said this before - but unless someone is desperate to keep the old fittings, sling them away and buy new dedicated LED battens. Decent ones which will have full specifications and photometric data available before purchase so you know exactly what you are getting in terms of colour temperature, light output and quality.

I wish I had counted exactly how many LED fitting I have been party to restoring BACK TO fluorescent (possibly hundreds) due to the pathetic light levels and I'd guesstimate 50:50 LED battens:LED tubes (mixture of tube in old fitting/new fittings). Realistically I don't believe there had been much to chose between the different versions. I fullym understand and respect that others experiences vary.

I don't expect the spec for a tube to be a blatant lie and on that basis I expect the stated 20W 2100Lm 6500K to be somewhere near correct and I'd also expect any other products spec to be equally correct. Since posting I've borrowed an Energiser 22W 2260Lm 6500K and stated as up to 66% more energy efficient, its performance is similarly lacking compared to fluo.

I've never been able to work out how some users claim a light product quoted at half the light output of another is comparable as a replacement or manufacturers claim they are more efficient.

However as already mentioned; I was impressed recently when replacing a 2ft Fluo (1300Lm or so) with a cheap 9W 900Lm 4000K (tube appears to be branded 'Elight) unit from Lidl and assumed my experience had become redundant but this particular VTAC tube has done nothing to dispel that thought.

In this situation I'd prefer to retain the currend form factor as far as possible to avoid the large dark patch generated by the SMPS at the ends of LED battens which in my experience is greater than that of tubes although I'll not make any claim to know all fittings available.

5ft 24w LED Fluorescent Tube - Daylight - 4000 Lumens | LEDlite (LTT524HDL)

It's in my loft, a tad brighter than the 58W tube it replaced, and I like the daylight tone.

That light level is looking more like it, Thanks I'l give one a try.

The tubes we have always used in the kitchen are day light too.

 

[SUNRAY]

Yesterday I went with a colleague to a church hall, as it happens one I am familiar with which I suspect is why I was asked to go along. For 2 years people have been complaining about the lighting and just recently they lost the final day time booking because of it. Regular bookings have dropped from 22 to 10 per week and the suggestion is due to lights. The hall is 12x10m and lit by 9 6ft LED self contained battens, as recommended by some sort of churchs energy inspection to replace the 9 6ft flou fittings.

The complaints started as soon as the change was made. Even one of the church craft groups who used to get the space FOC now pay to use a different hall as they say they can't see to thread the needles. This pic was taken a year ago on a bright May day and as can be seen there are high level windows both sides (I think 3 one side 2 t'other) yesterday was a dull day and switching the lights on didn't make a dramatic difference but suspending a 4ft fluo batten half way between 2 of those did. We had the local church administrator and someone from the energy incection team there and both made an unenthusiastic sound when it was switched on.

Yesterday:

Sorry but I'm struggling to find any enthusiasm for LED space lighting.