4' LED Fluorescent Tube Replacements

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I've been wanting to replace the standard dual 4', 40 watt fluorescent lights I have in my kitchen with the newer LED bulbs. However I wasn't interested in rewiring the fixture with another ballast. That was too much of a PITA. So I kept putting it off. Now I saw these bulbs at Home Depot that will work with the standard existing fluorescent ballast. So this morning I'm going to pick up a couple and try them out.

They advertise more light with less than half the electric consumption. We'll see. I know when these things first came out they cost a fortune. (Over $70.00 a bulb). But like most electrical and electronic technology, the price drops faster than a brick in a swimming pool. $30.00 for 2 of them I can live with. Especially if they last anywhere near as long as they advertise. (50,000 hours). I'll report back after I get them up and running. If they work out, I'll replace the 2 in my garage as well.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Feit-Electri...ED-RP/206036836
 
Thanks for the info, let us know how they work.
Does show a lot of good reviews.

I could use some in the basement to replace the florescent tubes.
Having your link, I'll probably go to HD and pick one up.
Always looking for a Winter project.

I live in the cold North. Winters at 10-30* F
My florescent light in the garage would not turn on because it was too cold.
I replaced it with a LED Fixture and it works great (LED's built into fixture).

I see more and more the LED's are not replaceable, when they burn out, you replace the whole fixture.
Could be a good idea, could be bad.
 
Ballasts get HOT and waste energy. Still better than fluorescent.

Easy to remove just make sure the power is off.

Rod
 
Those look good, especially if you have existing fluorescent fixtures that you want to continue to use.

I have been buying the full LED shop light fixtures at Sams Club. They are roughly $35.00 each. They are 4,200 lumens, and use 42 watts. Operate at 5,000 K-bright white. They use a little more power than the bulbs you referenced, but also put out more light. Also, they are linkable, so you can install multiple lights on a single switch. Here is a link:

Honeywell LED Shop Light

I have been really happy with them, especially in the cold garage where the old fluorescent units didn't work well. You may want to consider them for areas where you don't have an old fluorescent fixture to retrofit.
 
OP, I bought a pair of these exact Feit replacement LED's for a 21-year-old magnetic-ballasted fluorescent fixture in my laundry room. It took longer to remove the light cover than it took to replace the tubes. They worked perfectly, provide more and brighter light, and were cheaper due to local electric company offsets. They profess to be more compatible than some of the Philips offerings, but in the end I am very pleased with the outcome.
 
Originally Posted By: lyle
OP, I bought a pair of these exact Feit replacement LED's for a 21-year-old magnetic-ballasted fluorescent fixture in my laundry room. It took longer to remove the light cover than it took to replace the tubes. They worked perfectly, provide more and brighter light, and were cheaper due to local electric company offsets. They profess to be more compatible than some of the Philips offerings, but in the end I am very pleased with the outcome.


Thanks Lyle. I'm going to pick them up as soon as my wife gets back from shopping. I'll let you know how they work out.
 
Originally Posted By: Sluggo0018
Those look good, especially if you have existing fluorescent fixtures that you want to continue to use.


That's what I want to do. The current fixture I have in the kitchen we paid a lot for, and it has a nice oak trimmed, leaded stained glass cover. So by just changing out the bulbs I can keep everything except the bulbs, and still get all the benefits and energy savings from the LED's from the same fixture.
 
I buy mine on ebay. Latest was 10 for $54 w/ free shipping. I have over 40 now of the ballast bypass type between the house & shop. If you use the ones that use the old ballast you're not getting the energy savings advertised. I replaced some 8ft tubes in the shop where it was cheaper to replace with LEDs than to buy replacement ballasts.
 
Bill, the Feit bulbs you list are rated at 1700 lumens, flourescent T8 32W bulbs run from 2600 to 2900 lumens. The others linked above rated 2100 lumens.

I bought one of the LED shop lights at Sam's Club and it lasted less than a year and it's not used much. The company sent a replacement. I've already had screw-in LED bulbs quit, not impressed so far.
 
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Bill, the Feit bulbs you list are rated at 1700 lumens, flourescent T8 32W bulbs run from 2600 to 2900 lumens. The others linked above rated 2100 lumens.


I just finished installing them. And they are MUCH BRIGHTER than the 32 W fluorescent tubes I replaced. I removed the first one and installed the LED with the standard 32 W tube still in place in the other socket. And you could noticeably see the LED was much brighter. I then installed the other. It took longer to remove, clean, and replace the cover than it did to change out the bulbs. I'm going to replace the 2, 4 footers I have in my garage next.

I purchased several "100 Watt Equivalent", (18 actual watt 1,700 lumen) screw in LED bulbs for around the house, and around my pool. And they've really improved the lighting around the whole place. It really helps to buy the, "Daylight" and not the, "Soft White". They really seem to provide a much clearer and brighter light. "Soft White" is too yellow in comparison. I even changed out the bulb on my front porch light. It has a "Dusk To Dawn" photocell that dims 10 minutes after being activated. And even after it dims down, it still lights up the whole front yard. I have a dimmer on my pool lights as well.

I bought the LED bulbs from Wal-Mart and they're dimmable. I don't know who makes them for sure. Cree I believe. But they are sold under the "Great Value" brand. And the 1,700 Lumen 18 Watt bulbs I bought sell for around $32.00 for a 4 pack. I bought at least 5 packs of them, and only had one bad one, which they promptly replaced. Last night it was 38 degrees on my thermometer, and I switched them on when I let the dog out around 4 AM. They immediately went to full brightness. In the cold weather the CFL's I had took 5 minutes or more to warm up before they went to full brightness.

I had many CFL's go bad after just a few operating hours. A neighbor of mine back in Chicago worked for Northrop. And was an electrical engineer. He told me that anytime you buy fluorescent lights, or anything electronical. To plug it in, turn it on, and leave it on for a day or longer. He claimed a lot of this stuff needed to be "burnt in". And if anything was going to fail, it would do so in it's first few operating hours. He said they bench tested all the "black boxes" that went into fighter aircraft for 40 hours straight before they installed any of it into aircraft. I don't know if it helps or not. But I always do it.
 
Installed a set of these in the kitchen last week and have nothing but good things to say. Install was super quick, color of the light was as advertised, and they are much brighter than the old tubes they replaced, regardless of what the rated lumens may have said.
 
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
Installed a set of these in the kitchen last week and have nothing but good things to say. Install was super quick, color of the light was as advertised, and they are much brighter than the old tubes they replaced, regardless of what the rated lumens may have said.


Agreed. In fact I am so pleased I went back to Home Depot and purchased 4 more for my fixture out in my garage. I had to wrestle getting the cover off. When I finally did I was surprised to find it was a 4 tube fixture, and not 2 like I had thought. The problem is 2 of the 32 W tubes were burned out, and I never even noticed. I hadn't touched that fixture for 20 years since we moved in and I installed it. (As I mentioned the cover is a PITA to get off).

So between going to LED's, and having all 4 burning instead of just 2. Along with a clean lens cover that was carrying 20 years of dirt and dust on both sides, it's now almost blindingly bright in my garage! I couldn't be happier. Plus, they'll go on without any hesitation or warm up in the cold weather. And in case anyone is interested, these are the screw in LED bulbs I've had such good luck with from Wal-Mart. They draw only 15 Watts. I incorrectly mentioned they were 18 Watts in my above post.

One thing I forgot to mention with the Wal-Mart screw in LED's, is don't try to use them in a garage door opener. I did and they must give off some kind of electronic interference. Because after I installed them, the radio transmitters wouldn't work. Only the hard wired wall mounted switch.

 
I've been holding off after dropping some dough to replace all of our 4ft flourescent tubes last October.

Glad to see ballast and non-ballast options appearing on the scene. Maybe they'll continue to get cheaper between now and the tubes bought last year going bad.

I also can't seem to find anything cooler than 5k, and with our aquariums all running 7-10k, 5k interior lights still look too yellow in comparison. I like my 6,5k 'bright daylight'
 
Menard's had a special not long ago at $99 for 20 bulbs. I have both the magnetic ballast and electronic ballast types. Normally the bulbs are $12, $15 and $18 for two bulbs depending on your wiring needs.
 
Here is a good video showing a direct comparison between the LED fluorescent replacement tubes, against the standard 32 Watt fluorescent bulbs. You can clearly see how much brighter they are.
 
I'm curious to see how these LED tubes fade in terms of color/temp rating and light output over time like fluorescents do. Obviously fluorescent does this much faster than LEDs, but the issue is still there.

As an example, I keep several aquariums with plants. Your average T5 fluorescent tube has to be replaced every 8-12 months with 8hrs/day usage. The tubes still work fine, but their output fades to the point they do nothing for the plants in the tank. I have mostly switched over to LED as well. Waiting to see how long they "last". I'm about 2yrs in with one fixture.
 
I have 24 in my home, 6 in the kitchen which are on probably 10-14 hrs a day for the past 2+ years with no apparent fade. They are equally as bright as the 4 I just installed in the entry room adjacent. I've seen no difference from the ones I bought early at $12 a tube to the $5 ones recently from ebay. The 8ft tubes I bought on ebay (4 for $86) are on 8 hrs a day 6 days a week in my shop and are still twice as bright ad the florescent tubes. I need more LEDs.
Originally Posted By: JTK
I'm curious to see how these LED tubes fade in terms of color/temp rating and light output over time like fluorescents do. Obviously fluorescent does this much faster than LEDs, but the issue is still there.

As an example, I keep several aquariums with plants. Your average T5 fluorescent tube has to be replaced every 8-12 months with 8hrs/day usage. The tubes still work fine, but their output fades to the point they do nothing for the plants in the tank. I have mostly switched over to LED as well. Waiting to see how long they "last". I'm about 2yrs in with one fixture.
 
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