LED Lights

[CADman]

I have some two bulb, and four bulb fluorescent fixtures. When I convert them to LED, do I replace all the bulbs or do I cut the bulb qty. in half?

Thanks,

CADman

[fixtureman]

I would replace all the bulbs

[Ohio Mike]

I have some two bulb, and four bulb fluorescent fixtures.  When I convert them to LED, do I replace all the bulbs or do I cut the bulb qty. in half?

Thanks,

CADman

Typically you replace all the tubes.  I replaced all the fluorescent bulbs with LED bulbs in my 4 foot shop lights.

You can easily do the math.  Assume that each old-fashioned 4 foot fluorescent bulb puts out an average of 2700 lumens.

Then look at the specs of the replacement bulbs you are considering and check the lumens.  In my case, the new LED's were 2200 lumens each so I lost some light by converting.

But the color of my new 5000k LED's is so much whiter,  the shop looks brighter.

Mike

[FireWood]

Typically you replace all the tubes.  I replaced all the fluorescent bulbs with LED bulbs in my 4 foot shop lights.

You can easily do the math.  Assume that each old-fashioned 4 foot fluorescent bulb puts out an average of 2700 lumens.

Then look at the specs of the replacement bulbs you are considering and check the lumens.  In my case, the new LED's were 2200 lumens each so I lost some light by converting.

But the color of my new 5000k LED's is so much whiter,  the shop looks brighter.

Mike

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B078...UTF8&psc=1

Someone on the forum recommended these a while back and I got a set to replace some aging flourescents.  I don't know if they are really 4800 lumens, but the are definitely brighter than what they replaced.

at $100 for 6, it's an easy decision to replace the whole fixture rather than mess around with ballasts or conversion bulbs.  

Dang, I just talked myself in to buying more.  

[K. L. McReynolds]

When we moved into our current home, all the electrical fixtures were original(1965 vintage).

In the garage and the basement(suspended ceilings) were 4' twin florescent fixtures that were probably newer, but still old. I replaced all the screw in bulb fixtures, but left the tube type. Over the next ten to eleven years, I spent a lot of money replacing tubes. I finally called that quits and began replacing the entire fixture with LED 24" fixtures that provided better(whiter) and brighter light. Made much better sense, spending about $12-$25 a fixture and seldom needing replacement.

I installed a six bulb chandelier in the dining area and used 60w bulbs. I just replaced those with 40w(equivalent) screw in LED bulbs---better(whiter) and just as bright.

The kitchen got two 3 bulb ceiling mount fixtures and changing the bulbs to LED was a HUGE improvement.

[paulmaine]

Regarding shop fixtures-the inexpensive 2 bulb florescent tube fixtures I had with built in pull string switches had a real problem.  The cheap switches went bad easily. Buying a new fixture was easier than fixing the switch.  The moral is any new LED fixture you put in should have no built in switch. You buy a separate decent pull cord switch which is easy to change.   With luck when your shop was wired one master switch was turned on/off it controls all the lights you are using at one time. 

Paul in mid-coast Maine

[Wild Turkey]

I just finished converting some fluorescent fixtures to LED bulbs.

One comment first -- folks don't realize how much fluorescents output drops as they age, so replacing old tubes with new LED's of the same lumen rating will probably give you more light just because of the age of the old tubes -- especially if they're black at the ends.

Some of the 20+ year old 4-tube fixtures had two ballasts, and some only had one.  

It was quick work to clip wires at ballast, strip and wire-nut the wires together (black to yellow, white to other wires) and replace bulbs.  Much better than replacing old fixtures which were wrapped with wood trim.  

When you replace the tubes with 110 volt LED tubes and bypass/remove the ballast you can replace just some of the tubes, but why?

[rwe2156]

I have some two bulb, and four bulb fluorescent fixtures. When I convert them to LED, do I replace all the bulbs or do I cut the bulb qty. in half?

Thanks,

CADman

Put 2 in and see how it looks. Its going to depend on the lumens and kelvin color.

You may find you only need 2.

I'm in the process of replacing 20 8 footers in my shop, so far I've only done 2 and the difference is so amazing I'm thinking of skipping every other fixture.

[MarilynDutil]

I don't know what I can add to this post, but I'll just say what I know. LED bulbs should be selected not by power but by the light flux they can produce. This indicator (in lumens) must be indicated on the lamp packaging. Not all LED bulbs can be connected via light-regulating dimmers. And for those that can be connected, special design dimmers are required. That's why I still haven't chosen which LED bulb to buy and settled on smart strip lights because I know it'll look good if you hang it around the whole room. Moreover, I'm confident in the good quality of these strips.

SPAMMER ACCOUNT LOCKED

[EightFingers]

Only capacitors produce flux…..