Fluorescent to LED

[lostcreekranch]

They do with FM, so do my fluorescent lights.

Rusty, You might try a ferrite core around the power cord to your radio. They usually help a lot.

You need smallest one that will close around your power cord.

Here’s a pack with several sizes.

eBoot 2 Pieces Clip-on Ferrite Ring Core RFI EMI Noise Suppressor Cable Clip for 3mm/ 5mm/ 7mm/ 9mm/ 13mm Diameter Cable, Black: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

If you measure your cord diameter you might find Individual ones at a Radio Shack or similar for a couple of bucks.

I bought the Amazon set as I had a tool battery charger making noise on my shop radio.

I’ve got a pair of WorkTunes Head phones that, on AM, pick up ignition noise with Polaris Ranger and some of my Echo 2-stroke Tools. Not sure how to solve that?

 

[AWSubie]

I did not want to change out fixtures so I bought "FiveStar Lights T8 4ft 20W(60W equivalent) 6000K 2300 Lumen Brightness Dual-ended Power with flashlight LED Fluorescent Tube Replacement (Pack of 4)" on Amazon. I believe this company also makes 8 footers. Dual ended power are the cheapest but when placing the bulbs in the fixture you must not touch the pins on either side. Bypassing the ballasts only takes about five minutes per fixture (and that's if you remove the ballast completely which is what I did). They have been up for about 18 months now and I really like them. As time goes by I will replace all of my 4 ft fluorescents with these LEDs. In the upside down picture below; left fixture has fluorescent bulbs and center and right fixtures have LEDs.

 

[bunyip]

We gradually replaced all our lights in the house to LED, I don't miss the sunburnt neck from the halogens in the kitchen.
One problem I encountered, I bought a batch of globes, equal to 40w from China on Ebay and three exploded and one caught fire, I pulled out the rest and used locally supplied globes, the local ones are also made in China but unde3rgo more stringent testing to meet safety standards.
The ones that exploded I pulled apart and found that the electrolytic cap had exploded, of the ones left over I found that the electrolytic cap was rated at 100v, we run 220v yet the advertisement claimed they suitable for 110 to 220v, clearly not.
Yes, LED is brilliant (pun not intended but I will take it) but buy locally approved.
Had our house have burnt down I don't know where I would have stood in relation to an insurance claim.

 

[Rustyiron]

Rusty, You might try a ferrite core around the power cord to your radio. They usually help a lot.

My radio is a "jobsite" type Makita battery powered It seems to bother the recption rather than "noise".:confused3:

 

[lostcreekranch]

I did not want to change out fixtures so I bought "FiveStar Lights T8 4ft 20W(60W equivalent) 6000K 2300 Lumen Brightness Dual-ended Power with flashlight LED Fluorescent Tube Replacement (Pack of 4)" on Amazon. I believe this company also makes 8 footers. Dual ended power are the cheapest but when placing the bulbs in the fixture you must not touch the pins on either side. Bypassing the ballasts only takes about five minutes per fixture (and that's if you remove the ballast completely which is what I did). They have been up for about 18 months now and I really like them. As time goes by I will replace all of my 4 ft fluorescents with these LEDs. In the upside down picture below; left fixture has fluorescent bulbs and center and right fixtures have LEDs.

View attachment 534498

The pricing is interesting;

1 for $18.50 + $4.12 Shipping

10 for$180.00 + $16.08 Shipping

4 for $35.05 and Prime.

Buy 3 of the sets of 4 for 3 x $35.05 = $105.15

12 for $74.85 less than 10 for $180.00 not counting shipping.

And you get 12 free flashlights!

 

[3Ts]

Another option is to use LED strip lights. They are self adhesive, just stick them to the fixture and wire to a driver. They will need to be cut to length (can be cut every 3rd LED typically) and use wire jumpers to connect the cut strips - use as many as you want. The upside is 1) you can put in as many lights in the fixture as you want for the number of lumens you want, 2) You can use brighter strips than the one I have linked to 3) with the right driver, they are dimmable 4) with a different strip than this example, you can have different colors.

LED light strip
Amazon.com: LE 16.4ft LED Flexible Light Strip, 3 Units SMD 2835 LEDs, 12V DC Non-waterproof, Light Strips, LED ribbon, DIY Christmas Holiday Home Kitchen Car Bar Indoor Party Decoration (Daylight White): Home & Kitchen

LED Driver
LEDwholesalers 12 Volt DC Waterpoof LED Power Suppply Driver Transformer with 3-Prong Plug, 3W, 327 - Indoor Lighting Low Voltage Transformers - Amazon.com

Cut strip connectors
Amazon.com: Aiskaer 2pcs 8mm SMD 3528 LED Light Strip Connector Adapter Cable ,LED Strip Light Connectors for 3528 Single Color 8mm LED Strip (Free Welding): Home & Kitchen

Caution: I pulled these off the internet as an example. You'll have to check voltages and wattages to be sure they're compatabile. I do not use the connectors - I solder wire jumpers for a connector. It makes a more reliable and cleaner installation.

 

[LD1]

Here's a website that sells LEDs and has instructions on how to convert your fixtures eliminating the ballasts. Using this website, and going for the 2900 lumen bulbs it would cost me $281.60 to convert my shop. No labor costs. Now my question would be, how many hours of operation before I recoup that cost. Assuming I remove my current bulbs which are working fine.

Industrial LED Solution, LLC Marion NC, Quality LED tubes

A typical t8 is inThe same 2900 lumen ballpark.....and 32 watts.

So at 28 watts for the led......you are saving 4 watts. Simple math....(not accounting for power factor or anything).......is you save 4 watts per hour of run time.

50,000 life of a led bulb.....will save 200,000 watts. Or 200kwh.

My electric cost me about 12 cents per kwh. So 50,000 hrs to save $24.
So based on my electric rates of 12 cents.....20,000hrs run time is about the break even point per bulb.

On a side note.....it is nice to see that they are pushing the lumens up to at least match that of t8's.

For the longest time, the claim was that they use half the energy. Which was correct. But they only put out 60% of the light. So you had to use more of them.

Lumen for lumen.....LED's are NOT 50% more efficient. More like 10% more efficient.

People ask me all the time when they walk in my shop.....and see 10 6- bulb fixtures and 5 4- bulb fixtures...."surprised you haven't switched to LED to save money.

Well.....I like it bright. If I wanted to save money and get less light like LED's, I'd just take half the bulbs out.

But like I said, nice to see a led option that at least matches the lumens of a standard t8. Puts things a little more in perspective now that lumens are equal. And a 32w t8 vs a 28w led......certainly not the 50% savings that led proponents keep touting

 

[Ford850]

I know Florescent bulbs lower output and are putting out something like 50% of their rated lumens by 50% of their lifespan. Those aren't the real numbers, I'm just plugging some in there, but is someone knows those numbers it would be great to see them. My questions is if LED lumens drop similar, more, or less than florescent bulbs over a given time period.

 

[Deere Dude]

I swapped out some of my incandescent and compact florescent bulbs in my barn/shop with splitters (double sockets) and LED bulbs. My plan was to replace the old with 2 new '60 watt equivalent' LED bulbs at each fixture as the old bulbs died. I'll warn you all right now, once you have LED lights in part of your shop, you will upgrade the rest of it immediately like I did. The 'instant on' at 100% brightness puts a smile on my face every time I flip that switch.

I had 6 double 2' florescents in my garage/workshop and considered waiting until they burn out to do something. I changed 1 fixture and saw the difference so I went down and bought enough 4 footers to convert them all right away. LEDs went on sale again and added a couple more for chits and giggles.

I am not too concerned about calculating to get my moneys worth and maybe paid to much for the LEDs but going into a shop at night, or even in the daytime, makes it so much nicer to have instant on and nice and bright lighting. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[ovrszd]

We gradually replaced all our lights in the house to LED, I don't miss the sunburnt neck from the halogens in the kitchen.
One problem I encountered, I bought a batch of globes, equal to 40w from China on Ebay and three exploded and one caught fire, I pulled out the rest and used locally supplied globes, the local ones are also made in China but unde3rgo more stringent testing to meet safety standards.
The ones that exploded I pulled apart and found that the electrolytic cap had exploded, of the ones left over I found that the electrolytic cap was rated at 100v, we run 220v yet the advertisement claimed they suitable for 110 to 220v, clearly not.
Yes, LED is brilliant (pun not intended but I will take it) but buy locally approved.
Had our house have burnt down I don't know where I would have stood in relation to an insurance claim.

Quietly my friend, you would have stood quietly.