ucw458 Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 I was looking into LED lighting for the garage and I was surprised to find it was less efficient. For example I have T12 fixtures now, 2 bulbs at 40 watts producing 2600 lumens each bulb. I could switch to T8 fixtures and have x2 32 watt bulbs producing 2950 lumens each bulb for about $12 a fixture. Or I can get an LED fixture producing 6k lumens but using 75 watts and costing $340. Am I missing something here or are LEDs really no better than fluorescent? T8 fixturehttp://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-Basic-2-Lamp-Hanging-Fluorescent-White-ShopLight-CESL401-06/203725913#specifications T8 bulb specshttp://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-ALTO-32-Watt-4-ft-Natural-Light-Linear-Fluorescent-Light-Bulbs-2-Pack-409664/100613779#.UcMctud1_xA LED fixturehttp://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-Z-Series-4-Ft-6000-Lumen-LED-Multi-Volt-Strip-Light-ZL1-L48-6000L-D75-LP840/203258322#.UcJ3G-d1_xA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tux Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 (edited) I personally do not like the color of the light given off by leds. I put led lights in hard to reach places because they seem to last forever. As far as efficiency, I'm sure a lot of it is heat loss due to downstepping and a/c to d/c converters. If it was straight dc, you'd see more efficiency. Edited June 20, 2013 by tux Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmyers151 Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 (edited) The real perk of LED is the lifespan. You should be able to get ~10 years out of an LED fixture. They also don't have to go through the warm up cycle that a florescent fixture does. Edited June 20, 2013 by dmyers151 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzord30 Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 As far as shop style lighting LED is not quite their, but as far as house lights its deff better. They are constantly upgrading if you find a older led its alot worst then the new ones. Mostly a LED will be about half the electric up to 100w equivalent. Past that not so good yet for LED. The LED is instant full brightness, and the durability and life is a lot better for LED. CFL always said they have a longer life then the old lights but in practice almost always the CFL will burn out first :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pure_insanity Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 this whole getting rid of t12 bulbs is a bunch of bs. i just recently replaced several t12 fixtures in my shop as the ballast had died after being some high 20 yrs old. my old fixtures were actually old single bulb units with magnetic ballast. its almost impossible to find the single bulb ballast anymore and not to mention when you do its cheaper to just buy a whole new fixture set up for 2 bulbs than to buy just a ballast. so for the last 3 or so years, whenever one went bad i had been replacing them with t12, dual bulb units. used to be about 35ish from home depot. but now they almost dont have the t12 units and are pushing to change over to t8's . irritates the snot out of me. i want the t12's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jszucs Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 LED's are WAY more efficeint.... however not in the retail screw into a sockt you already have format. You would need to setup your own DC very low volt system to run LED's properly and get the effiency. As for not liking the LED's color, you can get any color you want out of LED's you just need to buy one's in the right spectrum, and supply the right wave length power to them. I have a set for my porch that are reather dim and very soft white light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pure_insanity Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 As far as shop style lighting LED is not quite their, but as far as house lights its deff better. They are constantly upgrading if you find a older led its alot worst then the new ones. Mostly a LED will be about half the electric up to 100w equivalent. Past that not so good yet for LED. The LED is instant full brightness, and the durability and life is a lot better for LED. CFL always said they have a longer life then the old lights but in practice almost always the CFL will burn out first :| how about a newer led bulb in a handheld shop light? can they withstand the vibration of being dropped and bumped around as good as a rough service light bulb? im willing to bet the led bulbs burn alot cooler. no more dropping the light on you and getting burned from a regular bulb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarisman14 Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Yeah the enemy for LEDs is too much voltage and heat. They're usually made with large heat sinks, provided you don't physically break the light or under-cool/over-power it they're good for 10+ years. Way more efficient than florescent and in terms of light, many companies are working on different coatings to change the colors to a "warmer" color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patra_is_here Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 dont LEDs require significantly less energy also? or is that incorrect? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMeyerhoff Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 T8s are about as efficient as it got before LEDs so what you are seeing is no suprise. One thing to consider is operating temp... all flouresencnts get brigher/more efficient as the surrounding temp goes up (and vice versa). So if you are in a cold/cool garage, they might not actually put out the lumens the packaging quoted. I went T8s in my garage and kind of doubt there will be a cost effective LED linear light anytime soon. They are starting to make some really nice ones in the aquarium hobby, but they are still very pricy. Most of them are based off a aluminum extrusion which itself is not cheap. lol T12s with a magnetic ballast! if you have good ears, the noise bothers you... if you have good eyes the flicker bothers you... if you aren't rich the wasted $ should bother you. Junk that crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ucw458 Posted June 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 LED's are WAY more efficeint.... however not in the retail screw into a sockt you already have format. You would need to setup your own DC very low volt system to run LED's properly and get the effiency. I looked at using LED strip lighting from ebay. Problem was the specs were inconclusive. Some ads said 5 amps per meter some said 5 amps per 5 meters. Even at 5 amps per 5 meters that's alot of power considering I need x10 5 meter strips to = the lumen output of my current fluorescent fixtures. While I have several power supplies that can put out that current that's still 50 amps at the low end. My power supplies may draw 10-15 amps under that load making it 2-3 times less efficient than my current fluorescent fixtures. how about a newer led bulb in a handheld shop light? can they withstand the vibration of being dropped and bumped around as good as a rough service light bulb? im willing to bet the led bulbs burn alot cooler. no more dropping the light on you and getting burned from a regular bulb I've used CFLs in handheld lights for years. They are more durable and cooler than regular lights. I used to work in attics alot. One tap on a regular bulb and you are in the dark, usually way back in the attic. lol T12s with a magnetic ballast! if you have good ears, the noise bothers you... if you have good eyes the flicker bothers you... if you aren't rich the wasted $ should bother you. Junk that crap. LOL, I have an 8 foot T12 magnetic ballast fixture in the garage. I like the humming sound....... and the sort of slight bang they make when they turn on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanta Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 (edited) how about a newer led bulb in a handheld shop light? can they withstand the vibration of being dropped and bumped around as good as a rough service light bulb? im willing to bet the led bulbs burn alot cooler. no more dropping the light on you and getting burned from a regular bulb Man, where have you been? http://www.ccjdigital.com/files/2011/09/Del-City-LED-Work-Light.jpg They work freaking great. Edited June 20, 2013 by Fanta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pure_insanity Posted June 20, 2013 Report Share Posted June 20, 2013 Man, where have you been? http://www.ccjdigital.com/files/2011/09/Del-City-LED-Work-Light.jpg They work freaking great. nah, i just cant find one of these that is as bright as a good ol bulb. maybe im too set in my ways but they just dont cut it for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ucw458 Posted June 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 how about a newer led bulb in a handheld shop light? can they withstand the vibration of being dropped and bumped around as good as a rough service light bulb? im willing to bet the led bulbs burn alot cooler. no more dropping the light on you and getting burned from a regular bulb This, http://www.goodmart.com/images/prodimages/bayco/SL-310.jpg Plus this, http://www.munciesanitary.org/clientuploads/CFL.jpg = a great shop light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanta Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 f those cfl bulbs, they can go to hell for scorching my retinas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jszucs Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 I looked at using LED strip lighting from ebay. Problem was the specs were inconclusive. Some ads said 5 amps per meter some said 5 amps per 5 meters. Even at 5 amps per 5 meters that's alot of power considering I need x10 5 meter strips to = the lumen output of my current fluorescent fixtures. While I have several power supplies that can put out that current that's still 50 amps at the low end. My power supplies may draw 10-15 amps under that load making it 2-3 times less efficient than my current fluorescent fixtures. NO those are just as bad as the screw into a socket already LED's... they make the power requirements though resistors rather then supplying the power and frequency the LED wants directly. And yes you have the right idea, supper efficent power supply on it's own lighting circut is where you will save the power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jszucs Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 nah, i just cant find one of these that is as bright as a good ol bulb. maybe im too set in my ways but they just dont cut it for me. Check out SMD LED matrix... they have some SUPER bright one's. Or look at Pinball machine LED's if you want to do it cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarisman14 Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 One of the issues with LED lighting in terms of intensity is that they are angular. With a florescent or incandescent bulb the tube lights up and broadcasts the light everywhere. With LEDs it sends the light a small angle away from straight off. Some LED packages have 'wide angle' which projects to the sides more, but without any reflectors in the assembly the LEDs would have to be angled at random to really fill out a beam pattern like conventional bulbs do. That being said, give it a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jszucs Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 One of the issues with LED lighting in terms of intensity is that they are angular. With a florescent or incandescent bulb the tube lights up and broadcasts the light everywhere. With LEDs it sends the light a small angle away from straight off. Some LED packages have 'wide angle' which projects to the sides more, but without any reflectors in the assembly the LEDs would have to be angled at random to really fill out a beam pattern like conventional bulbs do. That being said, give it a few years. We have already solved this in the pinball world. They make LED's with multiple leds on multipe facets, with a wide angle lense for each one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzord30 Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 We have already solved this in the pinball world. They make LED's with multiple leds on multipe facets, with a wide angle lense for each one.Yea I have a LED that looks Exactly like a Old light would be hard for you to tell the difference in color of light. but it uses 10watts for like 65watt equv. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jszucs Posted June 24, 2013 Report Share Posted June 24, 2013 Yea I have a LED that looks Exactly like a Old light would be hard for you to tell the difference in color of light. but it uses 10watts for like 65watt equv. And that's not even as efficent as it could be made. More then likely they are just using the qucik and dirty method of introducing resistance, and not having you create a low voltage circut to feed them. Prime would be to setup say a 5V matrix of soler panels that feed a 5V bat system. This way your not suffering the cost at conversion or at the brute force method used for the stock screw in type LED's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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