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F64T12-HO to LED?

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tom baker

tom baker

First Chief Moderator & NEC Expert
Staff member
Location
Bremerton, Washington
Occupation
Master Electrician
There are kits to replace the ballast, cover etc.
but new luminaires is a good option,
Check with your lighting distributor
 
D

d0nut

Senior Member
Location
Omaha, NE
Again, you can probably buy a new LED luminaire that will provide a much higher quality lighting solution and much longer life for about the same cost as the replacement lamps. Tubular LED replacement lamps underperform their fluorescent equivalents in everything except energy use and life. Get a luminaire that is actually designed for LEDs and for your application. Any LED replacement lamp makes huge compromises to fit the LEDs, heat sinks, drivers, optics, etc. into a fluorescent, incandescent, or HID form factor.

Save yourself and the owner the disappointment and headache of a system that doesn't meet expectations. Replace the luminaires with LED luminaires.
 
K

Krusscher

Senior Member
Location
Washington State
Occupation
Electrician
d0nut said:
Again, you can probably buy a new LED luminaire that will provide a much higher quality lighting solution and much longer life for about the same cost as the replacement lamps. Tubular LED replacement lamps underperform their fluorescent equivalents in everything except energy use and life. Get a luminaire that is actually designed for LEDs and for your application. Any LED replacement lamp makes huge compromises to fit the LEDs, heat sinks, drivers, optics, etc. into a fluorescent, incandescent, or HID form factor.

Save yourself and the owner the disappointment and headache of a system that doesn't meet expectations. Replace the luminaires with LED luminaires.
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Isn't that the point of LED tube replacements? I honestly think they do just as good as far as lumens/color go but they last longer, use less energy and don't lose lumens as fast as fluorescents. I would 100% replace the fixture if it made sense to do so but that also takes more time and cost more. These aren't the LED's of the early 2000's we are dealing with any more. The technology has come a long ways and they hold up way longer then they used to.

Either way this is basically sign lighting I am dealing with so there really isn't any replacing a fixture.
 
James L

James L

Senior Member
Location
Kansas Cty, Mo, USA
Occupation
Electrician
Krusscher said:
Isn't that the point of LED tube replacements? I honestly think they do just as good as far as lumens/color go but they last longer, use less energy and don't lose lumens as fast as fluorescents. I would 100% replace the fixture if it made sense to do so but that also takes more time and cost more. These aren't the LED's of the early 2000's we are dealing with any more. The technology has come a long ways and they hold up way longer then they used to.

Either way this is basically sign lighting I am dealing with so there really isn't any replacing a fixture.
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I would think the major part of your time would be dragging tools and materials up into the tower, and the minor part would be the time working on the electrical. Or possibly 50/50

And I would think $50 per tube is reasonable if you're looking for an easy swap for ballast-driven (or easy next time if ballast by-pass)

What are you looking at....clock on 4 sides, with 4 tubes per clock?
 
K

Krusscher

Senior Member
Location
Washington State
Occupation
Electrician
James L said:
I would think the major part of your time would be dragging tools and materials up into the tower, and the minor part would be the time working on the electrical. Or possibly 50/50

And I would think $50 per tube is reasonable if you're looking for an easy swap for ballast-driven (or easy next time if ballast by-pass)

What are you looking at....clock on 4 sides, with 4 tubes per clock?
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It's 3 sides 8 tubes each and I am going with ballast bypass. Fortunately it is attached to a building and the entrance to the tower is roof level. But getting to the lamps is kind of a bear wince there are 2 panels that need to be taken off on each side with like 20 screws each and its going to be a little awkward to get in there and re wire it. The good thing is I am employed by the college so time isn't a huge factor as I will probably be called off multiple times while working on this.
 
A

AC\DC

Senior Member
Location
Florence,Oregon,Lane
Occupation
EC
I would not install a new led fixture. Tubs are nice for customers since they can change the bulb, these new led that you throw away are the opposite of green/energy savors and terrible for customers
 
D

d0nut

Senior Member
Location
Omaha, NE
AC\DC said:
I would not install a new led fixture. Tubs are nice for customers since they can change the bulb, these new led that you throw away are the opposite of green/energy savors and terrible for customers
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I don't know that I would agree with that. All of the expensive and environmentally challenging bits are in the tubular LED replacement lamps as well. What are you saving by keeping the housing? A little bit of steel and some aluminum? A good quality LED luminaire should last a decade or more. How may times will you have to relamp in that time period? Heat causes LEDs to fail, and you cannot manage the heat as well in a tubular LED form factor as you can in a luminaire built for LEDs. The driver is smaller, the heat sinks are smaller, and all the components are built to fit into a tube instead of maximizing performance and life.
 
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