Info Nearing last call for incandescent bulbs!

[tcsenter]

Decent fluorescent tone/temp is available but double the price of entry level, also requires better ballasts than entry level. Plus, each room/environment is different and you have to test any given bulb in each room, that often requires buying multiple bulb options, then what are you going to do with the ones you reject the store isn't going to take them back unless you blow the bulb out and lie to them. All a big PIA and extra expense to achieve satisfying fluorescent.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

There should be a constant supply of more expensive incandescents available for reptile keeping, but everyone else should just switch to LEDs. Seriously, just lie to people and tell them it's incandescent.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I was surprised to see incandescent bulbs at Home Depot the other day, I thought they stopped selling those a long time ago. I should probably had picked a bunch up for the oven or other situations where temperature is an issue.

 

[lxskllr]

Do they make appliance leds? Not sure how that would work. I imagine they'll be around a good while longer.

 

[BoomerD]

Do they make appliance leds? Not sure how that would work. I imagine they'll be around a good while longer.

Not for things like ovens, (heat issues) but I THINK there are a few options for microwaves.

 

[Paperdoc]

Here's a hint about a good way to convert from Fluorescent tubes to LED's. For now, I'll stick to 4-foot tube fixtures (single or double tube, does not matter) but same goes for other sizes. For background, note that the fixtures and parts for the older T12 tubes and the newer T8's have the SAME tube lengths and tube end pin spacing, so one tube can fit into either old fixture. HOWEVER, the Ballast units are different and so are the wiring details, so a simple upgrade from T12 to T8 tubes CAN be done if you change the ballast unit and re-wire correctly.

To get away from fluorescent tubes entirely but re-use the old fixture takes a different strategy. You can buy simple "drop-in" replacement LED tubes of the SAME length and pin spacing so you just install them into the existing fixture with no changes. The problem I see there is that, since these LED tubes are designed to work using the existing power supply including the ballast units, they are made to work with very high voltage supplied to the tube, and those power systems fail more quickly. The lifetime of such drop-in LED tubes is not great, unlike most LED lamps.

A better path is to use "Bypass Conversion" LED tubes. These tubes again have the same tube length and pin spacing to fit either T12 or T8 old fixtures, BUT they are designed to use different power supply connections. They do NOT make any use of the old ballast units. The 120 VAC power supply wires into the fixture are to be connected directly to the lamp pin sockets so the lamps get that voltage, the SAME as any other LED screw-in lamp, and their lifetime IS longer like other LED's. Obviously this means that you have to change the wiring details inside the fixture so the ballast is NOT part of the circuit, and the line supply wires go directly to the lamp sockets. Since the ballast is not in use, it is probably better to remove it completely and discard according to local rules for electrical waste.

NOTE that there are two small variants of this type of tube. I got ones that use connections at TWO ends of the new LED tube: Hot wire goes to one end, and Neutral to the other end. (Does not matter which is which.) On the tubes there are TWO pins at each end (to lock into the socket and support the tube) and I just assumed that BOTH pins on one end are the same and connected the two wires from the socket at that end together to one power supply wire.

The other variant has the two power supply lines connect to DIFFERENT pins on ONE end, and the pins at the other end are dummies solely there to lock into the socket to hold the tube end.

Personally, I like the colour of lamps at 4000K so that's what I bought. I was fitting out a new garage and wanted general lighting like I get from 4-foot 2-tube fluorescent fixtures. I found four such old T12 fixtures cheap at a recycling centre, modified them to remove the ballast coils and add a white wire from one end to the other for the Neutral connection to the far-end sockets, and connected all up. They look great and provide lots of light, with expectations of long life. And being LED's they DO work properly even at cold temperatures of -35 C (30 below F) unlike fluorescent tube or CFL lamps.

 

[IronWing]

I had no idea that LEDs using power from a fluorescent lamp ballast are a thing. That’s nuts to take a 20,000+ hertz current down to DC.

 

[Paperdoc]

Yep, that's exactly what those common LED tubes are that simply install into existing fluorescent fixtures. I note their lifetime specs are typically 10,000 hours, versus 25,000 to 35,000 for most good LED screw-in lamps.

Personally, I do not like the widely-available LED strip lights that look a bit like fluorescent fixtures (although I have some). My issue with them is they cost a lot - often $50 or more per strip - and you can NOT replace the LED lamp in them. You can only replace the entire fixture.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Do they make appliance leds? Not sure how that would work. I imagine they'll be around a good while longer.

Per the law/tax/whatever appliance bulbs can still be made but they cannot exceed something like 20 or 40 watts. Industrial usages are unit effected.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yep, that's exactly what those common LED tubes are that simply install into existing fluorescent fixtures. I note their lifetime specs are typically 10,000 hours, versus 25,000 to 35,000 for most good LED screw-in lamps.

Personally, I do not like the widely-available LED strip lights that look a bit like fluorescent fixtures (although I have some). My issue with them is they cost a lot - often $50 or more per strip - and you can NOT replace the LED lamp in them. You can only replace the entire fixture.

I really hate this trend so much, I'm seeing more and more fixtures now with integrated LED. It's ridiculous and wasteful. Also a pain if you install more than one fixture that are the same as you will never be able to get the same one again so if one dies you're kind of screwed. I suppose you could try to repair it.

For general lighting I do like the T8 fixtures, I find they produce a nice light and at least I can change the bulbs. But if looking for an actual nice fixture I have a bad feeling it's going to get harder and harder to find ones that take bulbs.

 

[Ken g6]

The keyword to find a good incandescent-like LED is "CRI", or Color Rendering Index. For average bulbs, you should be able to find CRI 95. For specialty bulbs (enclosed fixtures, odd bases, etc.) just look for the highest CRI you can find.

Edit: Oh, color temperature matters even more, but after that CRI.

 

[Ken g6]

I had no idea that LEDs using power from a fluorescent lamp ballast are a thing. That’s nuts to take a 20,000+ hertz current down to DC.

I got one of those once. It worked for about a minute, then started releasing "magic smoke". Fortunately I was still watching the thing, so it didn't have time to start a fire.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah CRI and colour temperature are important. For general lighting, like a shop or office I like 6500k if it's available but for something like a bedroom or living room something like 5000k or lower is better.

I'm sometimes tempted to replace the bulbs in the office with 6500k ones on my night shift, do a few at a time and hope nobody really notices. The random mish mash of low colour temps they have right now is really depressing. Some of the bulbs are even redish.

I replaced several of my T8 bulbs in my basement with the LED drop ins and so far so good. I'll see how they do long term though.

 

[tcsenter]

Farewell to Christmas lights that don’t suck.

One of my neighbors acquired some retro styled 'big bulb' LED light strings from IIRC Costco a few years ago. They don't look bad at all. And yes, I'm old enough to know what those 1950s ~ 1970s light strings should look like. They were pricey, compared to the normal 'contemporary design' stuff. Best to go Costco or some other reseller with excellent returns; you don't like them, bring them back no hassle.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The LED Christmas lights are starting to improve, but they're still not as good as the incandescent ones. I am very tempted to try commercial LED lights though, they work the same was as the incadescent ones, in that the bulbs are screw in types, and they don't flicker at 120hz. I found a few sites that sell them such as this one: https://www.bigstarlights.ca/ . Some of the off the shelf ones also don't flicker, but some do, so it's a gamble when you buy it. My biggest issue with them is that they are just not bright enough, they should be putting several LED modules per bulb to get more brightness.

 

[Shmee]

I like LEDs, but the problem is most of them now days don't work with older dimmers. My favorite LEDs are RGB smart bulbs!