What's most impressive about this video, watching it in 2020, is that it shows how much your skill/presentation increased since you first started making these videos.
And just as impressive seeing this in 2023 is its VERY impressive Todd has not turned himself into an over-amped "character" like so many long time YT people do.
@@joshportie you've brought up a valid point. How you feel after a full days exposure to certain types of lighting can be described as "awful". Example: the guys who work in xray or the morgue down in the basement always have such a nice healthy appearance. (Sarcasm)
josh portie you realize that LEDs. Better mimic natural light leading towards the following health benefits as found by the comprehensive and countless studies performed as part of the educational industry? 1) improved circadian rhythm 2) decreased instances of headaches 3) increased productivity 4) increased learning performance 5) decreased stress and anxiety Lets not forget they operate @ 100,000 hours before failing opposed to fluorescent's @ 25,000 hour life span. So you can keep vitamins (or is it vitamin?) 5)
Started with a video about duct tape. Watched you build a two stroke peddle bike, and now I'm here. Really enjoy the quality of your videos. Keep up the great work!
@@drewthompson7457 Not even close as much! Plain old (inductive) ballasts run very hot. I once measured 55W input for a 36W tube. Considering how hot they get, that 19W loss is quite plausible. Switch mode power supplies (or electronic FL ballasts) are way more cold, so better efficiency. But the issue you brought up is important. When the PSU is sub par, no matter how good the LEDs are, it will still be a low quality light source. The overall luminuous efficacy measure is lm/W. Divide the light output by the power input to the system. Todays average LED bulbs are 80-90 lm/W, the CFLs are about 50-60 lm/W (max, when they are new). Way better LEDs (as semiconductors) exist, according to their datasheet, but I just not quite see any light source with those theoretical results... In EU, at least...
Gábor Móczik Yes, the LED:s efficacy can be something like 200 lumens per watt, but when the losses with power supplies are taken into account, it´s much lower. By the way, can you explain the difference between efficiency and efficacy? As a non-native english speaker they tend to confuse me sometimes.
@@Your_username_ I am non-native either, so I don't know exactly the difference generally. But in this case the terminology is "luminuous efficacy" for the measure of how much light a given light source produces per unit power. But there is a theoretical limit of how much is possible, which is 683 lm/W, if I remember correctly. There is also a term "luminuos efficiency" which is a dimensionless measure of the light source's efficiency in percentage of the this theoretical maximum. So for example a light source with 200 lm/W efficacy has 29.3% efficiency. Search for "luminuous efficacy", and have a look at the Wikipedia article.
The other good thing about LEDs is that they're a lt more durable dont have to worry about being showered in glass if you bump them with a ladder or something. Definitely worth the upgrade. Great videos keep up the great work!!
How has the longevity of the LED tubes been now that you've had them installed for over 3 years? As an electrician, I love the fact the ballast is removed from the circuit using only the ungrounded "hot" and grounded "neutral" wires at line voltage. One less component in the fixture to fail and when they do ballast by themselves are not inexpensive. On a side note, I changed out several of my BR30 incandescent recessed lights with LED's a few years ago and I have to admit the Cree brands, which are the most expensive don't have the greatest life expectancy and they keep changing the design which appears to look cheaper (not cost wise) and cheaper with every 'upgrade'. I get maybe a year out of them at best. Sure Cree gives you a "10 year warranty" but the catch is you've got to send the bad bulb back to them and pay for the shipping both ways. So this essentially makes the so called warranty worthless. However I've been pretty impressed with the more economical generic brands of LEDs like EcoSmart, Feit Electric and a few others, especially when they go on sale. They seem to provide the same level of illumination at the same kelvin rating as the very expensive Crees but not only are they much more affordable, they last a whole lot longer. Very sad to see a product who boasts that their product is made in the US to have such poor quality.
In order to replace fluorescent tubes with LED tubes, do ballasts have to be removed? Just curious, because I've heard it's easy to replace them, but I'm wondering if it would still be considered easy if a ballast had be to removed
@@electricinsights I'm familiar with both types of LED replacements. However, I always use and promote the LEDs that uses the standard 120 or 277 line voltage over those that connect to the ballast. Just one less thing to fail and have to replace later.
Thank you, thank you. I'm just finishing up with a new shop build and I have six fixtures still in their original boxes. This is exactly the info that I need to start of with good quality, bright LEDs.
I didn't bother replacing my fluorescent, but when they went bad I did replace them with led's. They also light up in my garage in the winter where fluorescent bulbs do not start up well. The LED's light instantly in subzero temps.
Pat Dennis Yup. I got a heck of a good deal on some 4 ft tubes and replaced the fluorescent tubes in my garage. It has a heater but I don't run it if I'm not out there. Now i flip the switch and 'BOOM', instant light.
This is the comment I came looking for. and was going to leave if I didn't find it..love that my lights actually come on with the interior of the shop is 25 degrees in the morning!
@@jcat5150 Well, don't buy trash Flourescent ballasts. Good balast turns on at under 0F instantly just fine. Trash at home depot? No. Modern Flourescent, not crap T12(trash) or T8 semi-trash, but rather T5 puts out same Lumens/Watt and they are more distributed light source than LED. LED bulbs do NOT last as long as claimed. Maybe if you buy the most expensive with LARGE heat sinks and BIG reflectors. T5 vrs LED have same Watt/Lumen and when you factor in reflector required in LED, T5 wins. When you add color spectrum, T5 REALLY wins hands down as all those high lumen LED's are all BLUE BLUE BLUE and no one wants BLUE light. Why businesses are not replacing with LED but rather T5 Flourescent. That and LED 4ft lights have piss poor light quality. VERY VERY harsh Blue is installed to drop $$$ to get their payback. Destroys your eyes.
I hope you still get notifications on this video because I’m incredibly curious to hear if these LED tubes did end up worth being twice the cost of fluorescent bulbs. This would make for a great follow up video.
Yeah i use an LED bulb in my light fixture works well though it seemed a little dark at first i think i had my lighting setup wrong or something but LEDs are much better than normal flourrecent or incandecent bulbs they last longer are brighter and all for less heat and electricity. Truley a more efficent upgrade and not like some of those 'green' products.
I bought a house, which is significantly different from renting a house, with a landlord who also lived there... and fixed everything. Now I'm the landlord with beginner skills. You've been such a great resource! A lot of it is over my head as math and basic knowledge of electrical, etc is involved but I've completed some projects and bought equipment, thanks to you! Your videos are terrific.
I replaced all incandescent/cfl bulbs several years ago when the leds were like $20 or more each. Family and friends said I was crazy...but...The electric bill dropped about $8 per month. So it took 2 1/2 months to pay for them...and guess what, I'm still using all but one today. So who's the crazy one?
Yes and great point. My barn has 40 sockets alone and I traded out all of the 60W bulbs with LEDs. The shop has been converted to all LEDs in the main area. It's saving a lot of money. Thanks for commenting.
Interestingly.... My house is 18 years old. 17 depending on which documents that you go by. It STILL has many of the original incandescent bulbs burning away. I am really good about turning off lights when not in use, and I also implement dimmers in a few spots. So, the electricity consumption for someone like me who lives alone really won't be helped by spending the $$$$ on LED bulbs. One thing I learned about the situation 10 years ago was the difference between "120v" bulbs and "130v" bulbs. There really seems to be a difference. The 130V ones are notably less efficient, since with their higher voltage rating, they have to draw more juice to achieve the same number of lumens as a 120v units. The trade off is in bulb longevity. Whoever built the houses in the neighborhood used the same bulb supplier in many houses, so I actually bought a whole bunch of used 130v bulbs from a garage sale down the street for $1.00. They did the LED conversion everywhere. I'm still sitting on most of them. About a year ago, I finally lost all three 130v candelabra bulbs in a light fixture. I replaced those with LEDs and I cannot tell the difference. Equally as bright, same color, and... well, since I don't run lights much, it isn't going to show up on my electric bill. But whenever I leave the house and notice from the street that I forgot to turn them off, I just say to hell with going back in, because the hours of operation and energy consumption is so low. Since the originals lasted 16 years.... the LEDs should last 40+. Well, I'll probably be dead before those bulbs at this rate. In fact, I blame the loss of some of those incandescent bulbs on some construction work--roof replacement and a porch on the side of the house. Incandescent bulbs really don't like being shocked when they are illuminated.
Had the same T5 ballast for 20 years now. Get better light at lower cost Lumen/Watt than LED as well. Ballasts before that? 30 years+++ Helps when you do not buy Shit ballasts sold at your hardware store.
I changed 10- 8' double bulbs to LED. Better light AND no dimming in cold weather. I had -20 cold start ballasts but they still were dim in winter. Now no ballasts, no flicker just quiet bright light.
You do need cold weather bulbs to match the ballasts. But with me it is the warm up time not the continuous performance of FL in cold weather that I can't abide as I don't often spend more than a few minutes in the shop.
I wonder this also. I switched my entire basement to LED. in 14 months I've had 4 tubes die. They use less power but I am changing lights far more often.
@@laser31415 Just now I changed our old flurescent bulbs to fluorescent but with electronic ballast - no more humming and actually nobody is meassuring the light output from the other side of the led light as fluorescent is emiting light also from the back :) - those old bulbs were still good but humming - like 25yrs old - everybody is doing a comparison with old tubes those have worse phosphor and old type ballast.
I just converted my 40 year old fixtures the same way. One other thing I did was to take the tombstone connectors apart and parallel wire the two contacts (each side of each bulb button) to eliminate the "switch" feature and improve the contact area. While apart, I also cleaned up the old brass contacts inside the tombstones.
Also recommend wiring the line or hot side to the fixed tombstone. The neutral to the spring loaded end. This can prevent shock and arcing if bulbs are ever removed or replaced while power is on.
This is one of the first videos I watched when I contemplated flipping my shop lights over to LED a couple of years ago. It helped me to decide to go ahead and do it. Right on brother, the change is nothing short of amazing! Thank you.
We've recently tried 6 fixtures (12x4' bulbs) with LED's at the shop just to see how it goes. So far so good, great light output, no humming or anything. Very pleased overall, I will point out the two negatives to the LED's as I've learned over the past few months. Our power has gone out twice in the past two months, and after it came back on the LED's did not relight. At first, I had thought the bulbs blew. But upon removing one bulb, the others turned on. Hmm. Reinstalled the bulb and it lit as well. So basically they just need a little wiggling after an event like the power shutting down in order to function again. Can be inconvenient, but I'm not too concerned. Two freak accidents in two months haha. Also, we chose to use it in 4' sections because of sagging as you mentioned. Our company electrician said that some of his other customers who use the 8' LED's complain about them sagging to the point of the bulbs falling out of the fixture! The clamps that you used would probably have prevented that. The bulbs are plastic, and as the plastic heats up it will cause it to sag, so good call on your part. I'm new to your videos but the content is great, you are clear with your speech and do your best to make provide fair and unbiased results. Keep up the great work!!
Russell, Thank you very much for the comments about LEDs! The power outages and LEDs not relighting...that is strange! I went ahead and bought enough for the main area of the shop and I'm very pleased thus far, especially in the winter with instant bright light. I'll keep working hard to improve the videos! Thanks for watching the video and commenting!
Tor-Olaf Jacobsen if you are using those led rods, leds don't play nice with the balist in the light fixture, try by-passing it and your lights will.work great after that
I agree...get rid of the ballast when installing the LEDs. I've since replaced all the lights in my shop with LEDs and I couldn't be more pleased with the results! Worth every penny!
An advice from a European Electrician, next time when you have to connect two or more wires together then I would recommend using a splicing connector from the brand Wago. They have some from 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 connection slots. For solid and stranded conductors as well as flexible ones. Using them is very easy. If you use electrician tape, the residue will let go after some time so the connection is not as secure. Just so you can see the technical details: - For solid and stranded conductors www.wago.com/us/wire-splicing-connectors/compact-splicing-connector/p/2773-402 - For flexible ones www.wago.com/us/wire-splicing-connectors/compact-splicing-connector/p/221-412 Of course it can be that you have some other doctrine in the US. Anyways nice to see some unbiased and practically useful videos here on youtube, keep up the good work!
Wago though little expensive are great, fast and secure. In the UK there is a similar brand 'ideal'. The ideal ones are a little bit cheaper and higher amperage. They work the same
Saw those and bought them when I was in the U K. I used these in my shop when I installed fluorescent lights. Don’t know if legal, yet I have plans to use these in my house remodel!
A lot of Europeans comment like that when they see wirenuts. Yes, Waygo are nice to spend on, IF you are going to be moving connections a lot. Otherwise, $11/150 is a fair bit less than $25/100 Waygo types at our stores. Especially if you are using a lot of them. And if you think about it, Todd probably isn't going to need to touch that wiring for 5-10 years. What advantage does the Waygo-type offer when its basically install once and done? For some reason, Europeans who have never worked with them seem to think they are going to come unwound and burn the house down. Every house in USA probably has 100 of these at least, and across 140 million house, that about 14 billion wirenuts. NorAm does not have a problem with houses burning down. If we did, and wirenuts were the proximate cause, we'd have switched. Note, I have some Waygo types, and use them depending on whats at hand.
As the fluorescent bulbs burnt out in my garage I began replacing them with LED's and couldn't be happier. They throw a lot more light, use a lot less power, don't hum or flicker when it's cold and last a lot longer. Love the fact that I don't have to treat them like egg shells either.
I'm interested to know how those LED bulbs are doing. I installed LED fluorescent replacement tubes and one bulb burned out within a couple of months. Probably a thermal failure, based on how hot the remaining bulb was running. I rolled back to fluorescent tubes for now. Keep up the good work!
Depends upon which ones you buy. If you can get a name brand like Sylvania or such, they are definately going to be better than some of the cheaper Feit ones which over-volt the LED's to get higher lumens rating, and drastically shorten lifespan.
I kept my fluorescent lights in my garage/shop and just painted the walls and ceiling white. You'd be surprised how much of a difference that makes all by itself.
I converted six 4x48" florescent fixtures to LED and I could not be more pleased. I had to replaced two ballastis with a single new electronic ballast in each fixture. Keep up the good work!
I love LED lights and many fixtures are a decorators dream and affordable. Some do have a delay in lighting that is distinctly noticeable. My research says that it is from poor design of the voltage converter. At any rate it is there.
One of the local job lot type stores here in New England was selling 4- foot LED fixtures for $12. That's right, entire fixtures, with the LED tubes, for $12! We tested a couple of them at work, and they were surprisingly good; easy on the eyes, good light spectrum, and they did not emit any appreciable RF noise (important if you want to use a radio, especially an AM radio, ugh, in your shop). At that insanely low price, I wouldn't simply buy more expensive LED tubes with which to retrofit to existing fixtures, unless for some reason you really really really don't want to hang and wire new fixtures.....
Random question sir, but are you a veteran? The way you break things down, very concise and to the point. Also just know seeing the lower fatigues, but the haircut as well. Just curious. Keep up the good videos!
I bought 40 of these and by the end of the first month 8 of them had already failed. Started blinking and I had to borrow a scissor lift to remove them so they wouldn't annoy my customer. In addition the remaining ones had lost about 30-40% of their light intensity by the end of the 4th month. I know because the replacements were quite a bit brighter. Going to stick with the tried and true fluorescents until the technology gets better and the Chinese no longer have a monopoly on the LED market. Regarding the color temperature, I had to order from outside the US because at the time, most US sellers only had the 4000K available and my customer wanted the bright ones (aircraft hangar).
- You see electrician forums stating how T12 is the least efficient, followed by T8, followed by T5 as the best. It is precisely the opposite. That is based on the generation with the T12's being the oldest. In fact I've unpopularly challenged them for which they had no comeback. Next time you are in Menards, look at the bulbs they support. You want one that supports T12 VHOs, HOs, standard, and T8s. My guess is those ballasts don't rely much on the heaters. It is typical for a fixture with TWO 40 watt fluorescent bulbs and a good electronic ballast to draw 52-55 watts total. They are not far behind LEDs in lumens per watt. They don't even flicker in Michigan winters in out buildings, but there, they start with good brightness, but do not achieve full brightness instantly. The old T12 ballasts cause a large color shift toward the red end of the spectrum (getting yellower) and significant loss of lumens within the first 100 hours of operation. This is much less the case with a good ballast. The T number is the number of 1/8ths of an inch in diameter. Thus, a T12 is 12/8 or 1 1/2" in diameter. The larger the diameter, the more efficient it is with a good ballast. You can measure these efficiencies with a Kill-A-Watt meter and light meter and in a closed room. Rated bulb life is determined by how long it takes to get down to 50% of their original lumens, not when they stop working. Next there is color temperature. 5000K is direct sunlight, 6500 is shade, and the lower K ones do more to mimic incandescents that generally and inaccurately make you look better. However, color temperature is simply an average, and some of the spectrum included in that spectrum is light your eye cannot even use. How bright something looks or is rated for was not the only standard for me. I want to see things as the color they really are if they were outside. That brings us to color rendition index (CRI). If you want things to look natural, the higher CRI the better. From Home Depot I use the Phillips with the green end caps which are 6500K, 90% CRI, which is not common in high K bulbs, and have more lumens than standard. I couldn't find a CRI anywhere near that in LED shop light replacements. Starting with 6500 means as they drift toward the red end of the spectrum, they retain the "whiteness" better. The bulbs cost a little more, but in a place where you spend time working, and considering how long they last with an excellent ballast, the cost difference was irrelevant. I fully expected, and even wanted, to end up on LEDs but I ended up choosing fluorescents. However, it is also worth noting that fluorescents contain mercury and phosphor, which are hazardous materials that present a waste disposal issue. - The best LEDs are always a little more efficient than the best electronic ballasts with T12s. The methodology LEDs use for calculating bulb life is very unrealistic. Nonetheless, they nearly always give the longest life, with the electronics being their achilles. - Another consideration is how well you can control the light for your particular application and the form factor. In some applications fluorescents can be better while others LEDs can, which is why I use both. Overall, LED bulbs have a much more flexible form factor and still remain efficient. The ONLY efficient fluorescent is the shop light tube style. My kitchen has a lighted ceiling and with a double translucent panel below the reflector-less fixtures, you cannot determine where the bulbs are. Other form factors such as compact fluorescents are not particularly efficient, and impractical any place where you turn on the light to get something and then turn it off due to their time to obtain even reasonable brightness, and their cycles and ratings for their ballasts and bulbs to determine bulb life are unrealistic, which is why in many instances they could not honestly challenge incandescents. LEDs, with their current pricing, clobber CFLs, with their instant on, getting the brighter spectrum, more CRI control, bulb life, and efficiency. The longer life of LEDs pay back another way. Some bulbs are not convenient to replace, such as on a porch light or inside of a lamp post. In general I love LEDs. You can make efficient, custom lighting for any area and require very little power or space to do it.
Did this myself recently (4ft Hyperikon bulbs) and love the result. How often can you install something that works better and costs less in the long term?
i got rid of the missus & installed a dummy manikin,or,womenkin,,works great,doesnt answer back,allways wants sex,doesnt complian about too many take aways or beers,,&,a damn site cheaper to keep..win win..
ONLY if it's synthetic. Same with Blinker Fluid and Muffler Bearings. I WOULD have said "Exhaust Fluid" but with the new Diesels,,Hell, you need that too..."Blue Deff". Just one more way to Steal more of your Fuel Money...LOL
Wow, that is an easy upgrade! I have those same fixtures and was dreading messing with them. But now I will just pop in these LEDs - no need to remove the old fixture housing. And the existing tombstones don't have to be replaced either. Thanks!
I replaced 24 4 foot bulbs in my garage with LEDs. They are great. Instant on in cold temps and it seems like 2 times the light. $125 for 25 bulbs. I just rewired my existing light fixtures.
@@virginia7125 It depends on what type of light fixtures you have. If they are the standard florescent fixtures with ballasts then you need to re wire them. If yours are working just fine now then I don't see why you should have to rewire them.
@@imtruth69 I called Lowe's. They said my bulbs are T-8 direct replacements. That means they are pre-wired to go in a standard fixture without modification. The dual pin fixtures have what is known as an exciter pin. Explains why there's no starter. They make a ballast free fixture, but the bulbs are different they say.
@@virginia7125 Great. You done good by buying the correct bulbs for your fixtures. I am an electrician so it was easy for me to modify my fixtures and I could get by with a little less expensive bulb. I am glad it worked out for you because the LED's are the way to go in my opinion.
I replaced my florescent tubes in my kitchen with LED tubes. I did the math like you, and came to the conclusion that it would be cost efficient. It required me rewiring the lights, bypassing the old ballasts. Not a difficult job, but much more work than just putting in new tubes. They looked great, but they didn't last long. I replaced a total of six tubes, and the first one died in less than 9 months, DESPITE the life rating on the box. I called the manufacture, who was selling these on Amazon, and they cheerfully sent me a whole box of six tubes for free - because they didn't sell them individually. By the end of two years, I think I was down to just two spares out of the box of six that they sent me. The life rating specs on the bulbs were not even close to what I experienced in actual use. Either the manufacture lied, had quality problems, or maybe power glitches from local storms and such killed them prematurely? I ended up replacing the tubes with round recessed LED fixtures, and was much happier with that. The individual lights allowed me to illuminate specific areas of my kitchen that were poorly illuminated with the tube lights, and allowed me to use a dimmer switch. It took a long time to figure out where to put all the lights, and there was a lot of wiring behind the ceiling to do, but the project turned out great. The only problem with the recessed LED lights is that they are a bit sensitive to small power surges and such. For example, you see a little flicker when there is a power glitch, but it is not a bad problem. Since then I have installed a whole home "Home Electronics Protective Device" on my central electrical junction box, and haven't had any problems with the electronics in my house ever since - though I do still sometimes see small flickers on my Kitchen LED lights that I never saw with the original florescent tubes. Sometimes I just learn lessons the hard way.
It's too bad that you're having such problems, but much depends on the specific products you buy. I'm aware of *many* problems with LED light fixtures/tubes/bulbs, but personally have had no problems with the absolute cheapest Philips standard (A19 form) LED light bulb. I bought a whole bunch several years ago and have used them all over my house, and with the exception of a couple that audibly buzzed (not loudly, but slightly noticeably) that I returned to the store, I am completely satisfied with them. You can't dim them (not an issue for me because I don't use dimmers), but they're very reliable workhorses. I have yet to see any of them fail, and their light is steady, by which I mean there is no visible flicker. Some of the other models from Philip flicker and/or are less reliable, but the super-cheap, non-dimmable ones are great. On the flip side, I'm not sure about lately, but historically Cree has been a really awful brand with poor reliability. That's too bad because they make some of the finest, most efficient, most advanced LEDs in the world, but the electronics in their consumer lighting products have been and possibly still are of rather questionable design and/or quality.
It's really fun to revisit some of your earlier videos and see just how much your videos have improved, both in quality and delivery. Keep up the great work!
You REALLY REALLY need to consider putting sheetrock or plywood on that ceiling. That is the ultimate fire hazard. That plastic and kraft face will burn and spread faster than you can imagine. I saw it happen first hand in my friends garage with 10' ceiling and exposed insulation just like yours. Total engulfment in less than 3 minutes. If nothing else get plenty of insurance and stay close to the exits.
@@texarcana2002 That is if it is attached to the house and is only required on the wall facing the house, or at least that's what it used to be. If it is freestanding you might not have to cover anything. But we live in what is basically a confederation of 50 small country's with their own set of laws, and even 2 county's can have different code's.
At one of my previous workplaces they had old fluorescent lighting in the offices. The owner was a cheapskate and one day he pulled half of the tubes out to save on electricity. When the rest started to die, we were swapping tubes from vacant areas of the office to avoid working in the dark. You can never argue with the guy that owns the place, but cutting corners isn't a healthy approach to solving problems.
Just finished watching your video on changing oil in an emglo air compressor. Hadn’t changed it in years so your effort both excellent and helpful ! . Try to keep everything working and had forgotten how to do it ! Thank again ‼️
I have the same single pin 8’ florescent fixtures in my shop. Six, three on each side as I mounted them about 20” from the ceiling. My ceiling is also 12’. I’m going to do the same thing. I have one bad ballast now and I found them on amazon too. I have them in my wish list. So I was happy to see your video and how well they work!! I was going to purchase the wiring kit but after watching the video I don’t think 🤔 I will as I have tons of wire.
Really enjoy your videos. I’ve learned a lot from them. Thanks. I replaced my shop fluorescent lights with those Hyperikon LED bulbs several years ago. They are still going strong. Brighter, no flicker or hum, and come on instantly. And don’t forget to include the savings on never having to replace those ballasts again. In our area you also have to dispose of burned out fluorescent tubes as hazardous waste and they charge you for each bulb, so better for the environment and your wallet at the same time. Keep up the great work with your videos. You’ve become my go-to source for product comparisons.
I've replaced every bulb in the house, inside & out with LED except the oven & microwave lights....Also outbuildings too, no waiting for fluorescent bulbs to warm and brighten in the winter.
Do you have exterior floodlights on your house? If so how's the LED brightness compared to the old incandescent floodlight bulbs? I've been thinking of doing the same as well at my house.
I recommend 4100k with 80+CRI for shops/warehouses where maximum visibility is needed. Higher kelvin ratings increases the amount of perceived light even if the lumens are the same. 4100k is typically as white as you can get without it falling into the blue spectrum. The lumens required for the area depends on the reflectivity of surfaces within the space, as well as the color of walls and ceiling. Going LED in shop environments is a no-brainer because of the light requirement, short-term ROI, and lowering costs of retrofit bulbs. I reduced lighting costs in our 100,000 sq ft warehouse by 60% from changing fluorescent bulbs to LED retrofits (T5 and T8), and changing metal hallide fixtures to LED high output fixtures. Over 100k savings per year with an ROI of about 7 months.
If you don't buy trash Flourescent ballasts. Good balast turns on at under 0F instantly just fine. Trash at home depot? No. Modern Flourescent, not crap T12(trash) or T8 semi-trash, but rather T5 puts out same Lumens/Watt and they are more distributed light source than LED and are warm and very close to full spectrum. LED bulbs do NOT last as long as claimed. Maybe if you buy the most expensive with LARGE heat sinks and BIG reflectors. T5 vrs LED have same Watt/Lumen and when you factor in reflector required in LED, T5 wins. When you add color spectrum, T5 REALLY wins hands down as all those high lumen LED's are all BLUE BLUE BLUE and no one wants BLUE light. Why businesses are not replacing with LED but rather T5 Flourescent. That and LED 4ft lights have piss poor light quality. VERY VERY harsh Blue is installed to drop $$$ to get their payback. Destroys your eyes.
I would like to add that the very high color temperature can be a bit more efficient - I think they may need less phosphor coating since it is the phosphor that produces the non-blue colors in white LEDs. However, the harsh color is not worth it. I second your statement that you shouldn't go higher than the 4100k you mentioned.
I was wondering if you have a garage door opener? I put LED lights in my shop and it completely screwed up my opener, had to be within 15 foot of the door for it to work, I had to go back to fluorescent in the end of my shop the opener is. I know it sounds far fetched but trust me it’s true.
@@2010bigfathen LED lights are essentially just fancy wire. They should affect your garage door far less then a florescent light, which has a big ballast in it producing magnetic fields.
I replaced my whole house with Phillips LEDs and they say 15 years but within 1 year I had about 3 die. They are very good bulbs Produce a ton of light.
Interestingly i also installed one philips led and it died on me within year too. I wonder whats up, have osram now and hope those last longer. Didnt throw away recipit this time, if it blows within three years, going for replacement since 3 three years is not enough to pull 20000 hours with normal household usage
Made my own with long led strips purchased from online electronic parts place. I used a plug in transformer with AC output ( junk box supply) then to a full wave bridge. Uses 192 milli amps. Lots of bright dots, but who stares at lights anyway?
I just replaced my fluorescents with LEDs about 6 months ago and what a tremendous difference it made in both brightness in my shop and my power bill. You would be surprised how much of a difference it would also make if your walls and ceiling were painted white. Love your videos
What gets me is that consumers switch to highly efficient LED bulbs to cut utility costs but the Electric company raises the rates. So after a few years you're paying the same as you were. We consumers can't get ahead.
Yep, bastards. Same goes for cable/internet. Where I live everyone is dumping cablevision so the same company (as they are the only one we have here) gouge us with a rusty knife and raise internet cost. $100. a month for mediocre speed where I live, ridiculous. Edit: same will go for fossil fuels etc with electric vehicles. But then again elec cars will balance the electricity usage and the rates will remain...ya right. Soon they will be demanding live sacrifices in trade for energy etc. Um, not to rant or anything ;) fuck! LOL
And the truth is there is and never will be an energy crisis. Yes we should have moved on from oil by now but I highly suspect oil is a self replenishing resource. No oil didnt come from Dinasaurs. One of the biggest lies ever told. Ingenious way to make money but still a lie. Artificial scarcity goes right along with planned obsolescence. Go check out the centennial light bulb. Has been on for 116 years and still going strong. They knew how to makes bulbs last forever along with all other products but that doesn't make money so they had to design then to only last a little while. People should be out in the streets for that alone not to mention all the other lies we have been told.
I did my entire shop with amazon plug and play T8 leds for about $350 including remote control outlets. Running 220 lumens per square foot. 5000k daylight. Surgical room bright.
“Wow” was my reaction when I replaced a handful of 100w incandescent bulbs with six 4’ LED fixtures in my garage. I have no idea why I didn’t do it sooner.
I did exactly what you did in my garage with the HYPERIKON bulbs and I was really impressed with them and very happy 😊 that I made the change. Love your channel and watch it all the time. Subscriber from Nova Scotia.
theres a guy on youtube named wintergarten and he just renovated his work shop. he put leds that can change color and made ot so that when its morning, its a warmer shade so its easy on the eyes, and when its noon, its bright white so you can see, then towards sunset, it matches that color. it has something to do with the bodys reaction to light and sleep, he explains it better.
I noticed the same thing on a trans-Atlantic flight on a 787. The plane started out from dark to pink-orange to yellow to blue over about 20 minutes to simulate sunrise.
I love the colour temperature experts all chiming in, doubt they actually know what the Kelvin rating is, that said great video, please be careful with these LED tubes (they are tubes or lamps, not bulbs), they have been banned in many countries in favour of the type that have the supply connected to one end only, lots of people have been thrown off ladders or killed when installing double ended LEDs when they accidentally touched the end of the LED lamp as they fitted the opposite end into the fitting. Unlike fluorescent tubes, these LEDs have a low Z direct electrical connection between the ends. Also label the fitting "LED tube only" since you have removed the current limiter (the ballast), you should have fitted a 1Amp HRC fuse to the fitting, just in case the LED driver fails, it could save you a whole heap of explaining to your insurance company.
Kelvin is the black body temperature. At that temperature expect to see the black body illuminate to the color that you see. 5000 K or D50 light source is the standard for viewing color. 5000 K is typically the color of light at noon in full sunlight. A comment was made about blue being the color that the eye can see best. This is incorrect. The eye’s sensitivity is best in green areas of the spectrum.
@@Blox117 YA 6000k is blue... being technical all led light is blue and then "split" into some other colors... go look at a color break down on a real LED like a cree they have massive blue and as you get higher in the 6k 6.5k you see more and more BLUE...
So, um, question... on a single pin tube... how do you get power and neutral on ONE pin? rofl these are the replacements for that tombstone no others exist with out replacing the tombstones and you don't mention that... so you are parroting something you read somewhere...
I put LEDs in the kitchen last time the flo lights burned out. I will never buy another fluorescent tube. LEDs were so bright my wife made me remove half of them.
I really like the LEDs. We've installed them throughout the house and other structures on our property. We purchases softer LEDs (low Kelvin) for the house. Thanks for commenting!
My solution to the brightness was to buy programmable dimmers where you can control the upper and lower range of brightness. I used the Lutron Caseta. It's also nice to have an app on your phone to control the lights.
Wow, this a very well done tutorial on changing over to LED bulbs. I know it's about a 4 year old video now, but there are still many people who need to do this in their own homes & shops. I've changed out somewhere around 600 to 700 2 and 4 bulb fixtures in the past 7 years and I'm amazed at how the LED tubes have improved in those 7 years. The 8' bulbs that you installed are now available in 48 watt, 6,7200 rated lumens and cost around $20. The brightest bulbs I could find nearly 7 years ago when I installed (57) 4 bulb, 8' fixtures were rated @ 22 watts & 2,100 lumens and have finally started going bad in the past year. The bulbs I'm replacing them with are now rated @ 22 watts & 3,000 lumens. I've checked amperage & done light output test with a Lux meter on most of the change overs I've done & you're spot on with half the power usage & double the light output. With T12 bulbs using magnetic ballasts the difference is even more. Something else your subscribers need to know is that most power companies give rebates to their consumers for switching over to LED's from fluorescents. One of my customers got over $800 back in rebates after I switched their entire farm out to LEDs.. Power companies vary from one to the next, but I believe almost all of them give rebates. My customers who are served by Rural Electric Cooperatives have been getting very good rebates. That's another huge saving that many people don't realize is available to them. Sorry for the long rant, but this is a passion of mine. I love to see people save money & I love lots of light. Keep up the great videos & comparisons. Your channel is my favorite on TH-cam
I did the same in my shop, lighting is just great, but the downside is I cant listen to radio anymore since those LED make it sound like a frying pan..
The radio playing the AM band will be noisy because of the electronics inside the lamps. Those electronics are called the driver circuits and does create electronic noise or interference when playing an AM radio. Switch to the FM band and you won't hear that noise.
Went to Home depot and replaced all of our cans with LED's 40 of them... The LED portion of the bulb may last 35 years as advertised but the cheap electronic circuits inside won't 3 of the LED's have already gone bad and no longer work after 1 month.
Kevin, I hope you will receive replacement bulbs! have a large barn with over 40 LED bulbs and now have around 20 LED tubes. Home has 30-40 LED bulbs. I've only had 2 bulbs fail and that was my fault, since they weren't designed for a light dimmer. I failed to get rid of the dimmer before the bulbs were ruined.
Cree and Hyperikon have GREAT warrantees, I had Cree bulbs in my chandelier lamps at my art gallery, and two lights in the front windows were kept on 24/7 for the 3 years I had the building, those bulbs came home when I sold the building and I still have them around the house now 3 years later!
A real bulb does not need them. I have the same f96t12 1 pin bulbs convered to led (as them failing was getting annoying) about the same time period here... no sagging see... no brackets...
Yeah, I've been sold on LEDs for quite some time now. My garage/shop has eight 8 foot single florescent bulbs, they are old and some of the ballasts have gone bad. I pretty much knew how to wire the new LEDs but it always nice to see someone else do the project first, thanks.
Ya, I have to keep yellow "blue cut" glasses in my vehicle because I can't see well when driving in a city with 6000-6500K blue LED lighting...I personally won'tt buy anything over 4300K, 5000K is my limit I can work around. I've noticed Walmart has some sense and put 4300K or less LED lighting in their produce section, but the parking lot lights are another story.
@@BigDish101 Ya I am actually in the house going from 5k to 4k now down to like 3500 even run my computer screens with a blue light filter... too much. Outside I run 5k because of how bright it feels... but not for work and the shop has 4k leds
Great point. They are heat sensitive. So, mine last a long time as long as they aren't enclosed/sealed inside of a light cover of some sort or in direct sunlight
Meh. Kept hearing the same thing about CFLs. I switched several years ago and according to the hype I shouldn't yet have had a single failure. Several boxes full of failed CFLs later . . .
I tried several LED automotive bulbs and found that not only did they not last as long as incandescent, but had some not work at all straight out of the packaging. I’m not convinced LEDs are the way to go in all situations.
I changed bulbs in my car. Cheap leds fails quite rapidly. A better one is about the double the price, but it has never failed. 5 years from that, and still running strong
I did the same but can't say for sure if my bill is that much lower. It is consistently lower than all my neighbors, who will share this information. Every possible light socket in my house is now LED and the payback should continue indefinitely.
We built a new house two years ago and every light is LED. From a pure lightning standpoint LEDs use about one tenth what incandescents do. Do you use electricity to cook, heat water, heat?
I live alone. The little used incandescents are about 25 yrs old, and still working. No sense replacing them. In the kitchen, a well placed 8 w LED is on a timer, and provides light for cooking, etc. The work shops are fluroescent and when they burn out I"ll see if new tubes or switching to LED is worth it. (A dollar or 2 of power added to a project isn't much to worry about). The bathroom has CFLs, and throwing out working lamps is a waste. When they burn out, they will be replaced with LEDs. An odd one, from work I got several 185 volt, 500 W Quartz lamps. In my work light stand, they produce enough light, and add a lot of IR for cold days in the garage. They last a long time too.
@M Harris :My error - the lamps are 1000 W, 185 V. They're orangish, but lots of light, color balance is good enough to work under, and they keep your hands warmer in the winter. I still don't know what they were built for. I had a few early CFL lamps that the ballast wasted as much electricity as the lamp used. This was measured, those lamps went in the recycle. I bought a special 4 W CFL for a hall night light, the thing burnt out after about 2 hr use. I scrapped a LED that quit. I thought perhaps I could re-purpose the diodes. They're mounted on a 1/4" thick aluminum heatsink, so i don't think i can reuse them.
LEDs can last a long time, my concern with the tubes in this project, is how the individual LEDs are interconnected inside. if they are in series, they would have the same problem old Christmas lights have, one LED dies, and they all go out. from the diagram, I noticed no power supply , and doubt that the power supply is inside that small tube. which leads me to believe, that they are connected in series, with just a diode and capacitor. So the advantage of no power supply, is that there is nothing to go bad. the LEDs is series does increase the chance that over time one emitter that dies will cause the whole thing to go dark, but on the other hand, they can be replaced. I have even replaced a couple LED emitters in my LCD TV..
@@ijulesy same but they got dim and i had to throw em out one is working fine for 5 years but keeps burning out the ballast so had to stick with old ballast
My wife wanted a brighter kitchen light. I replaced the fluorescent tube fixture. With an daylight spectrum LED fixture of the same size and shape. After she had cataract surgery. She thought the daylight spectrum was a little toooo bright. Some of the other LED lights that I changed. Are the Soft White variety. Several people have comment about painting the ceilings and walls. Any color paint that reflects light. Is good to help bounce the light around. Wood has special acoustic properties. Test the sound recording in a painted room first. Your videos are excellent and entertaining. Keep up the good work!
I can remember the 8 ft T12 fluorescent fixtures in the garage at my grandmothers house when I was growing up. My dad installed them in the early 80s I think. I remember they flickered like crazy and seemed to burn out often. I can now imagine just what a huge improvement these would be.
Thanks. I was going to change over to leds but someone beat me to it a gave me a bunch of his leftover florescent bulbs. When I use them up I will make the change over. My son is an electrician and I’ll volunteer him so I won’t burn down the shop.
Really enjoy the practical education of your videos. Especially now. Even though I may not do anything directly, one never knows when I might apply what I've seen to something else. One thread of though leads to another.
I replaced my fluorescent lights with Barrina LED T5’s purchased from Amazon and have had them for over 5 years with no problems at all, plus they put out twice as much light. I love them.
I started using that brand of lights. I liked them so much that I am using them in my house and both garages. One great feature no cold start problems like fluorescent lights in the winter in the unheated garage.
I put a bunch of 4' "linkable" LED fixtures in my garage recently. An electrician wired up 3 sockets at the ceiling (for 3 row of 4 lights each) controlled off a single switch and then and I was able to easily install the fixtures myself. Literally a plug'n play install and result is awesome.
I put 8 LED 4 foot linkable lights up in my shop, only had to wire one in and then the rest just plug into each other. Was going to do the bulbs but it was actually cheaper to buy them from Costco and just screw up the new fixtures. Love the new LED’s and I don’t worry about leaving them on. Good video. Always like your stuff.
I bought a bunch of LEDs (both 4 &8' ) and have gradually been swapping them out. Quite a difference on light output IF you buy the brighter rated ones. difference being (besides warmer and cooler) number of rows of LEDs. Some had 1 row, others 2, some 3, and I think a few perhaps have 4 rows. I bought the 2 and 3 row ones and am happy with them . I had 2 4' burn out within a year but all 8' ones have held up well. I probably have 1/2 my shop LED now, have problem justifying changing them just to change them as I have boxes of fluorescent bulbs. Obviously YOU'RE not going to take them off my hands, can't hardly give them away on craigs list so... Keep up the good work, enjoy your videos.
I just changed my fluorescent bulbs in my kitchen and same as yours I'm getting brighter for less than half the electricity so I am very pleased to say the least !!!
A lot has changed with this channel but the one thing that hasn't.
"I've done a lot of research."
You got that right! Thanks for watching.
It's the only TH-cam channel I trust to know that the research is real.
@@aussiewanderer6304 same. It's the only trustworthy TH-cam channel these days.
I feel such a shame to nothave known about this channel but ive been getting super into everything
Lmao for sure. He seems so young and timid. Evolved into the best tool channel on TH-cam. Well, him and Ave but they’re apples and oranges.
From then to now, it's cool seeing how much you've improved being in front of the camera. Keep up the good work!
Thank you very much!
The newer videos sound like he's yelling at you.
I was thinking exactly the same thing!
@@Zofmui With the newer videos, I mute my speakers and jump ahead 2 minutes. Then unmute.
Editing has changed a lot too it is very nice now
Paint your walls and ceiling white and it would even be brighter yet.
Rob, This is a terrific suggestion! Thanks for watching the video and commenting!
Yes, I plan to paint the walls and ceiling at some point to improve the brightness. Thanks!
Mirrors everywhere
"Mirrors everywhere" LOL that is a terrible idea.
Took the words right out of my fingers. I was going to say get that ceiling white and it will make a big difference.
What's most impressive about this video, watching it in 2020, is that it shows how much your skill/presentation increased since you first started making these videos.
Thanks so much!
@@ProjectFarm Very much deserved. You make top notch content and your production/presentation is great.
And just as impressive seeing this in 2023 is its VERY impressive Todd has not turned himself into an over-amped "character" like so many long time YT people do.
I like how careful this guy is, with his movements, words and work. A guy in his shed doing a project, fantastic job!
Thanks so much!
I think he is an ex-military. Thus the discipline
@@crescentandstarglory he is and has mentioned it a few times
Don’t forget to swallow
I just switched to LED’s in my shop. What a difference! It’s well worth the investment.
Installed 100 lumens per ft2 in a 22 x 32 shop. Better than working in daylight with no shadows.
Aside the loss of vital vitamins you get from natural light and florescent bulbs.
josh portie only if the fluorescent tubes are “full spectrum” most hardware store are not.
@@joshportie you've brought up a valid point. How you feel after a full days exposure to certain types of lighting can be described as "awful".
Example: the guys who work in xray or the morgue down in the basement always have such a nice healthy appearance. (Sarcasm)
josh portie you realize that LEDs. Better mimic natural light leading towards the following health benefits as found by the comprehensive and countless studies performed as part of the educational industry?
1) improved circadian rhythm
2) decreased instances of headaches
3) increased productivity
4) increased learning performance
5) decreased stress and anxiety
Lets not forget they operate @ 100,000 hours before failing opposed to fluorescent's @ 25,000 hour life span. So you can keep vitamins (or is it vitamin?)
5)
Started with a video about duct tape. Watched you build a two stroke peddle bike, and now I'm here.
Really enjoy the quality of your videos. Keep up the great work!
Thank you very much!
Exactly same, youtube is on fire after the rewind fail 2018
Well said Timothy, I concur.
Hopefully you already checked out the glue tests! Boy were those good!
Timothy Potts Same here
Three years later ... if you only knew when you made this video what your channel would become. Excellent job! :)
Wow, thanks!
Don't forget that the ballasts themsleves also burn power, and need replacing when they go out. No longer an issue when they are not there any more!
A white LED is A 3.3 volt device. All LED bulbs have some kind of power supply or ballast built in, and they do waste some power, though not much.
wonder if anyone would be interested in buying them?
@@drewthompson7457 Not even close as much! Plain old (inductive) ballasts run very hot. I once measured 55W input for a 36W tube. Considering how hot they get, that 19W loss is quite plausible. Switch mode power supplies (or electronic FL ballasts) are way more cold, so better efficiency.
But the issue you brought up is important. When the PSU is sub par, no matter how good the LEDs are, it will still be a low quality light source.
The overall luminuous efficacy measure is lm/W. Divide the light output by the power input to the system.
Todays average LED bulbs are 80-90 lm/W, the CFLs are about 50-60 lm/W (max, when they are new). Way better LEDs (as semiconductors) exist, according to their datasheet, but I just not quite see any light source with those theoretical results... In EU, at least...
Gábor Móczik Yes, the LED:s efficacy can be something like 200 lumens per watt, but when the losses with power supplies are taken into account, it´s much lower. By the way, can you explain the difference between efficiency and efficacy? As a non-native english speaker they tend to confuse me sometimes.
@@Your_username_ I am non-native either, so I don't know exactly the difference generally.
But in this case the terminology is "luminuous efficacy" for the measure of how much light a given light source produces per unit power. But there is a theoretical limit of how much is possible, which is 683 lm/W, if I remember correctly. There is also a term "luminuos efficiency" which is a dimensionless measure of the light source's efficiency in percentage of the this theoretical maximum.
So for example a light source with 200 lm/W efficacy has 29.3% efficiency.
Search for "luminuous efficacy", and have a look at the Wikipedia article.
The other good thing about LEDs is that they're a lt more durable dont have to worry about being showered in glass if you bump them with a ladder or something. Definitely worth the upgrade. Great videos keep up the great work!!
Great point! Thank you
Not all linear LED's are acrylic lensed. Some have glass envelopes just as Florescent
The bad thing is they dont give off vitamins you need that real light and florescent light does.
@@joshportie if you are referring to Vitamin D, I think you should do your homework. LED should not be generalized so much
Fluorescents also release a harmful gas when broken, if I'm not mistaken.
How has the longevity of the LED tubes been now that you've had them installed for over 3 years?
As an electrician, I love the fact the ballast is removed from the circuit using only the ungrounded "hot" and grounded "neutral" wires at line voltage. One less component in the fixture to fail and when they do ballast by themselves are not inexpensive.
On a side note, I changed out several of my BR30 incandescent recessed lights with LED's a few years ago and I have to admit the Cree brands, which are the most expensive don't have the greatest life expectancy and they keep changing the design which appears to look cheaper (not cost wise) and cheaper with every 'upgrade'. I get maybe a year out of them at best. Sure Cree gives you a "10 year warranty" but the catch is you've got to send the bad bulb back to them and pay for the shipping both ways. So this essentially makes the so called warranty worthless.
However I've been pretty impressed with the more economical generic brands of LEDs like EcoSmart, Feit Electric and a few others, especially when they go on sale. They seem to provide the same level of illumination at the same kelvin rating as the very expensive Crees but not only are they much more affordable, they last a whole lot longer. Very sad to see a product who boasts that their product is made in the US to have such poor quality.
In order to replace fluorescent tubes with LED tubes, do ballasts have to be removed? Just curious, because I've heard it's easy to replace them, but I'm wondering if it would still be considered easy if a ballast had be to removed
@@electricinsights I'm familiar with both types of LED replacements. However, I always use and promote the LEDs that uses the standard 120 or 277 line voltage over those that connect to the ballast. Just one less thing to fail and have to replace later.
@@truthseeker1328 Thanks!
I was told same re LEDs, ie get more expensive but cheaper ones have lasted years when expensive ones lasted months
Thank you, thank you. I'm just finishing up with a new shop build and I have six fixtures still in their original boxes. This is exactly the info that I need to start of with good quality, bright LEDs.
Glad I could help!
I didn't bother replacing my fluorescent, but when they went bad I did replace them with led's. They also light up in my garage in the winter where fluorescent bulbs do not start up well. The LED's light instantly in subzero temps.
All great points regarding LEDs. I'm still very pleased with the LEDs. Thanks for commenting.
Pat Dennis
Yup. I got a heck of a good deal on some 4 ft tubes and replaced the fluorescent tubes in my garage. It has a heater but I don't run it if I'm not out there. Now i flip the switch and 'BOOM', instant light.
This is the comment I came looking for. and was going to leave if I didn't find it..love that my lights actually come on with the interior of the shop is 25 degrees in the morning!
@@jcat5150 Well, don't buy trash Flourescent ballasts. Good balast turns on at under 0F instantly just fine. Trash at home depot? No. Modern Flourescent, not crap T12(trash) or T8 semi-trash, but rather T5 puts out same Lumens/Watt and they are more distributed light source than LED. LED bulbs do NOT last as long as claimed. Maybe if you buy the most expensive with LARGE heat sinks and BIG reflectors. T5 vrs LED have same Watt/Lumen and when you factor in reflector required in LED, T5 wins. When you add color spectrum, T5 REALLY wins hands down as all those high lumen LED's are all BLUE BLUE BLUE and no one wants BLUE light. Why businesses are not replacing with LED but rather T5 Flourescent. That and LED 4ft lights have piss poor light quality. VERY VERY harsh Blue is installed to drop $$$ to get their payback. Destroys your eyes.
Pat Dennis same here. As they die, I replace. Winter working is a big factor for me as well.
I hope you still get notifications on this video because I’m incredibly curious to hear if these LED tubes did end up worth being twice the cost of fluorescent bulbs. This would make for a great follow up video.
I switched every bulb in the house to LED , lowered our electric bill by like 40 bucks a month.
Thank you for the feedback on LEDs. Nice savings!
Yeah i use an LED bulb in my light fixture works well though it seemed a little dark at first i think i had my lighting setup wrong or something but LEDs are much better than normal flourrecent or incandecent bulbs they last longer are brighter and all for less heat and electricity. Truley a more efficent upgrade and not like some of those 'green' products.
Wow I'm impressed
@@dcsales2007 I'm in line with your question and assessments. Being a past energy instructor I'd love to see the math on this $40/mo. savings.
@@dcsales2007 40 bucks per month? That's more than I pay a month
I bought a house, which is significantly different from renting a house, with a landlord who also lived there... and fixed everything. Now I'm the landlord with beginner skills. You've been such a great resource! A lot of it is over my head as math and basic knowledge of electrical, etc is involved but I've completed some projects and bought equipment, thanks to you! Your videos are terrific.
That is awesome! Glad I could be of help!
I replaced all incandescent/cfl bulbs several years ago when the leds were like $20 or more each. Family and friends said I was crazy...but...The electric bill dropped about $8 per month. So it took 2 1/2 months to pay for them...and guess what, I'm still using all but one today. So who's the crazy one?
Yes and great point. My barn has 40 sockets alone and I traded out all of the 60W bulbs with LEDs. The shop has been converted to all LEDs in the main area. It's saving a lot of money. Thanks for commenting.
Interestingly....
My house is 18 years old. 17 depending on which documents that you go by. It STILL has many of the original incandescent bulbs burning away.
I am really good about turning off lights when not in use, and I also implement dimmers in a few spots. So, the electricity consumption for someone like me who lives alone really won't be helped by spending the $$$$ on LED bulbs.
One thing I learned about the situation 10 years ago was the difference between "120v" bulbs and "130v" bulbs. There really seems to be a difference. The 130V ones are notably less efficient, since with their higher voltage rating, they have to draw more juice to achieve the same number of lumens as a 120v units. The trade off is in bulb longevity. Whoever built the houses in the neighborhood used the same bulb supplier in many houses, so I actually bought a whole bunch of used 130v bulbs from a garage sale down the street for $1.00. They did the LED conversion everywhere. I'm still sitting on most of them.
About a year ago, I finally lost all three 130v candelabra bulbs in a light fixture. I replaced those with LEDs and I cannot tell the difference. Equally as bright, same color, and... well, since I don't run lights much, it isn't going to show up on my electric bill. But whenever I leave the house and notice from the street that I forgot to turn them off, I just say to hell with going back in, because the hours of operation and energy consumption is so low. Since the originals lasted 16 years.... the LEDs should last 40+. Well, I'll probably be dead before those bulbs at this rate.
In fact, I blame the loss of some of those incandescent bulbs on some construction work--roof replacement and a porch on the side of the house. Incandescent bulbs really don't like being shocked when they are illuminated.
Costco has LEDs so cheap now it is criminal not to switch. ahaha
Current price is down to $8.39ea with local energy rebates of $6.00 ea. Net price of $2.39 ea. Cannot afford not to change
@@howardbain6516 dollar tree has led blubs for 1 dollar.
This channel has come so far from the humble early days of it.... VERY IMPRESSIVE!!! ;)
And the ballast replacement cost goes to $0.00. And it seems that they always go when you need them in a hurry, LOL. Good video, thanks.
Had the same T5 ballast for 20 years now. Get better light at lower cost Lumen/Watt than LED as well. Ballasts before that? 30 years+++ Helps when you do not buy Shit ballasts sold at your hardware store.
I have watched your videos for a year now and have greatly admired your skills and expertise. Keep them coming.
Thanks, will do!
I changed 10- 8' double bulbs to LED. Better light AND no dimming in cold weather. I had -20 cold start ballasts but they still were dim in winter. Now no ballasts, no flicker just quiet bright light.
Thank you! The brightness and quietness of the LEDs is amazing!
You do need cold weather bulbs to match the ballasts. But with me it is the warm up time not the continuous performance of FL in cold weather that I can't abide as I don't often spend more than a few minutes in the shop.
3 years later gotta ask how are the bulbs doing? Any burnout, sagging from the clip, maintenance needed since installation?
I wonder this also. I switched my entire basement to LED. in 14 months I've had 4 tubes die. They use less power but I am changing lights far more often.
@@laser31415 LEDs usually have a bathtub failure rate, so either they die really quickly or they are almost indestructible
@@derfurz8618 it depends on the brand or your “luck” ?
@@IdrissAlMiqdad Luck
@@laser31415 Just now I changed our old flurescent bulbs to fluorescent but with electronic ballast - no more humming and actually nobody is meassuring the light output from the other side of the led light as fluorescent is emiting light also from the back :) - those old bulbs were still good but humming - like 25yrs old - everybody is doing a comparison with old tubes those have worse phosphor and old type ballast.
I just converted my 40 year old fixtures the same way. One other thing I did was to take the tombstone connectors apart and parallel wire the two contacts (each side of each bulb button) to eliminate the "switch" feature and improve the contact area. While apart, I also cleaned up the old brass contacts inside the tombstones.
Great tips--thank you!
Also recommend wiring the line or hot side to the fixed tombstone. The neutral to the spring loaded end. This can prevent shock and arcing if bulbs are ever removed or replaced while power is on.
This is one of the first videos I watched when I contemplated flipping my shop lights over to LED a couple of years ago. It helped me to decide to go ahead and do it. Right on brother, the change is nothing short of amazing! Thank you.
That is awesome!
This is one of the first videos I watched of Project Farm. Every time I flip my man cave switch - LEDs - because of PF - I think of it. Go PF!
Thank you very much!
We've recently tried 6 fixtures (12x4' bulbs) with LED's at the shop just to see how it goes. So far so good, great light output, no humming or anything. Very pleased overall, I will point out the two negatives to the LED's as I've learned over the past few months.
Our power has gone out twice in the past two months, and after it came back on the LED's did not relight. At first, I had thought the bulbs blew. But upon removing one bulb, the others turned on. Hmm. Reinstalled the bulb and it lit as well. So basically they just need a little wiggling after an event like the power shutting down in order to function again. Can be inconvenient, but I'm not too concerned. Two freak accidents in two months haha.
Also, we chose to use it in 4' sections because of sagging as you mentioned. Our company electrician said that some of his other customers who use the 8' LED's complain about them sagging to the point of the bulbs falling out of the fixture! The clamps that you used would probably have prevented that. The bulbs are plastic, and as the plastic heats up it will cause it to sag, so good call on your part.
I'm new to your videos but the content is great, you are clear with your speech and do your best to make provide fair and unbiased results. Keep up the great work!!
Russell, Thank you very much for the comments about LEDs! The power outages and LEDs not relighting...that is strange! I went ahead and bought enough for the main area of the shop and I'm very pleased thus far, especially in the winter with instant bright light. I'll keep working hard to improve the videos! Thanks for watching the video and commenting!
Russell. Could it be that you have old burnt out sockets in the fixture, and springs has lost the tension?
Nice video.
Tor-Olaf Jacobsen if you are using those led rods, leds don't play nice with the balist in the light fixture, try by-passing it and your lights will.work great after that
EpilepsyWarning, I do not use this, it is Russell Pepin using them. And no, trying to use led behind a balast would not work out well.
I agree...get rid of the ballast when installing the LEDs. I've since replaced all the lights in my shop with LEDs and I couldn't be more pleased with the results! Worth every penny!
An advice from a European Electrician, next time when you have to connect two or more wires together then I would recommend using a splicing connector from the brand Wago. They have some from 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 connection slots. For solid and stranded conductors as well as flexible ones. Using them is very easy. If you use electrician tape, the residue will let go after some time so the connection is not as secure.
Just so you can see the technical details:
- For solid and stranded conductors
www.wago.com/us/wire-splicing-connectors/compact-splicing-connector/p/2773-402
- For flexible ones
www.wago.com/us/wire-splicing-connectors/compact-splicing-connector/p/221-412
Of course it can be that you have some other doctrine in the US. Anyways nice to see some unbiased and practically useful videos here on youtube, keep up the good work!
the connectors are intriguing but the links use ascreen obscuring the page demanding input---I just left
Wago though little expensive are great, fast and secure.
In the UK there is a similar brand 'ideal'. The ideal ones are a little bit cheaper and higher amperage.
They work the same
What was happening was he was using wire nuts, then taping so they don’t loosen off over time. A common thing to do in America
Saw those and bought them when I was in the U K. I used these in my shop when I installed fluorescent lights. Don’t know if legal, yet I have plans to use these in my house remodel!
A lot of Europeans comment like that when they see wirenuts. Yes, Waygo are nice to spend on, IF you are going to be moving connections a lot.
Otherwise, $11/150 is a fair bit less than $25/100 Waygo types at our stores. Especially if you are using a lot of them. And if you think about it, Todd probably isn't going to need to touch that wiring for 5-10 years. What advantage does the Waygo-type offer when its basically install once and done? For some reason, Europeans who have never worked with them seem to think they are going to come unwound and burn the house down.
Every house in USA probably has 100 of these at least, and across 140 million house, that about 14 billion wirenuts.
NorAm does not have a problem with houses burning down.
If we did, and wirenuts were the proximate cause, we'd have switched.
Note, I have some Waygo types, and use them depending on whats at hand.
As the fluorescent bulbs burnt out in my garage I began replacing them with LED's and couldn't be happier. They throw a lot more light, use a lot less power, don't hum or flicker when it's cold and last a lot longer. Love the fact that I don't have to treat them like egg shells either.
Thanks for sharing.
I'm interested to know how those LED bulbs are doing. I installed LED fluorescent replacement tubes and one bulb burned out within a couple of months. Probably a thermal failure, based on how hot the remaining bulb was running. I rolled back to fluorescent tubes for now. Keep up the good work!
Depends upon which ones you buy. If you can get a name brand like Sylvania or such, they are definately going to be better than some of the cheaper Feit ones which over-volt the LED's to get higher lumens rating, and drastically shorten lifespan.
I kept my fluorescent lights in my garage/shop and just painted the walls and ceiling white. You'd be surprised how much of a difference that makes all by itself.
Thank you for the feedback
And no extra blue light to damage the eyes.
@@garychandler4296 It depends on the color temperature. A "warm white" LED will not have a pronounced blue spike like a "cool white" one does.
You've come a long ways bro 👊 channel is one of the best I watch on TH-cam. Keep the reviews/hard work coming.
Thank you so much 👍
This is the first PF video I watched that you had made. Found you again for something else and subscribed. Excellent channel!
I converted six 4x48" florescent fixtures to LED and I could not be more pleased. I had to replaced two ballastis with a single new electronic ballast in each fixture. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, will do! Thanks for sharing.
You were also going to love how quickly and bright the LEDs start even when the shop is cold.
Thanks for the feedback.
Mine shut off like an incandescent bulb , they go from bright to off in a half a second or so. Have been using them for almost 3 years now.
I love LED lights and many fixtures are a decorators dream and affordable. Some do have a delay in lighting that is distinctly noticeable. My research says that it is from poor design of the voltage converter. At any rate it is there.
One of the local job lot type stores here in New England was selling 4- foot LED fixtures for $12. That's right, entire fixtures, with the LED tubes, for $12! We tested a couple of them at work, and they were surprisingly good; easy on the eyes, good light spectrum, and they did not emit any appreciable RF noise (important if you want to use a radio, especially an AM radio, ugh, in your shop). At that insanely low price, I wouldn't simply buy more expensive LED tubes with which to retrofit to existing fixtures, unless for some reason you really really really don't want to hang and wire new fixtures.....
That's a great price! Nice!
Random question sir, but are you a veteran? The way you break things down, very concise and to the point. Also just know seeing the lower fatigues, but the haircut as well. Just curious. Keep up the good videos!
He was USAF.
Your videos are truly the most informative non biased videos you can find on youtube, thank you for all of your great videos.
Thank you!
I bought 40 of these and by the end of the first month 8 of them had already failed. Started blinking and I had to borrow a scissor lift to remove them so they wouldn't annoy my customer. In addition the remaining ones had lost about 30-40% of their light intensity by the end of the 4th month. I know because the replacements were quite a bit brighter. Going to stick with the tried and true fluorescents until the technology gets better and the Chinese no longer have a monopoly on the LED market.
Regarding the color temperature, I had to order from outside the US because at the time, most US sellers only had the 4000K available and my customer wanted the bright ones (aircraft hangar).
Thank you
- You see electrician forums stating how T12 is the least efficient, followed by T8, followed by T5 as the best. It is precisely the opposite. That is based on the generation with the T12's being the oldest. In fact I've unpopularly challenged them for which they had no comeback. Next time you are in Menards, look at the bulbs they support. You want one that supports T12 VHOs, HOs, standard, and T8s. My guess is those ballasts don't rely much on the heaters. It is typical for a fixture with TWO 40 watt fluorescent bulbs and a good electronic ballast to draw 52-55 watts total. They are not far behind LEDs in lumens per watt. They don't even flicker in Michigan winters in out buildings, but there, they start with good brightness, but do not achieve full brightness instantly. The old T12 ballasts cause a large color shift toward the red end of the spectrum (getting yellower) and significant loss of lumens within the first 100 hours of operation. This is much less the case with a good ballast. The T number is the number of 1/8ths of an inch in diameter. Thus, a T12 is 12/8 or 1 1/2" in diameter. The larger the diameter, the more efficient it is with a good ballast. You can measure these efficiencies with a Kill-A-Watt meter and light meter and in a closed room. Rated bulb life is determined by how long it takes to get down to 50% of their original lumens, not when they stop working. Next there is color temperature. 5000K is direct sunlight, 6500 is shade, and the lower K ones do more to mimic incandescents that generally and inaccurately make you look better. However, color temperature is simply an average, and some of the spectrum included in that spectrum is light your eye cannot even use. How bright something looks or is rated for was not the only standard for me. I want to see things as the color they really are if they were outside. That brings us to color rendition index (CRI). If you want things to look natural, the higher CRI the better. From Home Depot I use the Phillips with the green end caps which are 6500K, 90% CRI, which is not common in high K bulbs, and have more lumens than standard. I couldn't find a CRI anywhere near that in LED shop light replacements. Starting with 6500 means as they drift toward the red end of the spectrum, they retain the "whiteness" better. The bulbs cost a little more, but in a place where you spend time working, and considering how long they last with an excellent ballast, the cost difference was irrelevant. I fully expected, and even wanted, to end up on LEDs but I ended up choosing fluorescents. However, it is also worth noting that fluorescents contain mercury and phosphor, which are hazardous materials that present a waste disposal issue.
- The best LEDs are always a little more efficient than the best electronic ballasts with T12s. The methodology LEDs use for calculating bulb life is very unrealistic. Nonetheless, they nearly always give the longest life, with the electronics being their achilles.
- Another consideration is how well you can control the light for your particular application and the form factor. In some applications fluorescents can be better while others LEDs can, which is why I use both. Overall, LED bulbs have a much more flexible form factor and still remain efficient. The ONLY efficient fluorescent is the shop light tube style. My kitchen has a lighted ceiling and with a double translucent panel below the reflector-less fixtures, you cannot determine where the bulbs are. Other form factors such as compact fluorescents are not particularly efficient, and impractical any place where you turn on the light to get something and then turn it off due to their time to obtain even reasonable brightness, and their cycles and ratings for their ballasts and bulbs to determine bulb life are unrealistic, which is why in many instances they could not honestly challenge incandescents. LEDs, with their current pricing, clobber CFLs, with their instant on, getting the brighter spectrum, more CRI control, bulb life, and efficiency. The longer life of LEDs pay back another way. Some bulbs are not convenient to replace, such as on a porch light or inside of a lamp post. In general I love LEDs. You can make efficient, custom lighting for any area and require very little power or space to do it.
Go back to your cubicle nerd
This is the first PF video I watched that you had made. Found you again for something else and subscribed. Excellent channel!
Awesome! Thank you!
Same LEDs I purchased and I love them! No buzzing noise and light immediately, even in the coldest weather!
Thanks for sharing.
Did this myself recently (4ft Hyperikon bulbs) and love the result. How often can you install something that works better and costs less in the long term?
Great point! These are a terrific investment!
Every time you buy a new computer.
i got rid of the missus & installed a dummy manikin,or,womenkin,,works great,doesnt answer back,allways wants sex,doesnt complian about too many take aways or beers,,&,a damn site cheaper to keep..win win..
@@Epotheros computers cost waaay more per upgrade 🤣🤣🤣
good wholesome programing
Thank you!
DO THE LIGHTBULB WORK BETTER WITH THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID? LET'S FIND OUT!
lol. Thanks
Caps lock is on ... 😉
Lightbulbs don't use transmission fluid, they use 'Blinker Fluid'.
ONLY if it's synthetic. Same with Blinker Fluid and Muffler Bearings. I WOULD have said "Exhaust Fluid" but with the new Diesels,,Hell, you need that too..."Blue Deff". Just one more way to Steal more of your Fuel Money...LOL
@@honestycounts9352 True, but you have to remember to change the fluid every hundred hours.
Wow, that is an easy upgrade! I have those same fixtures and was dreading messing with them. But now I will just pop in these LEDs - no need to remove the old fixture housing. And the existing tombstones don't have to be replaced either. Thanks!
You are welcome!
I replaced 24 4 foot bulbs in my garage with LEDs. They are great. Instant on in cold temps and it seems like 2 times the light. $125 for 25 bulbs. I just rewired my existing light fixtures.
Nice!!
I didn't rewire. They just exchanged & worked. Did I supposed to?
@@virginia7125 It depends on what type of light fixtures you have. If they are the standard florescent fixtures with ballasts then you need to re wire them. If yours are working just fine now then I don't see why you should have to rewire them.
@@imtruth69 I called Lowe's. They said my bulbs are T-8 direct replacements. That means they are pre-wired to go in a standard fixture without modification. The dual pin fixtures have what is known as an exciter pin. Explains why there's no starter. They make a ballast free fixture, but the bulbs are different they say.
@@virginia7125 Great. You done good by buying the correct bulbs for your fixtures. I am an electrician so it was easy for me to modify my fixtures and I could get by with a little less expensive bulb. I am glad it worked out for you because the LED's are the way to go in my opinion.
i'm impressed that he's still replying to comments
Thanks for watching!
I replaced my florescent tubes in my kitchen with LED tubes. I did the math like you, and came to the conclusion that it would be cost efficient. It required me rewiring the lights, bypassing the old ballasts. Not a difficult job, but much more work than just putting in new tubes. They looked great, but they didn't last long. I replaced a total of six tubes, and the first one died in less than 9 months, DESPITE the life rating on the box. I called the manufacture, who was selling these on Amazon, and they cheerfully sent me a whole box of six tubes for free - because they didn't sell them individually. By the end of two years, I think I was down to just two spares out of the box of six that they sent me. The life rating specs on the bulbs were not even close to what I experienced in actual use. Either the manufacture lied, had quality problems, or maybe power glitches from local storms and such killed them prematurely? I ended up replacing the tubes with round recessed LED fixtures, and was much happier with that. The individual lights allowed me to illuminate specific areas of my kitchen that were poorly illuminated with the tube lights, and allowed me to use a dimmer switch. It took a long time to figure out where to put all the lights, and there was a lot of wiring behind the ceiling to do, but the project turned out great. The only problem with the recessed LED lights is that they are a bit sensitive to small power surges and such. For example, you see a little flicker when there is a power glitch, but it is not a bad problem. Since then I have installed a whole home "Home Electronics Protective Device" on my central electrical junction box, and haven't had any problems with the electronics in my house ever since - though I do still sometimes see small flickers on my Kitchen LED lights that I never saw with the original florescent tubes. Sometimes I just learn lessons the hard way.
It's too bad that you're having such problems, but much depends on the specific products you buy. I'm aware of *many* problems with LED light fixtures/tubes/bulbs, but personally have had no problems with the absolute cheapest Philips standard (A19 form) LED light bulb. I bought a whole bunch several years ago and have used them all over my house, and with the exception of a couple that audibly buzzed (not loudly, but slightly noticeably) that I returned to the store, I am completely satisfied with them. You can't dim them (not an issue for me because I don't use dimmers), but they're very reliable workhorses. I have yet to see any of them fail, and their light is steady, by which I mean there is no visible flicker. Some of the other models from Philip flicker and/or are less reliable, but the super-cheap, non-dimmable ones are great.
On the flip side, I'm not sure about lately, but historically Cree has been a really awful brand with poor reliability. That's too bad because they make some of the finest, most efficient, most advanced LEDs in the world, but the electronics in their consumer lighting products have been and possibly still are of rather questionable design and/or quality.
It's really fun to revisit some of your earlier videos and see just how much your videos have improved, both in quality and delivery. Keep up the great work!
Thanks, will do!
You REALLY REALLY need to consider putting sheetrock or plywood on that ceiling. That is the ultimate fire hazard. That plastic and kraft face will burn and spread faster than you can imagine. I saw it happen first hand in my friends garage with 10' ceiling and exposed insulation just like yours. Total engulfment in less than 3 minutes. If nothing else get plenty of insurance and stay close to the exits.
Thank you very much for this recommendation! I'll need to make this a top priority soonest. Thanks again!
Make it sheetrock, 3/4" fire-rated. I'm surprised your local municipality didn't hit your builder upside the head for that faux pas.
@@texarcana2002 That is if it is attached to the house and is only required on the wall facing the house, or at least that's what it used to be. If it is freestanding you might not have to cover anything. But we live in what is basically a confederation of 50 small country's with their own set of laws, and even 2 county's can have different code's.
You can't fix stupid.
The poly burns with a near invisible flame and it burns crazy fast.
At one of my previous workplaces they had old fluorescent lighting in the offices. The owner was a cheapskate and one day he pulled half of the tubes out to save on electricity. When the rest started to die, we were swapping tubes from vacant areas of the office to avoid working in the dark. You can never argue with the guy that owns the place, but cutting corners isn't a healthy approach to solving problems.
Screw in LEDs are great and cheap. I threw out all those stupid stick lights. Someone picked them up. Good. I hate the stick lights.
I would like to see u do a test on those ceramic knifes thanx an keep up the great work
Great suggestion! Thank you.
Just finished watching your video on changing oil in an emglo air compressor. Hadn’t changed it in years so your effort both excellent and helpful ! . Try to keep everything working and had forgotten how to do it ! Thank again ‼️
Great to hear!
I have the same single pin 8’ florescent fixtures in my shop. Six, three on each side as I mounted them about 20” from the ceiling. My ceiling is also 12’. I’m going to do the same thing. I have one bad ballast now and I found them on amazon too. I have them in my wish list. So I was happy to see your video and how well they work!! I was going to purchase the wiring kit but after watching the video I don’t think 🤔 I will as I have tons of wire.
Great feedback! I'm still very pleased with the LEDs. Very well worth every penny!
A job well done. Loved the video! :-)
Thank you very much! You've got an awesome channel! Looking forward to your next video
When I run my inventory down I want to make the same change. I have a bunch of 4’ ones that were given to me. Thanks 👍🏻
Thank you
Really enjoy your videos. I’ve learned a lot from them. Thanks. I replaced my shop fluorescent lights with those Hyperikon LED bulbs several years ago. They are still going strong. Brighter, no flicker or hum, and come on instantly. And don’t forget to include the savings on never having to replace those ballasts again. In our area you also have to dispose of burned out fluorescent tubes as hazardous waste and they charge you for each bulb, so better for the environment and your wallet at the same time. Keep up the great work with your videos. You’ve become my go-to source for product comparisons.
Thanks, will do. Thanks for sharing.
I've replaced every bulb in the house, inside & out with LED except the oven & microwave lights....Also outbuildings too, no waiting for fluorescent bulbs to warm and brighten in the winter.
I love LED technology! Better lighting and less energy consumption.
Do you have exterior floodlights on your house? If so how's the LED brightness compared to the old incandescent floodlight bulbs? I've been thinking of doing the same as well at my house.
@@wildbill23c I have floods in the back and they are just as bright as the original incandescents.
Awesome, thank you, tired of having to climb the ladder and replace bulbs on the side of the house HAHA!!!!
@@wildbill23c Some LEDs do not work well, or not at all, when it is very cold. Make sure the lights are rated for the expected temperature range.
I recommend 4100k with 80+CRI for shops/warehouses where maximum visibility is needed. Higher kelvin ratings increases the amount of perceived light even if the lumens are the same.
4100k is typically as white as you can get without it falling into the blue spectrum. The lumens required for the area depends on the reflectivity of surfaces within the space, as well as the color of walls and ceiling. Going LED in shop environments is a no-brainer because of the light requirement, short-term ROI, and lowering costs of retrofit bulbs.
I reduced lighting costs in our 100,000 sq ft warehouse by 60% from changing fluorescent bulbs to LED retrofits (T5 and T8), and changing metal hallide fixtures to LED high output fixtures. Over 100k savings per year with an ROI of about 7 months.
All great points. Thank you!
Yep, 4K 8 footers in my shop and 2700K at home
If you don't buy trash Flourescent ballasts. Good balast turns on at under 0F instantly just fine. Trash at home depot? No. Modern Flourescent, not crap T12(trash) or T8 semi-trash, but rather T5 puts out same Lumens/Watt and they are more distributed light source than LED and are warm and very close to full spectrum.
LED bulbs do NOT last as long as claimed. Maybe if you buy the most expensive with LARGE heat sinks and BIG reflectors. T5 vrs LED have same Watt/Lumen and when you factor in reflector required in LED, T5 wins. When you add color spectrum, T5 REALLY wins hands down as all those high lumen LED's are all BLUE BLUE BLUE and no one wants BLUE light. Why businesses are not replacing with LED but rather T5 Flourescent. That and LED 4ft lights have piss poor light quality. VERY VERY harsh Blue is installed to drop $$$ to get their payback. Destroys your eyes.
I would like to add that the very high color temperature can be a bit more efficient - I think they may need less phosphor coating since it is the phosphor that produces the non-blue colors in white LEDs. However, the harsh color is not worth it. I second your statement that you shouldn't go higher than the 4100k you mentioned.
Yeah 6000°k yuk.
electrician 35 years i say leds are the wayt to go...i see you got the style that wires end to end....much easier to do...
Great feedback. Thank you
I’m glad this project came back up again. I need to replace the lights in my garage. Now I know which way I’m going.
Glad I could help!
I'm curious to know if these lights are still in use.
Thank you. Yes, they are still in use nearly every day of the week and for many hours each day. Great lights! Thanks again
I was wondering if you have a garage door opener? I put LED lights in my shop and it completely screwed up my opener, had to be within 15 foot of the door for it to work, I had to go back to fluorescent in the end of my shop the opener is. I know it sounds far fetched but trust me it’s true.
Clarence Hatfield is it only when the led lights are on that it affects the door opener? I can’t see how if powered off they can affect it.
@@2010bigfathen LED lights are essentially just fancy wire. They should affect your garage door far less then a florescent light, which has a big ballast in it producing magnetic fields.
@@2010bigfathen thanks for adding that info here.that is very interesting to take note of.
I replaced my whole house with Phillips LEDs and they say 15 years but within 1 year I had about 3 die. They are very good bulbs Produce a ton of light.
Wow! That's a lot of failures
I've had some LEDs and some CFLs quit well before they should. Electronics are great until they fail.
Interestingly i also installed one philips led and it died on me within year too. I wonder whats up, have osram now and hope those last longer. Didnt throw away recipit this time, if it blows within three years, going for replacement since 3 three years is not enough to pull 20000 hours with normal household usage
Mine have lasted 5 yrs plus. I bought generic Wal-Mart bulbs.
Made my own with long led strips purchased from online electronic parts place. I used a plug in transformer with AC output ( junk box supply) then to a full wave bridge. Uses 192 milli amps. Lots of bright dots, but who stares at lights anyway?
Install a diffuser to spread the light out so you don't see the dots
@@sh115067 True...It's a pain cutting that brittle ceiling light plastic.
I just replaced my fluorescents with LEDs about 6 months ago and what a tremendous difference it made in both brightness in my shop and my power bill. You would be surprised how much of a difference it would also make if your walls and ceiling were painted white. Love your videos
Great recommendation! Thank you
What gets me is that consumers switch to highly efficient LED bulbs to cut utility costs but the Electric company raises the rates. So after a few years you're paying the same as you were.
We consumers can't get ahead.
Thank you!
Tru story.
Yep, bastards. Same goes for cable/internet. Where I live everyone is dumping cablevision so the same company (as they are the only one we have here) gouge us with a rusty knife and raise internet cost. $100. a month for mediocre speed where I live, ridiculous. Edit: same will go for fossil fuels etc with electric vehicles. But then again elec cars will balance the electricity usage and the rates will remain...ya right. Soon they will be demanding live sacrifices in trade for energy etc. Um, not to rant or anything ;) fuck! LOL
It's the same with water. The water company needs to increase the water rates since usage has dropped and they need to maintain a certain cash flow.
And the truth is there is and never will be an energy crisis. Yes we should have moved on from oil by now but I highly suspect oil is a self replenishing resource. No oil didnt come from Dinasaurs. One of the biggest lies ever told. Ingenious way to make money but still a lie. Artificial scarcity goes right along with planned obsolescence. Go check out the centennial light bulb. Has been on for 116 years and still going strong. They knew how to makes bulbs last forever along with all other products but that doesn't make money so they had to design then to only last a little while. People should be out in the streets for that alone not to mention all the other lies we have been told.
I did my entire shop with amazon plug and play T8 leds for about $350 including remote control outlets. Running 220 lumens per square foot. 5000k daylight. Surgical room bright.
Could you link the product, please?
“Wow” was my reaction when I replaced a handful of 100w incandescent bulbs with six 4’ LED fixtures in my garage. I have no idea why I didn’t do it sooner.
I did exactly what you did in my garage with the HYPERIKON bulbs and I was really impressed with them and very happy 😊 that I made the change. Love your channel and watch it all the time. Subscriber from Nova Scotia.
Great to hear! Thanks for watching!
theres a guy on youtube named wintergarten and he just renovated his work shop. he put leds that can change color and made ot so that when its morning, its a warmer shade so its easy on the eyes, and when its noon, its bright white so you can see, then towards sunset, it matches that color. it has something to do with the bodys reaction to light and sleep, he explains it better.
Wow! I didn't realize such technology existed.
I noticed the same thing on a trans-Atlantic flight on a 787. The plane started out from dark to pink-orange to yellow to blue over about 20 minutes to simulate sunrise.
I love the colour temperature experts all chiming in, doubt they actually know what the Kelvin rating is, that said great video, please be careful with these LED tubes (they are tubes or lamps, not bulbs), they have been banned in many countries in favour of the type that have the supply connected to one end only, lots of people have been thrown off ladders or killed when installing double ended LEDs when they accidentally touched the end of the LED lamp as they fitted the opposite end into the fitting. Unlike fluorescent tubes, these LEDs have a low Z direct electrical connection between the ends. Also label the fitting "LED tube only" since you have removed the current limiter (the ballast), you should have fitted a 1Amp HRC fuse to the fitting, just in case the LED driver fails, it could save you a whole heap of explaining to your insurance company.
This is a very informative post and thank you for the recommendation.
indeed, not a single one of them understands that 6000k is not 'blue' and that the sun is not yellow
Kelvin is the black body temperature. At that temperature expect to see the black body illuminate to the color that you see. 5000 K or D50 light source is the standard for viewing color. 5000 K is typically the color of light at noon in full sunlight.
A comment was made about blue being the color that the eye can see best. This is incorrect. The eye’s sensitivity is best in green areas of the spectrum.
@@Blox117 YA 6000k is blue... being technical all led light is blue and then "split" into some other colors... go look at a color break down on a real LED like a cree they have massive blue and as you get higher in the 6k 6.5k you see more and more BLUE...
So, um, question... on a single pin tube... how do you get power and neutral on ONE pin? rofl these are the replacements for that tombstone no others exist with out replacing the tombstones and you don't mention that... so you are parroting something you read somewhere...
I put LEDs in the kitchen last time the flo lights burned out. I will never buy another fluorescent tube. LEDs were so bright my wife made me remove half of them.
I really like the LEDs. We've installed them throughout the house and other structures on our property. We purchases softer LEDs (low Kelvin) for the house. Thanks for commenting!
My solution to the brightness was to buy programmable dimmers where you can control the upper and lower range of brightness. I used the Lutron Caseta. It's also nice to have an app on your phone to control the lights.
Wow, this a very well done tutorial on changing over to LED bulbs. I know it's about a 4 year old video now, but there are still many people who need to do this in their own homes & shops. I've changed out somewhere around 600 to 700 2 and 4 bulb fixtures in the past 7 years and I'm amazed at how the LED tubes have improved in those 7 years. The 8' bulbs that you installed are now available in 48 watt, 6,7200 rated lumens and cost around $20. The brightest bulbs I could find nearly 7 years ago when I installed (57) 4 bulb, 8' fixtures were rated @ 22 watts & 2,100 lumens and have finally started going bad in the past year. The bulbs I'm replacing them with are now rated @ 22 watts & 3,000 lumens. I've checked amperage & done light output test with a Lux meter on most of the change overs I've done & you're spot on with half the power usage & double the light output. With T12 bulbs using magnetic ballasts the difference is even more. Something else your subscribers need to know is that most power companies give rebates to their consumers for switching over to LED's from fluorescents. One of my customers got over $800 back in rebates after I switched their entire farm out to LEDs.. Power companies vary from one to the next, but I believe almost all of them give rebates. My customers who are served by Rural Electric Cooperatives have been getting very good rebates. That's another huge saving that many people don't realize is available to them. Sorry for the long rant, but this is a passion of mine. I love to see people save money & I love lots of light. Keep up the great videos & comparisons. Your channel is my favorite on TH-cam
Thanks, will do!
Led works on not 3000 hours, as it says on the package, but the time's you turn it on and off
Thanks for this information.
I did the same in my shop, lighting is just great, but the downside is I cant listen to radio anymore since those LED make it sound like a frying pan..
Why is that?
korg502006 leds shouldn’t make a sound like that
The radio playing the AM band will be noisy because of the electronics inside the lamps. Those electronics are called the driver circuits and does create electronic noise or interference when playing an AM radio. Switch to the FM band and you won't hear that noise.
Wow... glad production got a huge update 🤣. Gotta love going back to see where it all started 🙌
Thanks!
Went to Home depot and replaced all of our cans with LED's 40 of them... The LED portion of the bulb may last 35 years as advertised but the cheap electronic circuits inside won't 3 of the LED's have already gone bad and no longer work after 1 month.
Kevin, I hope you will receive replacement bulbs! have a large barn with over 40 LED bulbs and now have around 20 LED tubes. Home has 30-40 LED bulbs. I've only had 2 bulbs fail and that was my fault, since they weren't designed for a light dimmer. I failed to get rid of the dimmer before the bulbs were ruined.
they have led that can be dimmed might be a bit more expensive but it is possible
Project Farm some have room temp range
Cree and Hyperikon have GREAT warrantees, I had Cree bulbs in my chandelier lamps at my art gallery, and two lights in the front windows were kept on 24/7 for the 3 years I had the building, those bulbs came home when I sold the building and I still have them around the house now 3 years later!
kevin vt
That's what happens when you buy from the home despot.
It seems like the included brackets would have been better placed at 1/3 of the way and 2/3rds of the way along the length of the bulb.
Yes, this is a great point. So far, the bulbs don't sag and they're all working well.
A real bulb does not need them. I have the same f96t12 1 pin bulbs convered to led (as them failing was getting annoying) about the same time period here... no sagging see... no brackets...
Led’s all day long...
I Am running 50x gu10’s (5w) before they were 50w halogen ones.
You do the maths :)
Dont look back
They are terrific! Thank you
Yeah, I've been sold on LEDs for quite some time now. My garage/shop has eight 8 foot single florescent bulbs, they are old and some of the ballasts have gone bad. I pretty much knew how to wire the new LEDs but it always nice to see someone else do the project first, thanks.
Thanks for sharing.
6,000k will give you a good headache. Between 3,500 and 4,000 is the sweet spot not too yellow or blue, and NO headache.
This is a great point. Thanks for commenting on this!
On what planet?
Ya, I have to keep yellow "blue cut" glasses in my vehicle because I can't see well when driving in a city with 6000-6500K blue LED lighting...I personally won'tt buy anything over 4300K, 5000K is my limit I can work around.
I've noticed Walmart has some sense and put 4300K or less LED lighting in their produce section, but the parking lot lights are another story.
@@BigDish101 Ya I am actually in the house going from 5k to 4k now down to like 3500 even run my computer screens with a blue light filter... too much.
Outside I run 5k because of how bright it feels... but not for work and the shop has 4k leds
No toxic murcury
Great point! Thank you
@@ProjectFarm check out the EPA instructions for broken bulb cleanup. Blow your mind. Hazmat situation.
I hear led are supposed to last much longer yet, I happen to change quite often
Great point. They are heat sensitive. So, mine last a long time as long as they aren't enclosed/sealed inside of a light cover of some sort or in direct sunlight
Meh. Kept hearing the same thing about CFLs. I switched several years ago and according to the hype I shouldn't yet have had a single failure. Several boxes full of failed CFLs later . . .
@@kontrarien5721 Yupper, same here. Blow out as fast as incandescent bulbs.
I tried several LED automotive bulbs and found that not only did they not last as long as incandescent, but had some not work at all straight out of the packaging. I’m not convinced LEDs are the way to go in all situations.
I changed bulbs in my car. Cheap leds fails quite rapidly. A better one is about the double the price, but it has never failed. 5 years from that, and still running strong
Now that I've seen all of your new videos I'm checking out your older stuff. Still awesome!
Thanks so much!
I put LED's all throughout my house 2 years ago and my power bill has dropped by about 25%
Nice savings!
I did the same but can't say for sure if my bill is that much lower. It is consistently lower than all my neighbors, who will share this information. Every possible light socket in my house is now LED and the payback should continue indefinitely.
We built a new house two years ago and every light is LED. From a pure lightning standpoint LEDs use about one tenth what incandescents do. Do you use electricity to cook, heat water, heat?
I live alone. The little used incandescents are about 25 yrs old, and still working. No sense replacing them. In the kitchen, a well placed 8 w LED is on a timer, and provides light for cooking, etc. The work shops are fluroescent and when they burn out I"ll see if new tubes or switching to LED is worth it. (A dollar or 2 of power added to a project isn't much to worry about). The bathroom has CFLs, and throwing out working lamps is a waste. When they burn out, they will be replaced with LEDs. An odd one, from work I got several 185 volt, 500 W Quartz lamps. In my work light stand, they produce enough light, and add a lot of IR for cold days in the garage. They last a long time too.
@M Harris :My error - the lamps are 1000 W, 185 V. They're orangish, but lots of light, color balance is good enough to work under, and they keep your hands warmer in the winter. I still don't know what they were built for.
I had a few early CFL lamps that the ballast wasted as much electricity as the lamp used. This was measured, those lamps went in the recycle. I bought a special 4 W CFL for a hall night light, the thing burnt out after about 2 hr use.
I scrapped a LED that quit. I thought perhaps I could re-purpose the diodes. They're mounted on a 1/4" thick aluminum heatsink, so i don't think i can reuse them.
LEDs are so much better
Thank you!
I'll be interested to see how long they last. I have a couple of fluorescent bulbs still going strong after almost 20 years.
LEDs can last a long time, my concern with the tubes in this project, is how the individual LEDs are interconnected inside. if they are in series, they would have the same problem old Christmas lights have, one LED dies, and they all go out. from the diagram, I noticed no power supply , and doubt that the power supply is inside that small tube. which leads me to believe, that they are connected in series, with just a diode and capacitor.
So the advantage of no power supply, is that there is nothing to go bad. the LEDs is series does increase the chance that over time one emitter that dies will cause the whole thing to go dark, but on the other hand, they can be replaced. I have even replaced a couple LED emitters in my LCD TV..
@@ijulesy same but they got dim and i had to throw em out
one is working fine for 5 years but keeps burning out the ballast so had to stick with old ballast
@@ijulesy if they are anything like the ones i bought not long at all
Awww come on man. I expected you to actually run tests. Current draw or something...
Sorry to disappoint.
@@ProjectFarm Current draw(probably don't actually use 20w) and lumens comparison would be neat to do at some point if you still have the old bulbs.
My wife wanted a brighter kitchen light. I replaced the fluorescent tube fixture. With an daylight spectrum LED fixture of the same size and shape.
After she had cataract surgery. She thought the daylight spectrum was a little toooo bright. Some of the other LED lights that I changed. Are the Soft White variety.
Several people have comment about painting the ceilings and walls. Any color paint that reflects light. Is good to help bounce the light around. Wood has special acoustic properties. Test the sound recording in a painted room first. Your videos are excellent and entertaining. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for the feedback!
I can remember the 8 ft T12 fluorescent fixtures in the garage at my grandmothers house when I was growing up. My dad installed them in the early 80s I think. I remember they flickered like crazy and seemed to burn out often. I can now imagine just what a huge improvement these would be.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks. I was going to change over to leds but someone beat me to it a gave me a bunch of his leftover florescent bulbs. When I use them up I will make the change over. My son is an electrician and I’ll volunteer him so I won’t burn down the shop.
Thanks for sharing.
Really enjoy the practical education of your videos. Especially now. Even though I may not do anything directly, one never knows when I might apply what I've seen to something else. One thread of though leads to another.
Great to hear!
I switched my shop to LEDs last year- never looked back! Best improvement ever!
Thank you!
What a difference! Thanks for showing us how.
Thank you for the video idea!
I did the same thing in my shop and cellar but I purchased self-enclosed fixtures. Yes WOW what a difference!!
Great feedback! Thank you
I replaced my fluorescent lights with Barrina LED T5’s purchased from Amazon and have had them for over 5 years with no problems at all, plus they put out twice as much light. I love them.
I started using that brand of lights. I liked them so much that I am using them in my house and both garages. One great feature no cold start problems like fluorescent lights in the winter in the unheated garage.
Thanks for sharing.
The full view of the SHOP!!! ♥️
And the wall don't have the collection of destroyed engines 🔝
I put a bunch of 4' "linkable" LED fixtures in my garage recently. An electrician wired up 3 sockets at the ceiling (for 3 row of 4 lights each) controlled off a single switch and then and I was able to easily install the fixtures myself. Literally a plug'n play install and result is awesome.
Thanks for the feedback.
I put 8 LED 4 foot linkable lights up in my shop, only had to wire one in and then the rest just plug into each other. Was going to do the bulbs but it was actually cheaper to buy them from Costco and just screw up the new fixtures. Love the new LED’s and I don’t worry about leaving them on. Good video. Always like your stuff.
Great information. Thank you!
I bought a bunch of LEDs (both 4 &8' ) and have gradually been swapping them out. Quite a difference on light output IF you buy the brighter rated ones. difference being (besides warmer and cooler) number of rows of LEDs. Some had 1 row, others 2, some 3, and I think a few perhaps have 4 rows. I bought the 2 and 3 row ones and am happy with them . I had 2 4' burn out within a year but all 8' ones have held up well. I probably have 1/2 my shop LED now, have problem justifying changing them just to change them as I have boxes of fluorescent bulbs. Obviously YOU'RE not going to take them off my hands, can't hardly give them away on craigs list so... Keep up the good work, enjoy your videos.
I just changed my fluorescent bulbs in my kitchen and same as yours I'm getting brighter for less than half the electricity so I am very pleased to say the least !!!
That is awesome! Thanks for watching.