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Tired of dealing with balky fluorescent tubes and old magnetic ballasts ($$$) in my basement, I bit the bullet and bought 2 LED 4-footers, removed the dead ballast and turned on the lights. Dim bulbs. Apparently there are 3 kinds of LED tubes. Mine needed a T8 electric ballast. $16.95 later from my local electrical supply house, about 10 minutes labor and voila - let there be light. And there was. Instantly. I can recommend the change and you can do it yourself. Remember to turn off the breaker as there may be some current left in the wires even with the switch off. Don't ask me how I know. Total cost - less than $40.00.
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LED replacement
- Thread starter pdplot
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TR3driver
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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IMO its better to get the tubes that will work without a ballast. Those old magnetic ballasts still waste power if they are in the circuit.
I forget the name/model offhand, but I bought a box of 10 on Amazon for about $10/tube, and they've worked out quite well. Its never below freezing at my house, but my brother in law said the ones I gave him work great even below zero..
I forget the name/model offhand, but I bought a box of 10 on Amazon for about $10/tube, and they've worked out quite well. Its never below freezing at my house, but my brother in law said the ones I gave him work great even below zero..
TR3driver
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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Sorry, I missed that you bought a new ballast. I think you're right, they quit making the magnetic ones, but there were still some on the shelf last time I looked.
But I would still buy the tubes that don't need it!
The tubes I got were actually supposed to work either way, but they didn't like the existing ballasts, so I just took them out. IIRC two were magnetic, the other two electronic. YMMV
But I would still buy the tubes that don't need it!
The tubes I got were actually supposed to work either way, but they didn't like the existing ballasts, so I just took them out. IIRC two were magnetic, the other two electronic. YMMV
I have found that the LED 4' fixture without the diffuser is REALLY bright if you look up. It gives good light but you have to be careful where you look. The type with a diffuser fitted are good and the replacement LED tubes also work well.
Trying to decide which type to go with. As I have a box of T8 tubes I may go with T8 fixtures and replace the tubes with LED tubes as they burn out.
David
Trying to decide which type to go with. As I have a box of T8 tubes I may go with T8 fixtures and replace the tubes with LED tubes as they burn out.
David
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Replacing all incandescent/fluorescent bulbs with LED's as they expire. About half way through the exercise now. Got 'dimmable' LED's for the bathroom a few months ago and find they are really sensitive to the dimmer setting, there seems to be a low end 'threshold' where they go off completely. A bit of an inconvenience but the electric bill has shown the merit of the changes.
dklawson
Yoda
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I installed LED floods in one room of our house. The Leviton "standard" dimmer did not work well so I bought an LED rated one from the home center. That was better but after a while the lamps started to flicker on settings less than "full" brightness.
If I make a change in the future I will check both the LED lamp and dimmer companies' websites to confirm I have a compatible combination of dimmer and lamp.
If I make a change in the future I will check both the LED lamp and dimmer companies' websites to confirm I have a compatible combination of dimmer and lamp.
TR3driver
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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The quality of light depends a great deal on the color temperature of the bulbs you buy. I like mine, but I'm careful to buy "warm" bulbs (lower color temperature) for most areas. I don't mind the bluer light in the garage. As someone mentioned before, using some sort of diffuser helps a lot too. Otherwise the LEDs throw much sharper shadows than other bulbs (which adds to the interrogation effect).
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With the outdoor floods and garage, the LED's are great. No need for dimming those. I built an enclosure for the main kitchen lighting using a four-tube ballasted fluorescent fixture, may look into converting it to the LED tubes, as one of the transformers is getting fickle.
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