LED Tube Lights
LED Tube Lights are replacement lighting for the common fluorescent tube. Fluorescents have been the main stay in office and commercial lighting for decades, but companies who retrofit their fluorescent lighting to LED Tube Lighting, such as our LED fluorescent tubes, are realizing the savings and benefits. Here are several reasons to consider converting over to LED Tubes Lighting:
1. Reduced energy consumption. Converting over from 4ft T8 32W fluorescents to 18W LED Tubes saves you around 500% on your lighting bills. Keep in mind that fluorescent tubes need a ballast to operate, and they can consume about 4 watts per 4 ft fluorescent tube.
2. Reduced maintenance costs. All of our LED Tubes are rated for 50,000 hours and warrantied for 5 years. If your office runs lights 12 hours a day and average 20 working days a month, your LED Tubes will work for over 10 years before you would have to replace them. Compare that with fluorescent tubes that would have to be replaced every few years, not including replacement of ballasts.
3. Reduced HVAC Load. LED Tube Lights run cool, and add significantly less heat when compared to fluorescent tubes. This means you will require less cooling to offset the heat generated by your lights. This adds up to additional savings.
4. LED Tubes are the perfect replacement for expensive shatterproof fluorescent tubes. Our LED Tubes do not contain glass and will not shatter if dropped. You no longer have to worry about all the cost and expense that is associated with shatterproof fluorescent tubes when you convert over to LED Tube lights (aka LED fluorescent)
Internal vs. External driven tubes
All LED bulbs have drivers that power the LEDs. They perform the function of converting AC power from the utility company into DC power. LED Lights run on DC power. Some LED Tube manufacturers incorporate the drivers inside the tubes. Some decide to use an external driver outside of the tube. There are some subtle and maybe not so obvious differences between the two designs.
1. Retrofitting to tubes with internal drivers involves removing the ballast and wiring the wires that provide energy to the tube holders to the line source (Note: follow the instructions included by the manufacturer when retro fitting your existing fixtures with LED Lights. This discussion is not meant to replace the installation manual). Retrofitting external driver tubes also involves removing the ballast but the line source is now wired into the LED driver and the output of the driver is connected to the tube. No power is sent down the wires to the end tube holders.
2. The external drivers are larger than internal drivers. External drivers are not limited by the physical size of the tube.
3. External driven tubes may have a longer life span than internal driven tubes (Note: this is based on the tubes we currently sell. Our external driven tubes are rated for 60,000 hours and our internal driven tubes are rated for 50,000 hours). By removing the driver from the heat source, this may extend the life of the driver.
Single Ended Power vs. Dual Ended Power
Internal driven tubes are powered via the electricity that is supplied through it pins. Two options are available, single ended power and dual end power. A single ended power tube receives power to only 1 end of the tube - positive to 1 pin and neutral to the other. No power is sent to the other end of the tube. A dual ended power tube receives power to both ends of the tube, positive to one end and neutral to the other.
How many Lumens do I need?
This is a question we are asked a lot. A 32W 4ft fluorescent tube can easily be replaced by a 15W 1500 lumen led tube. However we also have a 18W 1735 lumen LED Tubes and DLC Compliant 22W 2300 lumen LED tube that can outperform all T8 32W 4 ft fluorescent tube. Why would you want to use the higher lumen LED Tubes that we have? These are more for special needs where extra light is required. For example, the 22W 2300 lumen LED tube is very bright and much more than what you need in a typical office environment. However, it is an excellent choice in laboratories, factories, and data centers where clean powerful light is required.
USA Made LED Tubes - ARRA Compliant
We have ETL Listed US Made LED Tube Lights that are available as an internal driver or external driver. All our USA Made tubes are warrantied for 5 year and are available in lengths of 2, 3 and 4 feet lengths. Available color temperatures are: 3,500K - Warm White, 4,300K Neutral White and 5,500K Day White. CRI is 80, L70 life expectancy is 50,000 hours and the tubes are backed by a 5 year OEM warranty.
DesignLights Consortium LED Tubes
DesignLights Consortium has qualified LED tubes and MyLEDLightingGuide offers both internal and external driven tubes that are DLC listed in both 18 and 22W. However, it is important to understand how this certification works. Tubes, by themselves, are not listed. Specific tubes within a fixture are. Simply stated, if you have a 2 tube fixture, then you must find a DLC listed tube that has been listed as a replacement in a 2 tube fixture. You cannot install a tube that has been certified for retrofitting inside a 3 tube fixture in a 2 tube fixture. So in essence, when you purchase a DesignLights Consortium listed tube that has been certified for a 2 tube fixture, you must install it only in a 2 tube fixture.