EEVblog #531 - LAB LED Fluoro Lighting Tube Replacement

Dave installs some more fluoro LED luminaire light replacements in the lab.
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[EEVblog]

I've got two big soft boxes on stands, with 4 x 50W fluoro's each, but they are just too cumbersome for everyday use. They only come out for special occasions. I find it vastly more convenient to improve and learn to make do with the existing lab lighting available.

[MattHumanPizza]

Really enjoy your videos, they are usually over my head in terms of technicalities yet the presentations and blog are fascinating, thank you

[EEVblog]

But what do you get on the bench? How much of that 2900 gets reflected?

[EEVblog]

Aldi is just the distributor. Muller make them. Would you prefer I have bought the same Muller tube from a lighting dealer instead?

[EEVblog]

I just installed 10W and 11W B22 LED lights throughout the house, and the 10W ones easily outperform the 14W CFL's they replace, and even the 20W ones as well. The only issue is the longevity...

[QuantumFluxable]

I am somewhat happy to see that your lab isn't always as clean as it looks in the videos, it always made me feel bad for not having a clean desk.

[EEVblog]

Yes, I was hoping the better directionality would make up for it, and it almost did but not quite. Was a bit optimistic thinking it could be more! Probably would have been if they were crappy fluoro tubes.

[EEVblog]

The basic is no, not any more. In fact it can be cheaper to assemble locally if you do it right. There are many companies moving manufacturing back home, it's called "on-shoring"

[Kryoclasm]

Good video Dave!
I appreciate the end of the video where you let us know you want the bulbs because you like them and not because you want to save the earth as so many other people have deluded them selves by not thinking about the true cost. Thumbs up!

[superdau]

I ran into these tubes here at Hofer (that's how Aldi is called in Austria), literally, because the were sticking out the shelf.

Fluoros and LEDs are on par efficiency wise. 100 lm/W for very good ones, half of that on the lower end. So it should have been clear that replacing a high efficiency tube with a LED tube of half the power won't give you more light. The main reason that you still reach 3/4th of the light level with half the power is that the LED tube does use the fixture reflector.

[EEVblog]

It's all about the lux that hits the bench. I think the Oz standard for office lighting is 300lux on the desk minimum. But for my purposes (video), it's simply the more the better. For my video work, 300 lux on the bench is too little. 1000lux is very nice. And also the colour and consistency of the light is important too.

[EEVblog]

Depends. Here for me the payback period on power alone is about 2 years.

[EEVblog]

Mine are the best NEC quad phospor tubes available, and only put out 20% more lux on the bench under them than these 1700 lumen LED tubes. So the difference isn't huge. I have all standard old-school ballasts, as do most buildings that use these luminaires.

[EEVblog]

For me it's about a 2 year payback on these tubes for just normal 5 day daily usage, not factoring in any aircon advantage.

[Razor]

Regardless of the lifespan, any time after the warranty is considered bonus time.

If a product can reliably fast past the warranty period, then the company will make the warranty longer. For example, most computer RAM has a lifetime warranty because they have a low longterm failure rate.

Warranties are selling points so when you see a relatively expensive product with a 1 year warranty, you are likely to have a device where the failure rate jumps into the double digits at around 2 years.

[EEVblog]

Full true life-cycle assessment on product is almost impossible. Yes, I like them, and they will save me some money.

[stmounts]

I bought some CFLs from LIDL last week, 23W with 1550lm for 2 Euro each. They are slow to reach full brightness (<60% in 60secs) but that isn't a problem, in fact it is an advantage! I prefer a gradual brightening when you turn on the bathroom light in the middle of the night. They are 2700K warm-white too. Lifespan remains to be seen, though. LEDs don't come close in bang-for-bucks yet.

[EEVblog]

We have electronic ballasts here, but they are not the norm. Or at least not until very recently. Almost every building like I'm in will use the old style. I believe on the commecial scale, you pay more for electronic ballasts troffs, so builders will penny pinch..

[fsphil]

Is there much different between these tubes and the strip of LEDs you have over the desk? Other than the fitting they seem pretty similar.

[godintechnologies]

Starters are used in conjunction with ballasts. When installing LED tubes, you will bypass the ballast as it is not needed any more.