Blog – New LED Lights

It’s easier and more economical than ever to replace fluorescent tubes with LED lighting.

Although we’ve been in the LED business since 1997, our business has grown in stages, keeping pace with the growth of the LED industry. In the beginnings, we operated a warehouse/internet based business for the most part. It wasn’t until September 2009 that we opened our first retail lighting showroom. That was only six years ago, and it doesn’t cease to amaze me how LED T8 tubes have changed. They are not only more affordable than ever, but the light output and quality is substantially better. The ballast bypass LED tubes we installed in our ~ 20′ ceiling back in 2009 were generation 1. They are super white (5-6000K), have clear lenses, and you can see the individual light emitting diodes inside the tubes. They are still going strong, so we aren’t going to replace all with new generation LED tubes, but will replace some so that customers can see the difference. We’ve faced a few challenges in the LED tube market, the first of which was cost. The cost issue has been resolved, and at this point in time, I believe the market price has stabilised and has reached the low level we can enjoy for a good, long time. There is so much competition in this market now, manufacturers are trimming their prices and upping their quality. The next challenge was ballast bypass vs. direct replace LED tubes. Directly replace tubes were initially considerably more expensive than ballast bypass. But customers enjoyed the convenience of being able to do the retrofit on their own without having to hire a contractor to do the re-wiring. In spite of that convenience, the first direct replace LED tubes were ‘ballast sensitive’. That means that the customer had to determine whether they had electronic or magnetic ballasts. Some are still this way. When the customer guesses wrong, the tubes don’t work and it’s an expensive proposition to be shipping tubes back and forth to exchange for the correct type. And, it’s not uncommon in older buildings to have a combination of magnetic and electronic ballasts as fixtures have been replaced over the years with newer ones. Finally, we have well priced LED T8 tubes that will work with either electronic or magnetic ballasts and not only that, but the frosted lens material is improved so you no longer see dots or bright spots. They are totally amazing and available in a very nice, neutral 4000K. This is the CCT of choice if you’re looking for LED tubes with the same look and feel as your existing fluorescent fixtures. One of our vendors which produces direct replace T8 tubes offers a 5-year warranty, not just on the tube itself, but on your ballast! They are convinced that their product puts so little stress on the ballast, they’ll offer you a new one should the existing ballast fail. And if that isn’t enough, one of our vendors is now offering a direct replace the T8 tube that can be converted to a ballast bypass tube when your ballast fails. We’ll have some of these in our test station shortly and will update you on just how these work. This seems to be the best of both worlds. As you can imagine, there is a lot to be absorbed about this rapidly changing LED product line. Although all of our technical sales representatives will be updated with all of the new offerings as they come along, it’s Mitchell Cohen you want to talk with if you’re considering a major retrofit. He’s had focused, concentrated exposure to all of the different types and will be able to help you sort through your choices. The price is right, the lead time short, the warranties great and the energy savings just ready to be enjoyed. Whatever reasons you may have had for putting off your LED tube retrofits, we believe we have the right product offerings to make the time now. Direct an email to the attention of Mitchell Cohen with your project details and questions. We’re ready to quote the best product for the job.

By: Mary Wecker