Replacing standard ceiling fluorescent with LED

[Tywais]

The fluorescent light on the 2nd floor hall stopped starting, just glowed so figured either tube or starter which I had spares of.

When I looked at the fixture, the starter socket wires were cut off and starter wired directly to the tube plug. When I tried to remove it the plastic just crumbled in my hand. So a new set was in order. Went to Homepro to get the parts and the sales rep pointed out the LED version. One nice feature is both the LED ring and LED regulator module had magnets on the bottom. Made for a much simpler installation.

The first photo is of the old fixture. I removed everything I could but the ballast as the screws/nuts were oxide together. Fortunately the ring fit around it and the regulator could be mounted off set to it. More photos in the next post.

[Tywais]

Top view of LED fixture.

Bottom view

[Tywais]

It was surprisingly bright and the photos don't reflect it as it is a daylight shot. The standard fluorescent is rated for 10,000 hour and 1800 lumens (32W), the LED version at 20,000 hours 1900 lumens (20W)

Installed

With cover back on

[Pib]

Good info...thanks. How much was the LED fixture?

[Tywais]

Good info...thanks. How much was the LED fixture?

369 Baht, about the same or perhaps cheaper, not sure, as getting a complete fluorescent set.

[bankruatsteve]

If you all didn't know... there are also LED options for the screw in CFL AND the tube type. Instant on, just as bright, and much longer life expected.

[weegee]

Yep, tried 2 tube type, about 6mths ago, and they are working great......Power bill is still the same, but maybe thats from the welder....

[IMHO]

Yep, tried 2 tube type, about 6mths ago, and they are working great......Power bill is still the same, but maybe thats from the welder....

You would need an awful lot of lights, or an awfully small bill, to notice any difference in electricity costs between CFL and LED

[weegee]

Yep, tried 2 tube type, about 6mths ago, and they are working great......Power bill is still the same, but maybe thats from the welder....

You would need an awful lot of lights, or an awfully small bill, to notice any difference in electricity costs between CFL and LED

Last sentence was just to add a bit of humour (dont see much of it on TVF nowdays)....But yes I prefer to use the LED now we have tried them....at night the light seems brighter too...but that could be from washing my glasses of an evening... (more attempted humour).

[Pib]

I've never been a lover of fluorescent lights from a "lighting" standpoint as incandescent/LED lighting at night just seems to make things clearer for my eyes...I guess incandescent/LED just approximates daylight lighting more closely even in comparison to the fluorescent lighting rated as Daylight.

But you can't argue with the electricity savings from fluorescent/LED lighting in comparison to incandescent/halogen lighting. And in a typical household the lighting costs is a minor part of the overall electric bill...it's the A/C, TV, stereo, computer, frig, fan, settop box, etc., that eat the great bulk of the electricity.

[wayned]

Yep, tried 2 tube type, about 6mths ago, and they are working great......Power bill is still the same, but maybe thats from the welder....

Time to look for and LED welder????

[meatboy]

we changed every ceiling light in the house,the new round led from home pro,pemco led 18w =32w.rearly smart cut glass effect.art.no.1040664 560bht.

we also bought all new ballasts so there's no starters.instant light.and out side we bought the magnetic ones.

[puuchaibaa]

Those shopping might want to check out this Philips branded LED for Bt 330. Looks like it might be small enough to fit in round flourescent housings. Wish I hadn't already bought so many of the no-name brands.

http://www.sng2535.com/philip-cled.html

[meatboy]

we changed every ceiling light in the house,the new round led from home pro,pemco led 18w =32w.rearly smart cut glass effect.art.no.1040664 560bht.

we also bought all new ballasts so there's no starters.instant light.and out side we bought the magnetic ones.

forgot to say the new ballast's we bought were lamptan electronic.sparky told us much safer.

[bankruatsteve]

we changed every ceiling light in the house,the new round led from home pro,pemco led 18w =32w.rearly smart cut glass effect.art.no.1040664 560bht.

we also bought all new ballasts so there's no starters.instant light.and out side we bought the magnetic ones.

forgot to say the new ballast's we bought were lamptan electronic.sparky told us much safer.

What did you do with the new "ballasts"? Or, what did your spark do with them if all the lights were replaced with LED?

[meatboy]

we changed every ceiling light in the house,the new round led from home pro,pemco led 18w =32w.rearly smart cut glass effect.art.no.1040664 560bht.

we also bought all new ballasts so there's no starters.instant light.and out side we bought the magnetic ones.

forgot to say the new ballast's we bought were lamptan electronic.sparky told us much safer.

What did you do with the new "ballasts"? Or, what did your spark do with them if all the lights were replaced with LED?

some of the lights we got were diff.fittings that came seperate with coloured rims to match our arcitrade, they do seem a lot brighter than the old ones that were up.cant look up what they were as someone came last night and took the old one that were in the boxes.the ballasts i can see are fitted to all six.

the others lounge,kitchen and bedroom dont have them what i can seeeeeeeeeee.

[inzman]

Well I replaced several ceiling lights with LED, but I gotta say, I cat stand them. I'm going back to fluorescent. The LED hurts my eyes. My wife feels the same way. Any other opinions are welcome.

[Tywais]

Well I replaced several ceiling lights with LED, but I gotta say, I cat stand them. I'm going back to fluorescent. The LED hurts my eyes. My wife feels the same way. Any other opinions are welcome.

I did find the one I just put into our upper hallway quite bright but acceptable for the location and use. The next one will be our front porch light, allowing it to cover a wider area. As for the living room and bedrooms, I think it may be a problem also with the brightness. The kitchen is another area I may consider. We do have a ceiling fan fixture that has 6 screw in lamp positions. I put in 3 screw in low power LED versions and they are ok as the lamps have pattern glass shield and distributes/attenuates it some.

[inzman]

I now use warm white fluorescent in the bedroom and daytime fluorescent in the kitchen. Most acceptable. LED in the dining and sofa room, still don't like the LED, seems like a strange spacey white.oh well, maybe I'll get used to them.

[Daffy D]

Was in HomPro today and after reading your post decided to try a 24in tube LED for the bathroom just to see how it compares with the original fluorescent.

The LED tube comes with it's own starter so had to change that and then just put in the tube.

Works great, instant on and a bit brighter than the fluorescent which I think is OK for the bathroom.

Cost 199Bt.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Daffy D

[puuchaibaa]

Well I replaced several ceiling lights with LED, but I gotta say, I cat stand them. I'm going back to fluorescent. The LED hurts my eyes. My wife feels the same way. Any other opinions are welcome.

​Could be the tint. We replaced a bunch of our lights with LED which were fine, including for the missus who is usually quite sensitive. Then I tried a light with a lower wattage from the one of the same companies. Unlike the others it had a very strong blue tint and was horrible to the eyes. We quickly returned it and got the higher wattage one which was fine like the others. Apparently the manufacturer used a different, probably much cheaper, led emitter in the lower wattage light.

For me there's no going back to fluorescent for all the reasons already mentioned. Perhaps you should try a different manufacturer and/or different tint (warm vs daylight).

Edited April 9, 2016 by puuchaibaa

[Pacificperson]

Yep, tried 2 tube type, about 6mths ago, and they are working great......Power bill is still the same, but maybe thats from the welder....

You would need an awful lot of lights, or an awfully small bill, to notice any difference in electricity costs between CFL and LED

The difference that you will notice is how often you have to climb the ladder.

[wpcoe]

With this thread in the back of my mind, I bought one of those magnetic fluorescent-replacement LED light plates at HomePro. However, the wire leads on it are blue and brown. The wires leading to the fixture are more standard (to me, anyway...) black and white. Which wire connects with which???

[Crossy]

Brown to black (live), blue to white (neutral).

In reality it makes no difference.

[wpcoe]

Thanks, especially for the prompt reply. I was just getting ready to put the ladder away.

[wpcoe]

Holy crap, is that thing bright! I bought an 18w/2100 lumen LED to replace a 32W circular fluorescent. Now that I have the fluorescent bulb out, I can see it was rated for 1800 lumen. Those surplus 300 lumens make a HUGE difference, which is not a bad thing in my kitchen with no windows. But, for the living room, I want to see if I can find a lower-lumen version.

Edited April 12, 2016 by wpcoe