Replacing fluorescent light tubes with LED equivalent, guidance please

BooJewels

Over the last few years I have progressively replaced almost all of my lighting (I live in a dark house, so have more than most) with LED bulbs, largely as better products have become available, such as dimmable LED light bulbs etc.

I still have two fluorescent tubes, one in the kitchen and one in the utility and I'm aware that, relatively speaking, they're now quite power hungry - I think something like 58 watts each (LED would be just over a third of that).  At current prices, if they're on all the time I'm up and moving about, that's going to cost me approaching £20 a month, at almost 2kWh per day.    I have been running an exercise where I put lights off in the rooms I'm not actually in, having invested in several smart plugs to assist with this, but I'm also not enjoying how the place looks when I go into a darker room and have to start putting lights on, so from a personal well being perspective, I'm not sure the modest saving is worth it - at least to me.

But replacing the tubes with LEDs is certainly do-able and would be a tangible difference, but I don't know how easy it is in practice - when I find one that looks suitable, it uses words like ballast and talk of checking voltages.

Can you give me some guidance [at idiot level please] as to how I can check what I've got and what I'd need to do to make the change - and perhaps make a recommendation for tubes that I can get mail order. 

I have a basic fitting with the starter underneath the tube and the tube is put in place by putting in the pins and rotating it to lock it in position - I think it's called a G13/T8 fitting.  I would actually struggle to even reach it myself - I'm hoping to buy the right thing, then getting someone to fit it for me.  I'm 4'11" and live alone, with very high ceilings, so it would require going higher up steps than I'm prepared to try.

Many thanks.

Scoobert

I too, like yourself has no idea about ballast etc.
All I know is I bought a LED tube to replace my old fluorescent tube.

A starter is not needed for LED tubes, so just take it out. In the box of the new LED tube was a new "starter" - basically it was same shape/size as old starter but think this was just to complete the circuit after the old obselete starter was removed.

I just fitted the new tube, inserted new "starter" and every worked!
(There was lots of wiring diagrams included with the tube regarding ballast etc but I didn't need to do anything. If it hadn't worked I would have just called an electrician who knew what he was doing!)

BooJewels

Many thanks @Scoobert - someone told me that some time ago and said, 'just get the right starter for it' and at that time, they didn't come with starters, so I was then stuck as to what to get, so put it aside for a while.  But looking at it again now, I see that most seem to come with their own starter in the pack.  So it did start me wondering again if it was that [hopefully] simple.

ciderboy2009

I've recently replaced a tube in my garage with an led one.  Make sure you get a dummy starter with the tube (it doesn't need a starter to switch on). 

The search I used to get the replacement was "Retrofit Fluorescent Tube Replacement With Starter".  I ended up getting it from Screwfix - just a straight replacement of tube and starter and Bob's your uncle!

Switches on immediately, much brighter and saves money - what more could you ask for?

BooJewels

That's smashing @ciderboy2009 - thank you.  I have a Screwfix about 3 miles away, but I don't drive and it's not on a bus route - well, we don't have any buses here, so nowhere is.  I do have an account though.  Looks like they only have 5' cool white and I think I need 6' daylight or warm white.  I need to measure properly first and look at the kelvin temperature of the one I already use.  

But actually reading the reviews for them, there are a lot of comments about how they just replace an old flu tube, as long as you replace the starter with the dummy one supplied.  So it is seemingly that simple after all.

Section62

BooJewels said:

Over the last few years I have progressively replaced almost all of my lighting (I live in a dark house, so have more than most) with LED bulbs, largely as better products have become available, such as dimmable LED light bulbs etc.

I still have two fluorescent tubes, one in the kitchen and one in the utility and I'm aware that, relatively speaking, they're now quite power hungry - I think something like 58 watts each (LED would be just over a third of that).  At current prices, if they're on all the time I'm up and moving about, that's going to cost me approaching £20 a month, at almost 2kWh per day.    I have been running an exercise where I put lights off in the rooms I'm not actually in, having invested in several smart plugs to assist with this, but I'm also not enjoying how the place looks when I go into a darker room and have to start putting lights on, so from a personal well being perspective, I'm not sure the modest saving is worth it - at least to me.

But replacing the tubes with LEDs is certainly do-able and would be a tangible difference, but I don't know how easy it is in practice - when I find one that looks suitable, it uses words like ballast and talk of checking voltages.

Can you give me some guidance [at idiot level please] as to how I can check what I've got and what I'd need to do to make the change - and perhaps make a recommendation for tubes that I can get mail order. 

I have a basic fitting with the starter underneath the tube and the tube is put in place by putting in the pins and rotating it to lock it in position - I think it's called a G13/T8 fitting.  I would actually struggle to even reach it myself - I'm hoping to buy the right thing, then getting someone to fit it for me.  I'm 4'11" and live alone, with very high ceilings, so it would require going higher up steps than I'm prepared to try.

All things considered, I'd suggest you may be better off getting an electrician to replace the whole luminaire (complete fitting) with a made-for-the-job LED luminaire.

Retrofit LED tubes are Ok, but if you need to get someone in to change the tube for you then it isn't much more work to change the luminaire, and that opens up the possibility of having something which looks better/more modern etc.

Section62

Scoobert said:

A starter is not needed for LED tubes, so just take it out. In the box of the new LED tube was a new "starter" - basically it was same shape/size as old starter but think this was just to complete the circuit after the old obselete starter was removed.

I just fitted the new tube, inserted new "starter" and every worked!
(There was lots of wiring diagrams included with the tube regarding ballast etc but I didn't need to do anything. If it hadn't worked I would have just called an electrician who knew what he was doing!)

There are different types of replacement "starter" depending on the LED-tube type and luminaire type.

You got lucky with it working first time without fully checking the instructions and wiring diagrams.

adindas

There are a lot of infos on you tube just search using this search word "convert fluorescent Lights to LED ".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCWoI0X4jw0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKEQ1HCLW5c

For the long run, it might be better to just fully replace, get rip all of them and fully replace it with linier LED tube rather than just converting just the tube.

Section62

adindas said:

There are a lot of infos on you tube just search using this search word "convert fluorescent Lights to LED ".

The problem with YouTube is not everything you see is accurate and/or fully explained.  Picking out a random video which is suggested on the basis of that search string isn't a great idea, unless backed up by someone who you know knows what they are talking about.

BooJewels

Section62 said:

BooJewels said:

Over the last few years I have progressively replaced almost all of my lighting (I live in a dark house, so have more than most) with LED bulbs, largely as better products have become available, such as dimmable LED light bulbs etc.

I still have two fluorescent tubes, one in the kitchen and one in the utility and I'm aware that, relatively speaking, they're now quite power hungry - I think something like 58 watts each (LED would be just over a third of that).  At current prices, if they're on all the time I'm up and moving about, that's going to cost me approaching £20 a month, at almost 2kWh per day.    I have been running an exercise where I put lights off in the rooms I'm not actually in, having invested in several smart plugs to assist with this, but I'm also not enjoying how the place looks when I go into a darker room and have to start putting lights on, so from a personal well being perspective, I'm not sure the modest saving is worth it - at least to me.

But replacing the tubes with LEDs is certainly do-able and would be a tangible difference, but I don't know how easy it is in practice - when I find one that looks suitable, it uses words like ballast and talk of checking voltages.

Can you give me some guidance [at idiot level please] as to how I can check what I've got and what I'd need to do to make the change - and perhaps make a recommendation for tubes that I can get mail order. 

I have a basic fitting with the starter underneath the tube and the tube is put in place by putting in the pins and rotating it to lock it in position - I think it's called a G13/T8 fitting.  I would actually struggle to even reach it myself - I'm hoping to buy the right thing, then getting someone to fit it for me.  I'm 4'11" and live alone, with very high ceilings, so it would require going higher up steps than I'm prepared to try.

All things considered, I'd suggest you may be better off getting an electrician to replace the whole luminaire (complete fitting) with a made-for-the-job LED luminaire.

Retrofit LED tubes are Ok, but if you need to get someone in to change the tube for you then it isn't much more work to change the luminaire, and that opens up the possibility of having something which looks better/more modern etc.

I won't really be saving money if I have to replace the fitting and pay an electrician too - that is perhaps a longer term solution, but it's in a long list of jobs that need addressing and whilst is no doubt the best solution, perhaps not for this week.   I don't even know where I'd start finding an electrician, I'm totally failing in finding other tradesmen - no one wants small jobs or if they're any good, you end up the wrong end of a 2 year waiting list.

For just fitting the tube, a family member or neighbour who is taller and less squeamish about steps than me could manage to change the tube for me.  That's down to me being a chicken and not built for steps.

BooJewels

adindas said:

There are a lot of infos on you tube just search using this search word "convert fluorescent Lights to LED ".

[snip]

For the long run, it might be better to just fully replace, get rip all of them and fully replace it with linier LED tube rather than just converting just the tube.

Thanks for those.  If it's a case that I need wire strippers for the job (I did start watching the video) then I'm certainly not attempting it myself - even though I'm perfectly capable of stripping wires neatly.  It's all well and good him working on a well lit bench, but I'd be working up steps at arms length with not enough light, so that's definitely not going to happen.  If that was what was necessary, then I'd certainly use an electrician.