LED vs. T5 HO lights

[soapy]

I just converted one location over to high output T5s. I used a waterproof fixture with 2 - 4 foot T5 bulbs at 5000 kelvin, 9200 lumens per fixture with 36,000 hour life bulbs. The cost for the fixture ($110) and bulb ($5). I checked on a similar looking light but in LED and would have had to buy 2 of them at $250 each to get the same lumen value. The LEDs would use 96 watts vs. the T5 that will use 108 watts to produce the same lumens. The energy cost per year for the LEDS is $30.72 vs. $34.56 for the T5. At 4000 hours per year at a cost of 8 cents per KWH I would only save 3.84 per year per fixture with the LEDS. At this price it would take almost a century to pay for the difference in price for the LEDS. I would post pictures but can no longer get pictures to post on this site for some reason.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Where did you get them?
How many light fixtures per bay?
What did you have before?
I'm out of questions for now

 

[soapy]

I bought the lights from Platt electric. They are metalux brand made by Cooper lighting. I put 2 in each bay, one above the coin box and one on the opposite wall and opposite end. They are similar to the ones Kleenrite sells but have a heavier mount and heavier duty nylon clips vs plastic or metal clips. At this location I have had MH lights at one time and switched to CFLs through a energy program 5 years ago. I wish I could post a picture to show the difference per bay the T5s made compared to CFLs.

 

[mjwalsh]

I wish I could post a picture to show the difference per bay the T5s made compared to CFLs.

Soapy,

I have found to get the best resolution & the easiest process ... is to have a free PhotoBucket or Google Plus acct (many others also) & do a quick upload to their free storage that they make available to whoever signs up. They have a choice of the type of link or url ... specifically to cut & paste a url or link shortcut ... on forums similar to the AutoCareForum. Even non subscribers can then see the photo that you have on your private storage on their servers. They have settings for the folders, or specific pictures to make whatever ... totally public, limited to specific people, & also private viewing only.

LOL ... a word of caution ... I tried to upload a way bigger video than I realized ... from my Samsung Smart Phone to Photobucket a few months ago. I saw the Data going out of range of my month's plan... PhotoBucket or the Android software would not allow me to stop the process. I even called Verizon tech support & we could not stop the multiple gigabyte upload ... so I had to up my data plan for that month for an extra $15 or more to keep from being overdrawn on my data plan.

mike walsh www.kingkoin.com

 

[soapy]

I used to resize my photos and load them into the thread using the manage attachments function in the advanced section of the thread. I do this on several forums but for some reason it does not work anymore on this site. A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Soapy, I have to admit being puzzled by the Lumen thing. Replaced 400 W MH in my tunnel with 150 w LED . Also have some 320 W fixtures at the exit.

The LED's are much whiter and brighter than the MH ever were or are and the lumen specs say this should not be the case.

 

[bighead]

I think the color of the light has something to do with that. I switched my MH fixtures to large CFL (bypassing the ballast as well, i think there was a thread on here about that) and even though it was supposed to have fewer lumens, the bluish light it pushes off appears much brighter to the naked eye. (we did a few fixtures, then looked at the difference at night, then decided to do the rest.)

I would dare say we are saving quite a bit of money over the past few years for having done it.

 

[MEP001]

I don't think it's the color, IMO it's because the Scottsdales cast the light in all directions in about a 270° sphere, the LEDs cast all the light straight down. The last fluorescents I bought have a better reflector than the ones I'd gotten before, and even though they're only .97 amps instead of 3.24 like the Scottsdales they light the bay almost as well (I did compare it to a new MH in the same bay).

I still think that most of the CFL comparisons are not considering the MH being replaced are giving out less than half of the light they're supposed to.

 

[soapy]

For light measurement you have lumens, and CRI ( color rendering index) On the T5s the CRI is pretty high usually around 89 compared to most CFLs that are around 75 and MH are even lower. LEDS vary on CRI. The CRI is a value of how light is perceived by the human eye. A higher CRI is perceived by the human to be brighter even though the lumens might be lower. Kelvin is a measurement of light color with sunlight being around 5500 K. So with a T5 in the right Kelvin range you get the best of all 3 which is why to the human eye they work so well. Lumens is a basic measure of amount of light.

 

[Ric]

I'd like to find a high wattage cfl that would fit in the Scottsdales but I'm not having any luck. Anyone converted the Scottsdales?

 

[pgrzes]

I converted all my SS Bay wallpacks to 85w CFL's and the place looks great. For my Auto and canopies, I put 4' t5 ho vaportight's in. Removed 6' & 8' fluorescents. I have a local supplier of the vaportights (KB Lighting) they sell them for $80 with bulbs. I also replaced all the fluorescent tubes in my vac domes and put cfl's in. They have a nicer glowand I dont have to worry about ballasts now!!

 

[MEP001]

I'd like to find a high wattage cfl that would fit in the Scottsdales but I'm not having any luck. Anyone converted the Scottsdales?

I tried, but I wasn't too happy with the results. The first problem is that it's just barely over 11" from the top inside to the lens. The shortest socket I could find adds 1/2" when mounted directly to the top inside. The other is heat - all the ones I've looked at that are over 85W say not to use them in an enclosed fixture.

I built a mount to use four 42W bulbs in a Scottsdale - the light was actually pretty good, but two of the bulbs failed right away. The other two didn't last a month. The four bulbs plus the hardware I used to mount everything cost about $130, and they were only rated for 10,000 hours. So best case scenario they probably wouldn't have lasted any longer than the MH bulbs/ballasts I'd been replacing every 18 months, and cost just as much to replace. So I've been replacing the Scottsdales with a 4-bulb T8 fixture that's just as bright, about one-third of the cost to operate (124W instead of 320), and the newest bulbs I bought are rated to last 40,000 hours with 95% light output maintained throughout their life.

 

[Ric]

I tried, but I wasn't too happy with the results. The first problem is that it's just barely over 11" from the top inside to the lens. The shortest socket I could find adds 1/2" when mounted directly to the top inside. The other is heat - all the ones I've looked at that are over 85W say not to use them in an enclosed fixture.

I built a mount to use four 42W bulbs in a Scottsdale - the light was actually pretty good, but two of the bulbs failed right away. The other two didn't last a month. The four bulbs plus the hardware I used to mount everything cost about $130, and they were only rated for 10,000 hours. So best case scenario they probably wouldn't have lasted any longer than the MH bulbs/ballasts I'd been replacing every 18 months, and cost just as much to replace. So I've been replacing the Scottsdales with a 4-bulb T8 fixture that's just as bright, about one-third of the cost to operate (124W instead of 320), and the newest bulbs I bought are rated to last 40,000 hours with 95% light output maintained throughout their life.

Are you mounting them on the ceiling like the Scottsdales or on the wall up high?

 

[MEP001]

On the ceiling in place of the Scottsdales.

 

[MEP001]

I'd like to find a high wattage cfl that would fit in the Scottsdales but I'm not having any luck. Anyone converted the Scottsdales?

I did one this evening, used this bulb:

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/64232/FC85-S41OD.html

Took the old socket mount apart, flattened and drilled the tabs and mounted the new socket to it, it only added about 3/8" to the length and it fit with about 1/4" to spare.

The light is not good at all, but I had one out and had the bulb for another purpose so I thought I'd try it. It might be better if I made a reflector for it - I might buy a cheap stainless mixing bowl and cut it up.

 

[Indiana Wash]

I went from 250 MH wallpacks to T5HO 2-4' fixtures with mirror backs. I save $300 a month on lights and probably $50 a month on bulbs. One of the best money saving improvements I have made! I had 4 wallpacks in each of 7 bays. Now, I still have 4 wallpacks in each bay, but 2 are on motion sensors. It is just as bright at night until you pull in and it gets brighter.