Lay -In Grid Fittings In Led ..anyone Used Them , Any Good ?

[Evans Electric]

I was thinking of advising a print firm customer to start upgrading their fluorescent fittings to LED .

They have one area with a suspended ceiling and 1200  X 600 X 4 lamp fittings .  Many of them quite old now , still working , but lights are permanently ON except for the late shift on Saturday nights . 

Looking in Denmans catalogue , their 600 X 600  LED panel  shows a life expectancy of 35000 hrs .  Unless I'm mistaken thats around  a 4 year life  as these are ON virtually 24 hrs day.

They don't show any 1200 X 600 X 4 lamp lay in grid type.

I know a contractor who supplied & fitted a load of 600 X 600 s and quite a few returns .

Wondering if its worth the change ...I relamp dead tubes about twice a year or sometimes a complete re-lamp & starters.

 

[NozSpark]

I put one of these in a customers shop,,, gave loads of light and comes with a 5 year warranty!!!

http://www.amitexled.com/products/led-panel-lights/72w-panel-light

Unfortunately the customer wouldn't spend the money to change every light in his shop

 

[M107]

Across fire stations we are moving to LED as fittings/lamps fail.

Have a few Megaman Dino units to go up (one of these will replace a twin florry fitting) & a multitude (£9k's worth priced up so far) of 600x600 panels.

 

[kerching]

Imhave used loads of Fitzgerald on the shop,fits....dimmable....F impressive

Sparks fitted some from Eddys or Neweys on recent data job..".Vectris? Or summat similar... Very impressive . But the M3 conversions were a nightmare apparently

 

[Manator]

I have fitted loads of them. Tamlight do a cheaper version of the 1200x600 and they work fine.

 

[Evans Electric]

I just Googled replacing fluorescent  tubes with LED tubes but wasn't impressed TBH . 

They show one where you just replace the tubes with LED &  remove the starters .     So whats happening with the choke ,  still in the circuit pulling current  ?    The don't seem to address this .    Or doesn't it matter ?    Is not a ballast plus an LED tube an energy guzzler AND   I ask ..do we get the same light output from an LED tube?

I notice that electronic ballasts need to be linked out .

Denmans show a tube @ £8.47   . This includes an LED starter to allow retrofit into existng fittings  , but I'm still wondering about the redundant choke in the circuit .

Anyone had experience with this stuff ?    

 

[Evans Electric]

Thanks for that Canoey .  I appreciate that offer .

I intended to put this to the customer but looking at the life spans given ..they work out to say  3 - 1/2 years  in a place such as this   with 24 hr working .

I just wonder if the power saving equates with fitting costs & installation  TBH .

I put some of these fittings in 20 yrs ago and based on the data given , I'd have replaced them 5 times by now .   

 

[Evans Electric]

So the 5 year warranty is longer than the lifespan  then ?     Sounds OK  .  But is it based on limited useage or what ?

A PIR is out of the question ... theres printing presses , guillotines , binders etc...  can't have the lights going out  .

That could be a good option though ...instead of relamping  replace the fittings in ones & twos.  Theres about 20 odd in the one dept.  Same in Press room. 

They wait until theres around 50%  dead tubes then call me in .   

I'm back later .

 

[Lurch]

I just replaced a load of 600x600 4x18W fluorescents with KSR 36W LED modules, there were cheaper ones available but the warranty was better on these and the cheaper ones had seen a few returns. There were around 30 fluorescents giving a mediocre light and they were replaced with 17 LED modules giving a similar or better light output so you don't always need to swap like for like. We were going to just do a few each month but after I fitted the first few the customer was so impressed we just did the lot as the others looked like they were turned off in comparison!

I wouldn't bother with the replacement tube kits, for the price of the complete module it's not worth the hassle.

As for lifespan, a fitting that says 20,000 hours doesn't mean it will last 20,000 hours, there's a document on it somewhere on the internet but the gist is it is 20,000 hours until the light output is reduced to below a certain level extrapolated from how much the light output is reduced over a shorter timespan. Basically it means nothing.

 

[Evans Electric]

Ah  Thats somewhat confusing Lurch ...I think I get the gist of it though .

 

[binky]

the hours given are to drop to 70% lighting level ie dim enough to need changing. Whatever you fit will look brighter because the Florrie is probably at 70% already, and even if the tubes are new, the choke isn't. We have converted many fittings, taking choke out of cct, but in my opinion you are better off with new fittings becuase the light 'spread' of LED is different, so the old fittings don't always really suit. The LED panels are brilliant, wouldn't convert a fitting. Any form of lighting control that allows the LED to cool off for a while whill also greatly enhance overall lifespan of the unit. Only thing I haven't seen yet is a 600 x 600 panels with lighting controls built in, which is a shame, because the light that is turned off saves a shed load more electric....

 

[Evans Electric]

Thanks Binky , I take on board the comments on retrofitting  .

I've done offices with energy saving PIRs in  but I can't see it working on a shop floor with machinery running ,  a fork truck operating and guillotines that slice through paper  12 inches thick . 

 

[Evans Electric]

Thats just the one end of Bindery .



Print room could be another option

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

I have fitted out 3 large shops and 2 offices with 600 x 600 panels. Also 5ft led tubes in splashproof fittings. Probably. 300 fittings. All from LED Hut. Only 1 driver gone down in 2 years which was replaced foc immediately. The shops are open 18 hours a day and I put it in writing not to expect 5 years from them

 

[binky]

with regards to the prescence detection, if there is plenty of movement, then the lights won't switch off, BUT, the energy saving comes from lunch times, end of shift, when people just leave the lights ON and ****** off. LED will flash up full almost brightness instantly, the other option is 10% dimming, ie doesn't turn off completely - not sure you can get that in a panel, but certainly available in tube form, think it was 'planet saver' we have fitted previously:-

http://www.dfxtech.co.uk/planetsaver/planetsaverproducts.php

PS I've just noticed panels have detection options in that link, and can we have a close up of the calender... :innocent

 

[Lurch]

with regards to the prescence detection, if there is plenty of movement, then the lights won't switch off, BUT, the energy saving comes from lunch times, end of shift, when people just leave the lights ON and ****** off. LED will flash up full almost brightness instantly, the other option is 10% dimming, ie doesn't turn off completely

If you haven't got the 10% option you could just leave one of the fittings on to give background light and have the rest on the occupancy sensor.

can we have a close up of the calender... :innocent

???

 

[binky]

look at the wall Lurch, in the second photo......Sherlock Holmes powers of observation? 

 

[Lurch]

Ah, it read as there was a calendar at the end of the link to the lighting website somewhere.

 

[binky]

got lost in translation from Janner to 'up North' speak then :^O