OMG! With fluorescent lighting, my profits are going down the tubes!

For some time now, the talk of lighting has been how to further move away from incandescent bulbs to more environmentally sound options. The average consumer has undoubtedly been pushed towards the direction of fluorescent lamps (more commonly known as compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs). But CFLs should not be your option. The lesser talked about choice is LED. The most effective white LED lamp rivals fluorescent s in terms of efficacy and performance. But as with any good product, there is much more to LED bulbs than just how effective it can be.

A quality T8 LED lamp is going to give you a well-combined mixture of high efficacy, name brand LEDs, excellent thermal management and stylish optical design. A stylish design may seem like more of a luxury rather than a crucial part of the product. Wouldn’t it make more sense to go for a little less sophistication to save a couple dollars? In a different situation that may be a valid case, but not here. A T8 LED lamp using even the best LEDs available will not be nearly as efficient in a poorly designed lamp. And with less efficiency you get a lamp with less life expectancy than a T8 fluorescent lamp.

Of course, you’ll want the life of your LED replacement lamp to last as long as it can. This is what designers strive for when making the lamps. However, with such a small sample size of years, the lighting industry hasn’t been able to get as much direct experience with long-term performance and reliability of the T8 LED replacements as it has been able to with other lamps. So for now, the life of a T8 LED replacement lamp is not reflective of the estimated LED life.

The life of a T8 LED replacement lamp is a major part of the power supply, operating temperatures, thermal management, materials and electrical and material interfaces. Essentially, you can’t short change one component and still expect to have a great replacement lamp. Everything is important. How should you go around finding a reliable T8 LED replacement lamp? Here are some key things to look for:

* The use of high quality LEDs from brand suppliers who publish reliable data.
* Superior heat sink design to dissipate heat, minimizing T8 LED replacement lamp temperature (for example, board, case, or solder joint temperature) as low as possible.
* Optical specification from independent testing laboratory or manufacturer in-house testing.
* A manufacturer warranty that is comparable to a traditional fluorescent lamp (it will vary depending on the application under consideration).
* Any test data available about the longer term performance of T8 LED replacement lamp.

Common T8 LED replacement lamp features a linear array of 5mm DIP LEDs (suitable for indication applications, ranging from 60 to 400 LEDs per lamp), with airtight clear tubular plastic or glass covers as heat sink and diffuser, and an integrated driver (non-isolated constant voltage type). But there is a problem here. Plastic and glass are not what you’ll want to use if you want good heat conduction materials. Using these materials in the design will cause heat buildup inside the tube, depreciating lumen at a much faster rate, thus consequently shortening the useful life of a T8 LED replacement lamp.

In contrast, AGEC T8 LED replacement lamp features a linear array of imported high quality SMD LEDs (ranging from 30 to 88 LEDs per lamp), with a patented design of aluminum housing as heat sink, stripped PC cover as diffuser and UL listed integrated driver (isolated constant current type). In short, you’ll have a much more effectively designed T8 LED replacement that will give you a longer life span. And when it comes down to it, you’ll want the most effective and long-lasting product you can get.
Alex Quevedo