LED Tube Light Bulbs

Types of LED Tube Lights

There are 4 types of LED tubes to consider when purchasing the right one.

Type A which can be referred to as Ballast Compatible or Plug-n-Play Tubes.

These LED lamps are for lighting fixtures where you are using the existing electronic ballast to drive the LEDs in the tube itself. There is absolutely no rewiring needed with this option. The upside to this, is an electrician is not needed; you can do the work yourself. The downside is there are 2 components which could fail in the future; the ballast and lamps. (Note that some tubes will not work with certain T8 ballasts; please check lamp specification on the lamp that will be purchased or call our customer service staff for compatibility).

Type B or Direct Wire Tubes.

These lamps require the internal fixture ballast to be disconnected and the tombstones or lamp sockets to be either replaced with non-shunted or unshunted sockets, and then wired direct to line voltage of 120-277. The upside on this replacement is that you are removing the biggest problem of most fluorescent fixtures which is the ballast. The downside is an electrician is required in most cases since you will have to rewire the fixture to accept these tubes.

Type A/B or Hybrid Led Tube.

A lot like a mix of type A and type B these lamps can be installed either way; direct wire or ballast compatible (although you will need to check specifications on ballast compatibility with this option). This is a very flexible LED option for your retrofit project, but direct wire still needs and electrician to wire direct to the lamp sockets as well. The upside to these tubes is the flexible nature of the install, and the error free manner of choosing the right tube for your application. The downside is the need for an electrician to the wire the lamp in type B mode.

Wattage for light output tended to be half of what the alternative lighting is from fluorescent to an LED T8. So, if you had a 32-watt Fluorescent lamp your replacement is 18-watt in LED tubes.

T8 LED Lights

T8 LED lamps are energy saving LED bulbs that replace traditional fluorescent 32 watt T8s. LED T8s last much longer than traditional florescent T8s, anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 hours and usually save about 1/3 of the energy. There are 3 types of LED T8 installations to be aware of.

First would be internal driver T8 lamp installation where the old ballast is removed and the lamps are installed directly to the sockets in the fixture using unshunted sockets that are wired directly to a power source of 120 or 277 volts.

Second is external drivers where the old ballast is removed in the fixture and then a power source of 120 or 277 is wired directly to the driver and then to the lamp using unshunted lamp sockets. This method usually allows the lamps to last a bit longer due to heat distribution.

The third install technique would be to directly insert a lamp into the existing T8 sockets in the fixture with the ballast installed that acts a the driver for the new LED T8. The problem with this install is that now you have the old ballast that can go bad in the fixture. Each one of these options needs a lamp specific to that installation. Please call for any questions

T8 LED Lamps choices included

• Watt Capacity (18, 20, 22 and more)
• Ballast Compatible (no wiring needed) and Non ballast Compatible (Wiring needed)
• Voltage (120, 277)
• Drivers (internal, external)
• Single end Power (Unshunted tombstones needed) and Double end Power
• Lamp Length (2 foot, 4 foot, 8 foot)
• Lumen output
• Color Temperature (3000K, 3500K, 4100K, 5000K, or 6500K)