[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

While Brandon might provide a better answer to this, the fluorescent tube lights are different than the squiggly lights one puts in a residential light fixture, in that they have an external ballast to pump the voltage up to around 600V. Any drop in replacement bulb would therefore have to run at 600V, which presents a major challenge. Removing the ballast and wiring the tube fixture directly to 120 or 240 VAC would probably make it easier to make LED tube lights, but would eliminate the possibility of putting a fluorescent tube back in.

You got most of it covered here Art.

Running an LED bulb off the same ballast as a flourescent is almost out of the question, so some rework of a fixture must be done to switch it to LED.

Also, those flourescent bulbs are pretty $@#$@#$@#$@# bright! Some people take those simple flourescent tubes for granted, but they are able to light very large spaces relatively cheaply thanks to the massive adoption of consumers.


Good job on the cost breakdown Art, I was going to attempt something similar, but simply didn't have the time to.

The numbers can be quibbled over and massaged to everyones liking, but there is a real cost savings potential in LED technology, this is a fact. Art is smart to point out an example like plasma TVs. When flat screens first came out people were paying through the nose for the new technology. Now, you can pick up a new ~37" plasma screen on black friday for less than 300 bucks.

The real cost savings will come from widespread adoption of the technology. It may take a while yet, which is why I do not blame people for being skeptical. However, you cannot ignore the changing of the tide that will surely come in the next few years as incandescents will have to face very strict efficiency ratings.

-Brando