Fluorescent tube vs LED batten

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Fluorescent tube vs LED batten - Lumens

Paul1977

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#249333 6-May-2019 14:37

Out kitchen has a cruddy old fluorescent tube for lighting, which we are planning to replacd with an LED batten light.

The current fluoresent tube is rated at 5200 lumens, and the LED batten we are looking at comes in either 4400 or 6600 lumens.

6600 lumens sounds to bright, but I'm not sure of 4400 will be too dim.

But is it an apples for apples comparision?

The fluorescent tube emits light in all directions, where the LED directs the light downward (120 degree beam angle) - so would we actually get better illumination from the 4400 lumen LED compared to the 5200 fluorescent since no light is wasted shooting upwards?

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timmmay

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#2231681 6-May-2019 14:41

How large is your kitchen? We have four 1200 lumen bulbs in fittings in our medium sized kitchen, and it's not bright enough. One side is open to a dining area, so some of the light is lost that way instead of being reflected back, but there are lights in the dining area that provide a little more light. We have a couple of halogen spotlights we use sometimes. I'd go for 6600 unless it's tiny.

Paul1977

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#2231691 6-May-2019 14:57

A bit less than 9.5m2 (approx 2.5m x 3.75m).

It's a separate kitchen, so no open plan.

timmmay

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#2231697 6-May-2019 15:02

You might get a bit more light reflected back then. I'd still go higher rather than lower, as the light from the current one may go up but is probably largely reflected back down.

50% more light won't look 50% brighter to the eye. The eye has a non linear response to light. 6000 lumen would look a little brighter than 4000.

Rikkitic

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#2231704 6-May-2019 15:14

Also, you might be able to filter the light with something if it is too bright, but you can't add any if it is too dim.

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wellygary

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#2231713 6-May-2019 15:33

Are they both the same temperature?, In my memory tubes tended to be towards the "cooler" end of the light spectrum [5000K +), (even when they called themselves "warm"

Try to get LEDs that are warmer [2700-3000K],

Even if its brighter, 6000 "warm" lumens wont be nearly as harsh on the eye as 6000 "cool white" ones....

Paul1977

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#2231722 6-May-2019 15:45

Pretty sure the current tube is 4000K, and we are sticking with that going to LED for the kitchen. Prefer task areas like kitchen, bathroom, etc to be a little cooler but not too cool (6000K and 6500K are just too harsh for our liking).

mattwnz

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#2231742 6-May-2019 16:08

What is the lumens/m rate? I have a strip light that I think is 2000 lumens per metre, which produces a good amount of light. Although it is 3000k, as I prefer a warm white light.

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Paul1977

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#2231751 6-May-2019 16:13

Can't see any spec like that, just the total lumens.

I just realized as well now that the 6600 lumens one is 30 cm longer, so not sure that would fit any way. Will have to measure tonight.

It's these ones.

neb

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#2231833 6-May-2019 17:41

Paul1977:
The current fluoresent tube is rated at 5200 lumens, and the LED batten we are looking at comes in either 4400 or 6600 lumens.

6600 lumens sounds to bright, but I'm not sure of 4400 will be too dim.

But is it an apples for apples comparision?

Probably not, because with LEDs you're looking at advertising lumens, not measured lumens. An advertising lumen is just the light level that the emitter is guaranteed by the manufacturer never to exceed, like advertising horsepower or advertising FLOPs.

Can you borrow one of the LED strips to see what the light levels are? I replaced a bunch of DOT-110's with 75W bulbs with the lowest-power LEDs I could find, 5W, several years ago and they're still brighter than the 75W incandescents, so much so that I can only turn half of them on (they're on two separate circuits, because that's how things are done at the Casa de Cowboy).