When we bought our house last year with a basement for my layout, it had a couple of old fluorescent fixtures and a few incandescent bulbs here and there. With my friend we wired in a new breaker and installed fifteen new cheap 2-bulb fluorescent shop light fixtures to give lots of light. My fixtures have T12 bulbs in them. It wasn't really "layout" lighting, but instead if was just general basement lighting.
As I build my small layout (12'x12') I am realizing I need some more dedicated lights for this area of the basement. I was also thinking that I should probably replace the fluorescent bulbs with LED ones, as they don't give of UV rays that could fade my models.
Are there LED bulbs that I can swap into the fixtures, or is there more to this than that? Are LED's brighter than fluorescents (all other things being equal)? Do regular home improvement stores carry them, or must they be ordered online?
Thanks.
Modeling the D&H in 1984: http://dandhcoloniemain.blogspot.com/
They do make LED "tubes" that can replace a fluorescent tubes, but you need an electronic ballast to use them. Check the orange or blue borgs for them. Philips is one of the suppliers of such items.
Be sure to verify you have electronic, and not magnetic ballasts...
I have not done this but there are youtube videos on doing the conversion. As I understand it, they run off straight 120 v. so you remove the old ballast.
T12 is the bigger fluourescent light (diameter) things have moved to the smaller T8 Looking on the home depot site, the do have T12 led 40 watt equivalent. These are advertised as cool, meaning more blueish than you may want.
Places like Costco sometimes have the light fixtures and bulbs at the most reasonable prices.
My name is Henry, not Randy, do not take my advice as gospel.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
There are two kinds of LED tube replacements - ones that can work off the ballast that's alredy there, and ones that need you to remove the ballast and reqire the fixture (it's not hard, but if the fixtures aren't easy to take down, it will be a real pain).
There's more variety of the kind that need the ballast removed, as electrically they are then just like any other LED bulb, just a different shape. The kind that cna work with the ballast need an entirely different circuit inside.
The Costco ones were mentioned - those are completely new fixtures. The nearest Costco to me isn;t very convenient, but one of these days I need to get a few to replace the lights in my garage. My basement is getting a complete redo, including replacing the grubby drop ceiling, and only one of the 3 roosm even had flourescent lights in anyway, but the new stuff will be 100% LED. Direct on the layout lighting I am planning to use the LED strings on reels, but for overall room lighting, probably LED floodlight type lights. I swapped one in the light at the base of the staris and it's great - I previously tried using a CFL in it and they lasted a couple of months at best, the LED's been in there over 2 years now. Any screw in light in my house has been long replaced with LEDs, even things like my hall light that takes the candalabra bulbs - and my outdoor pole light, which also uses those. Biggest savings came from replaceming the 4 outdoor floodlights for my back yard with LED bulbs - all 4 LEDs draw in total one ONE of the incandescents drew, and the yard is brighter. Even my front port lights flanking my front door have LEDs - except right now, they have one red and one green CFL for the holidays.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Be careful if you buy the LED tubes that are advertised as working with the existing ballast. I'd get a couple and try them in one of your fixtures first.
I bought a couple at that were advertised (and I confirmed on their Web site) that they would work in a fixture with an electronic ballast. Removed the T8's, popped the LED tubes in, pulled the chain, and blew up the ballast.
The fixture went to the electronics recycler, and since I now had to replace it anyway, the LED tubes were returned and I just bought a new fixture with LED tubes included.
All that said, I agree with the other posters that LED's are generally a better choice. I haven't replaced everything in the house yet, but as each bulb goes it gets replaced with an LED.
I've been replacing excisting bulbs, in our house, with LED's as we go. After reading this thread, and another thread on which I asked the same question, I'll be replacing the ballast on the 4' tubes that light my layout.
Mike.
My You Tube
The ballasts go bad after a while anyway so you are better off just buying a new fixture that comes with LED lights instead. We did that in our kitchen and the light is 100 times better. Remember however that you are not supposed to throw the old ballast in the trash because it is hazardous waste, so are the old florescent tubes. Florescent lights are usually installed by using either two toggle bolts punched through the drywall or screwed into wood. You can unscrew the toggle bolts by keeping pressure on the bolt so the toggle doesn’t spin. Before you do that you have to open up the guts to get to the wires. On most fixtures you either undo a screw or you squeeze in the sides. There should be a black or red wire which is the switch leg (powered) and a white wire which is the neutral. There may or may not also have a bare or green wire which is the ground. If any other color wires are used then curse the installer because they didn't follow the rules, and write down which color wire goes the black and the white leads on the ballast. Turn off the power and twist off the wire nuts and remove the fixture. Install the new fixture and hook up the wires just like they were before. It is really pretty simple but if in doubt call an electrician. 120 volts won't kill you but it might knock you off of your ladder and you might get hurt.
Thank you to everyone for your advice. I think I will buy some replacements for the lights that are going over the layout, and I may experiment with modifying the fixtures in other parts of the basement to convert them.
We bought several 2' x 4' troffers that would have had two or four T12 flourscents in them, but they do not have any bulbs in them, just rows of surface mounted LEDs. mounted directly on the troffer.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS