Looking for LED shop lighting to replace t12 light fixture

[Clarence Martin]

Got a few of those t12 shop lights in the basement and I replaced one of the tube light s today. Well , one of the tube exploded in front of me !!! Smokey haze and I opened all the windows in the basement along with the bilco door and got the heck out of there to let it air out !!

I read somewhere that they have MERCURY IN THEM !!! Did the thorough damp mop and damp rag , dump everything in a bucket along with hosing the basement floor down along with letting it air out for a good 10 minutes before I did the cleanup.


Did I miss anything with the cleanup ? Never had one of those things explode before and certainly not right in front of me !!!!!


As for the LED lighting , do they make those things in 4 foot long tubes and in a plug in style , not hard wired ??


Thanks!!

[Matt Meiser]

http://www.toggled.com

Made in Michigan! A woodworking friend is an engineer there.

[Lee Schierer]

Yes even 4 foot tubes contain some mercury and the white haze is phosphorus which isn't good for you either.

Home Depot carries a variety of 2 X 4 foot LED light fixtures. Be prepared for sticker shock. You can add your own plugs to most 2 x 4 fixtures with a wire clamp and a bit of time.

We purchased a 14" round Lithonia LED light 5554730f-2265-4525-aa9f-a99ea8914d3e_300.jpgabout 6 months ago for our kitchen. It replaced a two tube circle light fixture and gives of at least twice as much light as the florescent tubes did even when they were new.

[Clarence Martin]

http://www.toggled.com

Made in Michigan! A woodworking friend is an engineer there.

Not a bad price when you consider that you don't have to worry about mercury contamination ! Now, it says they are T8 . Never having used an LED light before, if I buy a T8 shop light fixture that uses the old Mercury containing light tubes, can I just replace the mercury tube with one of these tubes ? Or, is there some retrofitting to make the LED bulb fit ?

[Matt Meiser]

I assume you'd have to replace the sockets which are readily available. I converted a fixture in a dropped ceiling to T8--had to replace the sockets and ballast, but from what I understand you remove the ballast for LED conversion.

[Clarence Martin]

Found this at the Orange Box store....

Lithonia Lighting Model # 1290L

26-Watt White LED Chain-Mount Shoplight

I got the old t12 shop light mounted on the joists above the Table Saw. Would this LED shop light provide about the same amount of light as the old light?

[Jason Roehl]

I assume you'd have to replace the sockets which are readily available. I converted a fixture in a dropped ceiling to T8--had to replace the sockets and ballast, but from what I understand you remove the ballast for LED conversion.

You don't have to replace sockets (tombstones) to convert from T12 to T8, only the ballast. The wiring scheme is a little different, but the only outward physical difference between the T12 and T8 lamps is the diameter, provided they are the same length and pin configuration.

[Julie Moriarty]

Got a few of those t12 shop lights in the basement and I replaced one of the tube light s today. Well , one of the tube exploded in front of me !!! Smokey haze and I opened all the windows in the basement along with the bilco door and got the heck out of there to let it air out !!

I read somewhere that they have MERCURY IN THEM !!! Did the thorough damp mop and damp rag , dump everything in a bucket along with hosing the basement floor down along with letting it air out for a good 10 minutes before I did the cleanup.

Did I miss anything with the cleanup ? Never had one of those things explode before and certainly not right in front of me !!!!!

I started my electrician apprenticeship in 1974. It wasn't until 2005 that I saw the first bulb eater on the the jobsite. I didn't even know what it was. Then someone explained about the toxic gasses present in fluorescent tubes. Huh?

I have no idea how many tubes I or any of my co-workers tossed in dumpsters or trash hoppers over the years but I know it was a lot. Kind of scary to think of that now.

[Lee Schierer]

Found this at the Orange Box store....

Lithonia Lighting Model # 1290L

26-Watt White LED Chain-Mount Shoplight

I got the old t12 shop light mounted on the joists above the Table Saw. Would this LED shop light provide about the same amount of light as the old light?

The specifications say the 26 watt LED strip puts out 1700 Lumens, a single 40 watt T-12 bulb puts out 2200 lumens a single 32 watt T-8 bulb puts out 2800 lumens

[Matt Meiser]

I remember replacing the sockets but it must have been because they were falling apart or something.

[Greg R Bradley]

Found this at the Orange Box store....

Lithonia Lighting Model # 1290L

26-Watt White LED Chain-Mount Shoplight

I got the old t12 shop light mounted on the joists above the Table Saw. Would this LED shop light provide about the same amount of light as the old light?

About the same light output as a SINGLE TUBE 4' T12 light that is worn out and should be replaced but is still working. It may direct that light a bit better than a T-12 with no reflector.

If you are replacing a 8' two bulb T-12 with reflector and fairly new good quality bulbs, then you could just buy 5 of those.

[Marc Ward]

http://www.toggled.com

Made in Michigan! A woodworking friend is an engineer there.

Expensive for a 4' LED tube. Plus, the lumen output is not up to the competition. I use Emium Lighting from IL. I am a rep for them too. They have several models, but the one closed to the Toggled (good name!) is 22w with 2,450 lumen output, which is 111.36 lumens per watt. The Toggled is 24 watts and 2,150 lumens. That is 93.48 lpw. This is not like golf, higher is better. Also the Toggled cost $50 and the Emium is $34.

[Marc Ward]

You don't have to replace sockets (tombstones) to convert from T12 to T8, only the ballast. The wiring scheme is a little different, but the only outward physical difference between the T12 and T8 lamps is the diameter, provided they are the same length and pin configuration.

Correct. And you don't have to remove the ballast. Just leave it. It's not bothering anybody.

[Mike Chalmers]

I got a 4" LED fixture at Home Depot Canada. 4000 lumens. What a difference. Much easier to see details, tape measure increments etc. I replaced a 4" T12 fixture instead of buying a new ballast. I am very pleased with the upgrade, even though it cost a fair bit more.

[Curt Harms]

I started my electrician apprenticeship in 1974. It wasn't until 2005 that I saw the first bulb eater on the the jobsite. I didn't even know what it was. Then someone explained about the toxic gasses present in fluorescent tubes. Huh?

I have no idea how many tubes I or any of my co-workers tossed in dumpsters or trash hoppers over the years but I know it was a lot. Kind of scary to think of that now.

We had some burned out T-12 fluorescent tubes we wanted to dispose of responsibly. The county does 3 recycling events/year and I didn't want to wait so I called our waste disposal company. They said to just break the tubes up & put 'em in the trash! It's easy to recycle compact fluorescents, 48" tubes not so much.