[wastewater]

An interesting article appearing in today's N&O (a Raleigh/Durham based newspaper) said Cree is unveiling a new LED T8 lamp...

"The new Cree LED T8 Lamp, which the company plans to unveil Monday, is compatible with the bulk of 1.3 billion sockets nationwide that accommodate 4-foot long T8 fluorescent tubes - more than any other LED replacement, said Jeff Hungarter, lighting product manager for the Durham based company."

"Competing LED lights are compatible with rapid-start ballasts (the ballast is what regulates the current) that account for roughly 85% of all sockets. But only Cree's new product, said Hungarter, is compatible with programmed-start ballasts that account for the remaining sockets. Cree expects broader compatibility to be a crucial advantage. The beauty of ours is, it doesn't matter, Hungarter said. You can take a fluorescent lamp out and then you put this one in, and it just works. Cree doesn't offer 100% compatibility, however. Its LEDs aren't compatible with older magnetic ballasts. On the 100-point-scale color rendering index, or CRI, Cree's LEDs are rated at 90."

Sounds like Cree is on top of their game. Should be interesting to see what evolves and if prices start to decrease.

 

[lauraleellbp]

AHA!

Was it you who'd just asked about using one of these in a diff thread?

I was "what on earth is a T8 LED"? lol

Here's an article I just found in the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20140505-901617.html

And here's the tiny bit of info available so far on Cree's website: http://www.cree.com/News-and-Events/Cree-News/Press-Releases/2014/May/T8-tube-release


Wonder if this means a bunch of us will be digging up and dusting off our old T8 fixtures before too much longer?

3500K and 4000K color temperatures.

... possibly not in the immediate future, however.

 

[wastewater]

No, not me - I don't own any T8 fixtures. I do wonder if there will be a run on T8 fixtures in the future if this 'bulb' gets popular. I'm sure they will have more color options to choose from in the very near future.

 

[jeffkrol]

I do wonder if there will be a run on T8 fixtures in the future if this 'bulb' gets popular. I'm sure they will have more color options to choose from in the very near future.

Except for the "plug and play" tech, which btw on our scale is silly since IF your ballast fails you need a new ballast to run your LED?? Goofy.
Currently you can do roughly the same thing except you need to rewire removing the ballast.. Obviously on an "office wide" scale not exactly cheap.. so the economics may be there in the "real world".

Also considering the mostly directional nature (unless now redesigned as a "corn light" fixture).. the reflectors would be almost pointless..

I suppose for those "on the fence" between T8's and LED's it is a quick "reality check" to see if they like it..

AS to the 4000K "tru white" I'd have to see it.. Can't always judge color by the color temp...

Anyways, personal rant more than anything.. and bravo for CREE for converting 500V it useable LED voltages..

 

[wastewater]

Except for the "plug and play" tech, which btw on our scale is silly since IF your ballast fails you need a new ballast to run your LED?? Goofy.

The plug & play aspect might be appealing to many. If the ballast fails with standard T8s, you'll need a new one to run your T8 fluorescents too (albeit a T8 tube is less expensive than a T8 LED)... but, I understand the point you are making.

 

[lauraleellbp]

I wonder if the output on these is significantly more than the typical LED strips that you can buy in tubes?