Ever since the introduction of LED technology in the market the traditional fluorescent lamps have been largely replaced in all the environments where they have been used for ages.

Fluorescent lamps or fluorescent tube lights are available in three sizes T5, T8 and T12 lamps. The number denotes the diameter of the lamp.

LED tubes are also available as retrofit LED tubes to replace these fluorescent tubes. They are highly specific to avoid malfunctioning of the fixture. Retrofit led tubes are available under three main specifications.

UL type A

Type A led tube is plug and play and easy to install, they operate on pre existing fluorescent ballast. They have an internal driver and do not require any structural or electrical modification.

UL type B

UL type B tube requires electrical modification and the wiring is modified as the LED driver operates directly on mains voltage which in turn bypasses the ballast. This makes the fixture highly efficient and removes any technical difficulties which in turn reduce maintenance and electrical costs.

UL type C

UL type C is the most advanced plug and play LED tube out there. It has an internal LED driver and requires structural modification of the fixture. The fixture’s input wires are connected to the LED driver and the wires from the driver’s wire are connected to the socket. This one driver can power multiple fixtures and this kind of tube is highly compatible, efficient and has greatest overall performance.

Advantages of LED tubes

Linear fluorescent fixtures are extensively replaced by LED tubes. They are highly efficient and made in sizes same as fluorescent fixtures. So retrofit tubes are also known as T5 led tubes and T8 led tubes as they are the most commonly used tubes.

T8 led tubes have several advantages over fluorescent fixtures in terms of functionality and cost.

They are energy efficient, this is the biggest upside of LEDs as they consume less power and produce more light. It is claimed that 85% of the energy is given out as light and only a 5% of it is wasted as heat unlike traditional fixtures which produce more heat than light.
They have a directional way of lighting, the light coming out of the fixture is adjusted and focused within a certain area and is not dispersed in the environment, so no light is wasted.
Linear LED tubes can be fixed into any of the large fixtures such as troffer lights fixtures.
The quality of light is better and adjustable. LEDs allow adjustment to colour temperature of the light to suit the ambience of the environment, The correlated colour temperature falls in a range of 2500K-6000K which means the light from the fixture can be anything between warm yellow to cool white light.
LED has a high colour rendering index which implies that they impart better and truer colours of the surroundings and objects. The CRI of LEDs is above 80 which is maximum for fluorescent lamps.

T5 and T8 LED tubes save a lot of costs in the long run as they do not require frequent replacement or maintenance. They have considerable longer lifespan and live up to their warranty period whereas fluorescent lamps give out early and require frequent replacement of lamps due to various incompatibilities.