New Category of LED Tubes with Replaceable Driver System

There are over 2.3 billion fluorescent tubes in American ceilings, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, across commercial and residential properties. The ubiquitous fluorescent T12, T8, and T5 fluorescent tubes that typically vary in length from 2’ to 8’ have dominated commercial illumination starting in the 1950s. The toxic mercury is a challenge for fluorescent, but the inefficiency relative to the new generations of LED tube replacement technology presents significant new energy saving opportunities and high return on investment (ROI). The challenge for buyers is the range of different categories of LED tubes in addition to the range of different manufacturers.

LED linear lighting has typically come in the form of either internal driver or external LED driver technology with savings that now is over 40% relative to fluorescent tubes. Heat is the enemy of the Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), so manufacturers have been working diligently to develop LED tubes that either dissipate or manage the heat. The drivers that power the tubes are a source of heat that needs to be managed.

A new category of LED tubes presents a significant improvement over the typical internal Parallel Driver, placed behind the printed circuit boards, or the Thermal Isolated End Cap Driver LED tubes that are common on the market. External driver tubes may still have a place on the landscape for 24 x7 hours of operation, because external drivers fully separate the heat, but the challenge with external drivers is that they typically cost more than internal driver LED tubes. To date, when the driver fails on an internal driver tube, the whole tube needs to be discarded.

The new modular LED replacement options may change the industry forever. With a replaceable driver system, the LED driver can be replaced easily without the need for an electrician for some products. This results in discarding only the driver and not the whole tube. Plus, as diode performance in lumen per watt increases, the printed circuit board is also replaceable for some products. Buyers understand that the LED industry continues to produce more efficient lighting as the price comes down. This product category may provide an opportunity to add a more efficient driver to upgrade the exiting LED tube efficiency over time. This technology may become the new standard for LED linear efficiency and cost-effective fluorescent replacement.

Some companies like DK LED are taking the lead on this advanced LED tube technology. See: www.independenceled.com/DK-LED-USA