On 06/06/2018 21:29, T i m wrote:
On Wed, 6 Jun 2018 20:58:26 +0100, Brian Reay wrote:

When checking the Screwfix catalogue for something else, I noticed they
did 5ft LED tubes for £14.99, claimed to be equivalent to 100W and
decided to try one.

They come with a 'special' started (a fuse it seems) and you can then
just fit without any rewiring. (I may remove the ballast later.)

Having installed it, it looks good- as bright as the two existing tubes.

Plan is to replace the rest (2 more in garage and 2 in workshop) when I
next visit Screwfix.

Wouldn't it be wise to wait a bit and see if these suffer the same
uncharacteristically short life as your conventional tubes (as I
believe that was why you were looking for an alternative)?

I suspect the problem is that the fittings are old, T12, types and I'm
using T8 tubes- ARW's post provided the clue. Some other tubes, used in
a suspended ceiling, haven't given any trouble in 20 years (since we
bought the house). They've just been removed (part of a bathroom
replacement) and are the larger diameter, T12, style.

We have CFLs in several other places and they've been fine.