On Thu, 15 Oct 2020 21:44:25 -0400, J. Clarke
wrote:

On Thu, 15 Oct 2020 18:21:21 -0700 (PDT), whit3rd
wrote:

On Thursday, October 15, 2020 at 2:13:48 PM UTC-7, wrote:
I just use 4 foot fluorescent lights in my shop area. I have 37 of the two bulb 4 foot fixtures in the basement. Once in a great while the fluorescent bulbs die. But its rare. And the bulbs cost $1 each or something like that.

Yep, fluorescent is still a winner on parts/availability/maturity, and was never far
behind LED in power consumption. I suspect the various (low-voltage DC, high-voltage AC,
dimmable, not dimmable, flickering, flicker-free, etc.) LED options mean that one
can never re-lamp or re-power a fixture, if a lamp or power brick dies, you need... a new
fixture. With screw-in LED bulbs, you replace both a power supply and an LED, AND
a heatsink, instead of just a glass tube/bulb with fittings on the end(s); replacing the light
emitters is going to be easier on the wallet if you go fluorescent.

LED is far less rocket-sciency than fluorescent. Get an adjustable
power suppy. Hook it up, turn up the voltage until the light hits the
brightness you want. Note that voltage and the current. Get a
wall-wart with the same spec, you're done. The wall-wart might not be
dimmable or respond to Alexa but it will make the light give off
light.

Case-lot purchases of fluorescent tubes are $2 each, but if you just buy a couple off-the-shelf,
it's closer to $5 each. I've replaced some T12 ballast/tube fixtures with T8 electronic
ballast and T8 tubes; less mercury in those smaller tubes, and quite bright. The sheet metal
of the fixtures might be 40 years old.
'
A lot of LEDs aren't dimmable. You can get LED replacement tubes for
about 5-7ish$. Brighter (3400l) are at the $7 end.