Fluorescent vs. LED High Bays

With the introduction of LED high/low bay fixtures, they have begun many debates over the features and benefits compared to the already energy efficient fluorescent high/low bay fixtures. We are here to finally shed some light on this debate to find out definitively which is the better choice.

	Fluorescent T5 & T8 Fixtures	LED High Bay Fixtures
Wattage	240 watts (with ballast)	100~120 watts
Rated Life Hours	30,000	50,000~100,000
Operating Temp.	125~150 F.	80~110 F.
Start-up time	2-3 minutes	1-3 seconds to full brightness
Mercury Content	Contains mercury	No mercury or other harmful elements
Safety	Breakable Glass	No glass or other breakable materials
Annual Energy Cost	$125 /per fixture	$60 /per fixture
Mean Lumens	16,000 with 65% directed 10,400 lumens	10,200 with 98% directed 10,000 lumens.
Color Rendering Index (CRI)	50~65 CRI	80~90 CRI

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Wattage: Immediate reduction in wattage from 240W w/ballast for the fluorescent to about 110W with the LED fixtures. An approximate savings of 55%

Rated Life Hours: 2~4 x longer life with LEDs vs fluorescent fixtures.

Operating Temp.: LED fixtures will operate up to 40° Degrees cooler than fluorescent fixtures.

Start-up time: With fluorescent lighting it may take up to 2-3 minutes to achieve full brightness (even longer in cold environments). LEDs are instant-on to full brightness, even in temperatures below freezing.

Mercury Content: Fluorescent Lighting requires mercury to transfer electricity, LEDs contain no mercury or any other harmful elements. Allowing for easy recycling compared to high costs of fluorescent tube disposal.

Safety Features: LED fixtures utilize a solid lightweight design with no glass or other breakable materials. Eliminating the extra cost and lumen depreciation from adding shatter protection to a fluorescent tube.

Annual Energy Cost: Results above based on calculations of 0.12kWh rate at 12 hours/day usage. Compared to fluorescent lighting, LED fixtures will cost less than half to operate.

Mean Lumens: Fluorescent lighting requires reflectors to direct light onto surfaces, during this process up to 35% of lumens are lost. With LED fixtures at an excellent 98% down-ward light output it equates to virtually the same lumen output.

Color Rendering Index: LED lighting has one of the highest CRI values available from any light source.  This allows for true color rendering without harsh color temperatures. High color rendering increases the human eye perception to visible light (ie. an Estimated 10,000 LED lumens will appear as bright as 12,000 lumens from most other light sources).

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