Conventional fluorescent tubes or would you prefer a modern LED? We would like to make it easier for you to answer this question and will present the two lighting solutions in comparison.
How does an LED tube work?
The abbreviation LED stands for light-emitting diode. The light is emitted in the form of electromagnetic radiation. This is also known as electroluminescence. A light emitting diode has two poles, an anode and a cathode. It consists of semiconductor materials and therefore only allows electricity to flow in one direction. A wire connects an LED chip to the anode and a reflector trough makes contact with the cathode. All components are fixed in a plastic lens. Due to the small size of only a few millimeters, a large number of LED chips are installed in one tube. This results in several advantages, which we present to you here. If you would like to have a look at our range of LED tubes, just click on the picture above or the heading.
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How does a fluorescent tube work?
The tube is filled with a gas, mostly mercury vapor. The tube is also coated with a fluorescent phosphor. This converts the UV light emitted by the gas filling into visible light. This technology used to be revolutionary, but has now been replaced by LEDs. LED tubes are not only more durable, they are also much more efficient and at the same time offer the same performance.
The advantages of LED tubes:
Mercury-free: In contrast to fluorescent tubes, LEDs do not contain any mercury. This makes them environmentally friendly and harmless to health.
Directed light: LED tubes emit their light in a targeted manner. This means that it is only emitted in the desired area and not in all directions, as is the case with fluorescent tubes. This means that no valuable brightness is lost in the socket or beamed onto the ceiling, for example.
High efficiency: Modern LED technology makes the tubes around 40% more energy-efficient than conventional fluorescent tubes.
Flicker-free: In contrast to fluorescent tubes, LED lights are completely flicker-free and have no health consequences.
Lifespan: The lifespan of an LED tube is 50,000 hours. In practice, with an average operating time of around 60 hours per week, this corresponds to a value of around 15 years. For comparison: a conventional fluorescent tube has to be replaced after almost 30,000 hours.
Shatterproof: LED tubes are made of polycarbonate (PC). This robust material is similar to the conventional glass from which fluorescent tubes are made. The advantage of PC is that it is unbreakable and therefore particularly robust.
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LED tubes generate light with electromagnetic radiation
- they are energy-saving, environmentally friendly and not harmful to health
- Fluorescent tubes are filled with a gas and coated with a fluorescent paint
- they are inexpensive to manufacture, but often emit flickering light and contain mercury
The advantages of fluorescent tubes:
- Low production costs for the tubes (not for the ballasts)
- Wide range of color temperatures (warm white to cool white)
- Scattered light with a beam angle of 360 °: ideally suited as basic lighting
