Costco LED shop lights - $19.99

[mark mcfarlane]

My local Costco (Woodlands Texas) is selling Feit 4' 2-tube LED lights for $19.99. 42 watts, 4000K, 3700 lumens.

I think the sale ends in a few days, sorry I don't remember the date. Limit 10 per customer. I took 10 home yesterday and will probably go back and buy 10 more. I need 30 lights for the new shop and I can't even find decent fluorescent fixtures for this price.

[Andrew Howe]

How do you like them?

[Victor Robinson]

I got several of these when they were last on sale at $25 a few months ago. I highly recommend them. I plan on picking up a few more and stashing them for a lighting overhaul.

[Jim Becker]

Wow..."such a deal"! Considerably less than I paid for mine a number of months ago!! LOL And I love the light from them in the shop. Quite a transformation. 4100K is a "sweet spot" for me I think.

[Joe Spear]

I bought four of them for that price last year about this time. I used two for grow lights to start my tomatoes and peppers in the basement. The other two went into the attic. It's a good value.

[mark kosse]

Mark, they were in stock at the store? I'll go get more if so. Thanks

[kevin nee]

I had a flourcent light quit in my shop a couple months ago. I did a huge lighting upgrade 14 years ago and was very happy with my lighting until I replaced that light. They have come a long way with lighting. That spot ( lathe area )
is much brighter than the rest of the shop. I am from the 60 watt bulb era that were expensive to run. I probably won't do any lights replacing until they go, but what a difference.

[Joe Pelonio]

I put in 6 at my parents' shop/garage, great deal.

[Mark Blatter]

I bought five of those about a year ago and the first one I mounted was on for about 3 minutes and quit. Left me with a bad taste, so I took them all back. I have had other issues with Feit so don't buy them any more. At that price though, I may stop down and pick some up and try them again.

[Jaromir Svoboda]

I have had issues with Feit fluorescent bulbs, they only last few months, not years.

[Bob Falk]

I bought a shop's worth at $38....these are great lights and I have had no failures

[mark mcfarlane]

Mark, they were in stock at the store? I'll go get more if so. Thanks

They had 1 1/2 pallets in stock at the Woodlands Costco on Monday around 2PM.

[mark mcfarlane]

How do you like them?


Andrew, I hung 3 more today, so have 4 running so far in my temporary shop along with 2 T8 fixtures. They are silent and give off good quality light. I bought one first as a trial last week, liked it, and when I saw the sale yesterday I filled up the cart. I need 20 more for the new shop.

The FIET lights come with pull chain switches and hanging cables but I flush mounted mine (there are mounting holes to flush mount). I built a drilling template out of 1/4" plywood and hung 3 of them today in about 20 minutes. I thought the pull chains would be annoying but I am actually liking the idea. You can only daisy chain 4 of them according to the instructions, so I am going to need to revamp my electrical plan a little, I had planned for 5 banks of 6 lights with one junction box per bank. Now I need (ideally) switched outlets.

[Dennis Yamamoto]

You can only daisy chain 4 of them according to the instructions, so I am going to need to revamp my electrical plan a little, I had planned for 5 banks of 6 lights with one junction box per bank. Now I need (ideally) switched outlets.

Mark,

If you put a duplex switched outlet near the middle of a bank of 6 lights, you can daisy chain up to 4 lights per each of the two outlets in the duplex box. Thanks how I connected five of these lights on one bank or switch.

[mark mcfarlane]

Mark,

If you put a duplex switched outlet near the middle of a bank of 6 lights, you can daisy chain up to 4 lights per each of the two outlets in the duplex box. Thanks how I connected five of these lights on one bank or switch.

Thanks Dennis, that's my plan.

[Cody Jensen]

I'm curious, but are these (http://www.costco.com/4%E2%80%99-Linkable-LED-Shop-Light-with-Pull-Chain%2c-2-pack.product.100284402.html) the same thing on their website? I'm not a member, so its a little more expensive, but it is still ~$26/light which is much better than I have found.

[mark mcfarlane]

I'm curious, but are these (http://www.costco.com/4%E2%80%99-Linkable-LED-Shop-Light-with-Pull-Chain%2c-2-pack.product.100284402.html) the same thing on their website? I'm not a member, so its a little more expensive, but it is still ~$26/light which is much better than I have found.

Cody, the lights I purchased appear to be identical to the link your referenced. Note that your link is for a PAIR of lights, so the price appears to be the same, ~$20 each, excluding the $5 shipping charge per pair on the website

I'm not sure how you get $26, I get $22.50. Maybe Costco shows different prices based on your location.

Online Price59.99$

Less20.00$-

Your Price39.99$



$39.99 After $20 OFF
$20 manufacturer’s discount is valid 11/29/16 through 12/24/16. While supplies last.

Shipping & Handling: $4.99*
Features:

Feit Electric 42W
4000K Soft White
3700 Lumens
50,000 Hours
2-pack

[Cody Jensen]

I was giving the total cost with shipping/taxes and a non-member surcharge. $52.XX delivered, don't remember exactly.

[mark mcfarlane]

I was giving the total cost with shipping/taxes and a non-member surcharge. $52.XX delivered, don't remember exactly.

FWIW, I'm a member so I'm probably seeing the member's price. If you are gong to buy a bunch of lights the $50 membership fee pays for itself.

[Dave Cav]

I got eight of them for my new shop; I'll install them this spring when I finally move. The shop space is 30 x 40 and I plan to run four fixtures down each side of the ceiling along of the long axis. There are already three T8 fixtures running down the centerline so I should have plenty of light. I will eventually replace the T8s with LED tubes.

While I was at Costco I also got six pair of the Feit led replacement tubes to put in my old shop light fixtures out in the garage. They replace the existing T12 tubes and put out an amazing amount of light and the cold weather has no effect on them.

[Ellen Benkin]

I bought them last year at about $30 each and never looked back. The older you get, the more light you need and these give off great light and no heat -- and they don't flicker or buzz.

[Joe Spear]

I have had issues with Feit fluorescent bulbs, they only last few months, not years.

These aren't fluorescent: they're LED, and they work well.

[David Helm]

I have an 18 light array in my shop. So far I have replaced 12 with these lights @ $29.99. At $19.99 I may just have to finish the last six. I truly love the non buzz, brighter lights that do not affect my office radio.

[Cary Falk]

I buy these from amazon and gut my existing fixtures. They end up being about the same price as the Costco ones. Slightly brighter and 5000k which I prefer.

https://www.amazon.com/Hyperikon-equivalent-UL-Listed-DLC-Qualified-Tombstones/dp/B01G4GWWUO/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1481138160&sr=1-1&keywords=Hyperikon%2BT8%2BLED%2BLight%2BTube%2C%2B 4ft%2C%2B18W%2B5000k&th=1

[Bill Space]

[QUOTE=Cary Falk;2631580]I buy these from amazon and gut my existing fixtures. They end up being about the same price as the Costco ones. Slightly brighter and 5000k which I prefer.

https://www.amazon.com/Hyperikon-equivalent-UL-Listed-DLC-Qualified-Tombstones/dp/B01G4GWWUO/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1481138160&sr=1-1&keywords=Hyperikon%2BT8%2BLED%2BLight%2BTube%2C%2B 4ft%2C%2B18W%2B5000k&th=1[/QUOTE

Actually Costco here in Pittsburgh has the tubes for about $18 per pair. The ones the OP mentioned are fixtures with tubes included. But I don't think the tubes in these fixtures can be replaced. I have a number of them. Just bought a couple more last week.

As far as the replacement tubes go, I had one fixture where they would not work for some reason, and I had to replace that fixture with one of the Costco ones, that was the fixture plus tubes.

I had one failure of a Costco fixture, one that was a pain to replace due to its location, but Costco took it back with a full refund.

I am pretty happy with the fixtures all in all. Have been using them for about a year now, with no problems but that one which failed.

$20 per fixture or a bit less for the tube replacements seems to be my price point. I will probably buy more of the LED replacement tubes as I have a number of standard fixtures they can be used in.

It looks to me like if the fixture that includes the tubes fails, there is no option but to replace it. The tubes do not look like they are removable for replacement.

All in all I am really satisfied with these LED fixtures/replacement tubes!

Bill

[Brian Bres]

I picked up 8 of these fixtures a couple hours ago. Going to replace the hodge podge of fluorescents shortly.

[Mike Heidrick]

I was giving the total cost with shipping/taxes and a non-member surcharge. $52.XX delivered, don't remember exactly.


It was $9 more for a non member to buy 3 sets. I agree the total was about $26ea after tax shipping and non member surcharge.

[Pete Staehling]

I picked up 8 of these fixtures a couple hours ago. Going to replace the hodge podge of fluorescents shortly.

I have been using these for a while (18 months maybe) and have been very happy with them.

[Mark Blatter]

I would love to get some feedback from others. I have looked at, have actually tried these lights. I have replaced most of the halogen/incandescent lights in my house with LED bulbs. I understand the advantage and the savings with LED lights. Yet I just cannot get my head around moving to LEDs in my shop. I chose to put up T8 fixtures two or three years ago instead of LEDs. I wanted to add more lights in a couple of places last year, so bought a few of the Feit ones now on sale at Costco. Literally the first one I mounted was on for about 2 minutes and stopped working. That was not my first bad experience with Feit, but that is a story for another day.

Today, I am thinking about still adding some lights since I never replaced the LEDs I have purchased. Comparing the T8 with LED, I prefer the T8 lights. They use 64 watts and produce 5400 lumens. LEDs in this case use 42 watts and produce 3700 lumens. The watt per lumen is almost the same. Yes, the LEDs are supposed to last 50,000 hours, verses 30,000 for the T8 bulb. Overall, I guess the T8 costs a bit more when you look at the initial cost to buy and the cost of the bulbs down the road, but it isn't much. In this case, to get the same amount of light, I would need to add 50% more lights.

What am I missing? T8s seem to be a pretty good technology that lasts a long time. My experience with LED is that the lower costs ones fail way to often, so you have extra work replacing them.

Thanks in advance for replies and input.

BTW, if I should take this to a new thread, happy to do so.

Edit:
One thing I should have mentioned. My wife suffers fairly severely from migraines. She averages 17 - 25 days a month fighting them. I did pull out all CFC lights from our house (present when we bought it) and replaced them with LED spots. Most of our lights are can lights in the ceilings. That has helped her a great deal as the flickering in the CFCs are a quick migraine trigger for her. She seldom comes into the shop because of the smells, but helps me with inside tasks. Simply for the migraine issue, I would replace all of my T8 lights with LEDs if she could spend more time in the shop.

[Greg R Bradley]

Mark, you aren't missing much. Most of the LED superiority is just marketing crap. These light make less light and are less efficient than the best of T-8 lamps. The problem is that people replace old worn out fluorescents and think that the LEDs are magic, when the big improvement is new lamps or fixtures. These are pretty decent for extra lamps over a workbench or a tool with the plug and pull chain. But when people start buying a dozen or two of these to replace florescents, that is the indication that they may be headed down the wrong path.
Under heavy shop use of 50-60 hours a week, good T-8 will need new bulbs in 5-8 years and these entire fixtures will hit the trash before that. 50,000 hours for new bulbs at 5-10% light loss with good t-8 bulbs or 50,000 hours for entire new fixtures at 30% light loss with these fixtures.
These are great when you buy a few for extra light over a workbench, etc. Just need to think more about using them for general lighting for an entire shop.

You need to look at the big picture and decide what is best for each use instead of thinking that one technology is better for everything. As the local lighting specialist says "you only have to say the word LED and the people will think they are saving money even if they are buying junk"

At $20 each these are a great deal, just check and make sure they fit your needs before filling up your cart with them.

[Larry Frank]

I am gradually replacing my fluorescent lightweight the LED. I bought mine at Sam's Club and were 5000k, 4500 lumens and about $35. They are much brighter and I like the color temperature.

I really like not having the risk of breaking the fluorescent bulbs and no flicker.

[mark mcfarlane]

In my case I am building a new 1000 sq foot shop from scratch and needed 30 fixtures. New fluorescent fixtures with good ballasts and good tubes are fairly expensive. The commercial ones I was looking at were $60 / fixture without tubes. I skeptically bought one of the Feit Costco lights along with a set of replacement LED tubes for an existing T8 fixture (the style that doesn't require bypassing the ballast). I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and amount of light.

Good T8's may or may not be better, but these lights will save me ~$2,000 over buying 30 T8 fixtures. Due to their light weight they were also very easy to install flush mounted. I would not replace good T8s with these LED fixtures, there are too many great options for T8 tubes, but @ $20 per fixtures, these made sense for me as new fixtures. Ask again in 5 years how it is working out.

[Dave Cav]

but @ $20 per fixtures, these made sense for me as new fixtures. Ask again in 5 years how it is working out.

That's my position exactly. And in five years, something new will be the latest and greatest thing. Heck, my current (old) shop is lit by about 30 or so CFL bulbs bought for $1.00 each with a utility rebate, and that was a huge improvement over the original lighting.

[Eric Sarno]

I also saw these and bought 10 boxes for a total of 20 lights. With membership after shipping and taxes it ended up being under $24 per light, they didn't have any local in the stores. I just moved into a new house and my basement is 22x32 so I think they will do well. I've never worked in a well lit basement shop, so I think it will be nice! In my limited experience the cheap T8 ballasts have ended up being the problem compared to the lights. I've had multiple either die completely or start flickering after not very much use. So hopefully with the 5 year warranty on these and Costco's good return policy I won't have too many issues.

[Brian Bres]

I installed the lights yesterday. I am a happy with them. More light than I have ever had in the garage and all the same color temp too! I am considering added another 1 or 2 more. For 20 bucks each, why not.

I had enough receptacles to convert all the fixture locations for the plug in style lights, just need to find the duplex plates now. They are around here somewhere.

I have 6 48" 2 bulb fluorescent wrap fixtures for sale, with bulbs, if anyone is interested. LOL

[Greg R Bradley]

If they were 48" T-12 wraps, the best thing would been to have cleaned the fixtures and installed Direct Wire 18-24w LED. This works very well on a ceiling that is 8' or even a bit less like many basements. That will give you 3600-4800 even lumens per fixture. That would be about $16 per fixture.
If they were 48" T-8 wraps, cleaned and good T-8 such as Sylvania 21681 would give you 6200 even lumens per fixture and the same expected life as the Costco LED. A bit less under lots of on/off cycles, A bit more under all day use like a business. That would be about $9 per fixture as long as you don't need ballasts.
Both of these solutions eliminate the Costco LED nasty harshness at right angles to the fixture when mounted lower than 8'. This seems to be a bigger problem in the current batch that have the shorter ends and pull chain that goes down instead of out the end.
The fluorescents means you can still do some color matching or staining and know the colors will be reasonable. If you add a bunch of extra Costco LED to not loose light and to get light that is even enough, you have pushed your energy consumption way up. Costco warranty will cover you for a failure in the period they cover, which I think is 90 days. Feit's warranty will be useless as the freight cost is almost the price of another lamp. Feit's warranty and unreasonable claims for bulb life is the subject of a current class action suit.
At $20 these fixtures are a great deal for adding a few over places where you need extra light on a temporary or intermittent basis. If you have a reasonable amount of even lighting adding one or two over a workbench or a table saw is a great idea.
A typical 1000 ft shop would use nothing even approaching 30 fixtures of any kind of normal lighting. 30 Costco LED would be a total of 111,000 lumens. This would be accomplished with 7-8 T-8 or T5HO fixtures in a typical shop at $90-110 each. If you have a low ceiling you would need more but less expensive fixtures. I agree that the Costco LED are silly light weight and super easy to install. The more you are a few hour a day user and turn them on/off a lot, the more they make sense. Makes sense to choose the right tech for the use and don't let their nonsense such as "45 year life" and "saves $393 in energy use" sway you. These are 88 lumen per watt, basically identical to good T-8 fixtures.

[mark mcfarlane]

...
A typical 1000 ft shop would use nothing even approaching 30 fixtures of any kind of normal lighting. 30 Costco LED would be a total of 111,000 lumens. This would be accomplished with 7-8 T-8 or T5HO fixtures in a typical shop at $90-110 each. ...

The 30 T8 fixtures came from this thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?244949-Shop-lighting-layout Considering the FEITs are lower output than two T8 bulbs, I'd probably need more. With a 10 foot ceiling, 7 fixtures won't provide adequate coverage.

Greg, I paid no attention to the marketing blurbs, just hung up some lights, liked them, and bought some more. If I have to replace them in a few years, I'm only out $600.

[John C Bush]

I plan to replace my old T-12 fixtures with these LEDs and am not sure how "piggy back" limits relates to my existing circuits. One circuit has 3 rows of two in-line 2 bulb shop lights all on the same dedicated breaker and switch. My non electricion guess is that since they are on the same switch and breaker that is a "piggy back". The other half of the shop as a similar arrangement. So the question is- does the one switch/breaker for that circuit and bank of 6 lights constitute a "piggy back" and what is a reasonable rewire plan? Thanks.

[mark mcfarlane]

I plan to replace my old T-12 fixtures with these LEDs and am not sure how "piggy back" limits relates to my existing circuits. One circuit has 3 rows of two in-line 2 bulb shop lights all on the same dedicated breaker and switch. My non electricion guess is that since they are on the same switch and breaker that is a "piggy back". The other half of the shop as a similar arrangement. So the question is- does the one switch/breaker for that circuit and bank of 6 lights constitute a "piggy back" and what is a reasonable rewire plan? Thanks.

John, My suspicion is the 4 light 'daisy chain' rating limit is due to the current carrying capability of the internal wiring of these LED fixtures. String together 5 lights, they would pull too much current and you may melt the insulation on the internal wiring. From a single duplex outlet you could hang 8 lights, 4 on each side.

This is independent of the current carrying capability of the circuit, which also needs to be taken into consideration.

At 42 watts per fixture, @ 110V, thats 0.4 amps per light, so on a 15 amp lighting circuit (that is not used for anything else) you could theoretically have 37 of these fixtures. With a safety pad, say 20 fixtures per circuit. Someone else will check my math, hopefully.

[John C Bush]

Thanks Mark,
I will have just 2 LEDs daisy chained so rewiring shouldn't be a problem Thanks, John.

[David Helm]

Just picked up a few more.

[Al Burton]

Can these be hardwired and flush mounted? I don't mind altering a bit as long as it can be done easily and safely.

[Alan Bienlein]

I went with the Sam's club version in my shop. I replaced 4 T1296 HO 110 watt two tube fluorescent fixtures totaling 68,800 lumens to 10 of the lights of America 4' led shop lights totaling only 42,000 lumens and they totally blew away the t12's. Instant on, no additional heat for my a/c to try and deal with, no more waiting for them to come to full brightness on cold mornings and best of all no more interference with my stereo.

Actually the best benefit to these lights is the fact I can have my shop doors open at night in the summer when it's cool enough and not have it full of flying insects distracting me as for some reason they just don't like the led lights!

[mark mcfarlane]

Can these be hardwired and flush mounted? I don't mind altering a bit as long as it can be done easily and safely.

They have keyslots for flush mounting but there is no knockout or 'point of entry' on the top side of the lights for direct wiring. You could clip off the plug and direct wire them, but it may or may not be up to NEC code.

[mark mcfarlane]

...
Actually the best benefit to these lights is the fact I can have my shop doors open at night in the summer when it's cool enough and not have it full of flying insects distracting me as for some reason they just don't like the led lights!

Strangely I have noticed the bug thing also with the FEIT LEDs. I don't get as many bugs in my shop at night if I open the garage door. Hopefully this isn't because the bugs are detecting some kind of weird radiation...

[lee cox]

I bought 5 lights from Costco. Thanks for the heads up. I think I will start replacing some old original fluorescent fixtures. I added one LED fixture from HD over a year ago above my workbench and it has been great. My wife and I think it is better light than my old fluorescent fixtures which are still running in the shop. My shop is small out behind my house.

[Dean Baumgartner2]

Costco doesn't seem to be carrying them any longer. None in my local store and can't find them online at their site. Half my shop has them and now I need to look for something different. Everything I'm seeing is more around $50/fixture and for the most part 5000k instead of 4000k. On the plus side the 5000k are 4800lm instead of 3800 lm. What's the general thought on 5000k vs 4000k? Too white or not?

[Eric Keller]

I know there are quite a few people that prefer 5000k for workshops.

[Jim Becker]

Costco doesn't seem to be carrying them any longer. None in my local store and can't find them online at their site. Half my shop has them and now I need to look for something different. Everything I'm seeing is more around $50/fixture and for the most part 5000k instead of 4000k. On the plus side the 5000k are 4800lm instead of 3800 lm. What's the general thought on 5000k vs 4000k? Too white or not?
Costco does have the replacement tubes available online, so you can use inexpensive T12 fixtures.

http://www.costco.com/Feit-4-FT-LED-Replacement-Tubes%2c-4-pack--.product.100235288.html

I suspect they have run out of stock on the assemblies and it's somewhat normal for them to cycle like this. It happens all the time with many products. Feit Electric is also available from other sources...Google is your friend.

On the color temperature, I'm very much liking the 4100K color temp. 5000K gets too close to "blue" for me. 4100K feels more natural.

[Dean Baumgartner2]

Hmmmm, wonder how a mix of the two will be? I've got 4 of the Feit 4000k fixtures up but need to put in 8 more fixtures.

[Jim Becker]

Personally, I'd try to stick with similar color temp across the whole installation. I say this because before I made my conversion to LED, I was using a mixture (didn't know any better way back when... ;) ) and it got wonky sometimes, especially during finishing. I'd rather have more light of the same temp than any kind of color mixture.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Personally, I'd try to stick with similar color temp across the whole installation. I say this because before I made my conversion to LED, I was using a mixture (didn't know any better way back when... ;) ) and it got wonky sometimes, especially during finishing. I'd rather have more light of the same temp than any kind of color mixture.

This holds true even with fluorescent, IMO. I have a mixture in my shop of different color temps because the originals were no longer available at my local HD. It really gets difficult when finishing!

[mark mcfarlane]

Anyone else notice that one of the tubes in the Feit LED fixtures continues too glow (a few LEDs at very low power) when you switch them off using only the chain. I tried measuring the power consumption in this 'sleep' mode for 4 lights and it is smaller than the resolution of my measurement equipment, probably < 0.1 watt per fixture. But in total darkness I can see one of the tubes in each fixture.

[Jim Becker]

All the ceiling outlets are on switched electrical, Mark, so I never even installed the chains... :)

[Dave Cav]

Costco does have the replacement tubes available online, so you can use inexpensive T12 fixtures.

http://www.costco.com/Feit-4-FT-LED-Replacement-Tubes%2c-4-pack--.product.100235288.html


I got 14 of these in 2-packs at the local Costco and retrofitted my 15 year old cheap T12 garage shop lights; it made an amazing difference. I probably could have converted them to T8 and had about the same result but that would have involved new ballasts, and the Costco lights were plug-n-play.

[Sam Layton]

24 Costco LED lights for my shop. Great lighting.

Sam

[Jerry Cummins]

I got 14 of these in 2-packs at the local Costco and retrofitted my 15 year old cheap T12 garage shop lights; it made an amazing difference. I probably could have converted them to T8 and had about the same result but that would have involved new ballasts, and the Costco lights were plug-n-play.

I thought I read somewhere that led do not need the ballasts. Does T12 and T8 both have ballast? I've got all T8s in my barn, but I bought them as cheap as I could, and I'm starting to see some of them go out.

[Dave Macy]

Did I miss this or does anyone know if it's still going? We were talking of joining Costco. Thanks

[Jim Becker]

I thought I read somewhere that led do not need the ballasts. Does T12 and T8 both have ballast? I've got all T8s in my barn, but I bought them as cheap as I could, and I'm starting to see some of them go out.
The LED "conversion tubes" can go in the fixtures without removing the ballasts. There are other LED "tubes" available that can be direct wired. The latter cost a little less, but you have to physically modify the fixture to change them to direct wire. The "conversion" tubes are plug-n-play and can work nicely in inexpensive fixtures...and they are "instant on", even in low temps.

[Dave Cav]

The LED "conversion tubes" can go in the fixtures without removing the ballasts. There are other LED "tubes" available that can be direct wired. The latter cost a little less, but you have to physically modify the fixture to change them to direct wire. The "conversion" tubes are plug-n-play and can work nicely in inexpensive fixtures...and they are "instant on", even in low temps.

Yes, and that's why I went with them. We are selling the house in a few months and I needed a relatively cheap, QUICK upgrade to the garage lighting and they worked great.

[Kenton Keller]

Anyone still able to see these on the costco site? Looks like they are gone to me?

[mark mcfarlane]

They appear to be gone from the website. Either discontinued by FEIT or Costco, or simply out of stock. I should imagine a similar replacement will show up at a similar price point some point in the future, unless they had too many returns. Hopefully that isn't the case, I ended up buying 30 of them, with 25 in the attic waiting for the new shop build.

[Dean Baumgartner2]

They are available on Amazon but $47/fixture :( There is a replacement that I saw in the $40 range that has a motion detector built in. Still not a great option.

[Kenton Keller]

I have a 2 year old lighuania high bay 6 tube light that died. The ballasts are expensive, so I decided when I couldn't find the costco ones, to buy 6 bulbs off Ebay and ordered some tombstones off Amazon. It is costing me about as much as I could have bought 2 of the costco ones. Hopefully they will last

[Chris Fairbanks]

Why not just put retro bulbs in your existing fixtures? I put these in.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H4KU634/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

18w, 5000k, fit both t8 & t12 tombstones and 90+ CRI. Not sure what cri the Costco ones were rated but I really like the color and output of these bulbs. They work with or without ballasts (check ballast compatibility thought). I cut out the ballast due to electricity costs here and wanted to save on power usage.

[Rick Potter]

For what it's worth, I was at Costco today, and they had the lights on the shelf for $19.95.

[Kenton Keller]

Why not just put retro bulbs in your existing fixtures? I put these in.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H4KU634/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That is essentially what I did, just that I bought cheaper bulbs off ebay (8 for less than the amazon ones) that require the balasts to be removed, and when you use that type of bulb, you have to replace the tombstones on one end. To early in the morning, I can't remember for sure, but I have either 9 or 12 of those 6 bulb fixtures. If one only lasted 2 years and the reviews I am seeing now say similar things, then I suspect I am going to have to replace more of them in the near future. Just trying to keep costs down as much as I can.

[Chris Fairbanks]

The Amazon ones use standard keystones as they are dual ended and they have a five year warranty on them. Has two of their small 12v yard light bulbs die and they shipped at no cost the replacements. Plus they are CRI 90+ so you can see you finishes accurately.

[Brice Rogers]

I went to Costco today and they didn't have the complete fixtures. But they did have the replacement "bulbs". I did some research and it seems like there are "bulbs" or sticks that require the ballast to be bypassed and some that are direct drop ins (ballasts still in place). But in the things that I read, putting these tubes into a T12 ballast fixture will quickly kill the ballast. Are these reports incorrect?

[Chris Fairbanks]

I went to Costco today and they didn't have the complete fixtures. But they did have the replacement "bulbs". I did some research and it seems like there are "bulbs" or sticks that require the ballast to be bypassed and some that are direct drop ins (ballasts still in place). But in the things that I read, putting these tubes into a T12 ballast fixture will quickly kill the ballast. Are these reports incorrect?

I think it depends on the bulb and ballast. The hyperikon ones on Amazon I linked have a supported ballast page on their website so you can see what is supported. They also have a 5 year warranty. I bypassed the ballast in 18 fixtures in about 3 hours and that included washing all of the wrap around covers on the fixtures of sawdust and dead bugs. I don't see why people would want to leave the ballasts in place. It just wastes electricity and is one more thing to break.

[Brice Rogers]

Thanks for your post, Chris.

I've read some anecdotal reports that the linear LED tubes may have a shortened life with the ballasts - - especially if running in a T12 fixture. So, I have started leaning towards ones where the ballast is cut out/bypassed. When I looked at the costco ones yesterday, it said that I did not have to remove the ballasts. But I would prefer to do so anyway. Are you pretty sure that they will work w/o a ballast? Also, any idea if any/all of the "works with ballast" bulbs would also work w/o a ballast?


Why not just put retro bulbs in your existing fixtures? I put these in.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H4KU634/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

18w, 5000k, fit both t8 & t12 tombstones and 90+ CRI. Not sure what cri the Costco ones were rated but I really like the color and output of these bulbs. They work with or without ballasts (check ballast compatibility thought). I cut out the ballast due to electricity costs here and wanted to save on power usage.

[Chris Fairbanks]

Thanks for your post, Chris.

I've read some anecdotal reports that the linear LED tubes may have a shortened life with the ballasts - - especially if running in a T12 fixture. So, I have started leaning towards ones where the ballast is cut out/bypassed. When I looked at the costco ones yesterday, it said that I did not have to remove the ballasts. But I would prefer to do so anyway. Are you pretty sure that they will work w/o a ballast? Also, any idea if any/all of the "works with ballast" bulbs would also work w/o a ballast?

Brice, Not all LED tubes work without a ballast unfortunately. If the packing says works with one but says nothing about working without one I suspect they will not work. That is why I went with the Hyperikon ones on amazon as they are like $10-11 a bulb depending on quantity, are CRI 90 bulbs and work without a ballast. Hyperikon has a few that only work with a ballast but thats the oddball ones. As for the costco ones I dont know for sure. I suspect the folks in the lighting and electrical forum on garage journal would know. They seem to know everything there :) Thanks and good luck!

[Kenton Keller]

This might help. I saw a better description a while back but haven't been able to find it
https://www.earthled.com/blogs/light-2-0-the-earthled-blog-led-lighting-news-tips-reviews/33135492-how-to-buy-t8-and-t12-led-fluorescent-replacement-tubes
Ah here is a better one. there is type A, B, and C
http://www.gelighting.com/LightingWeb/na/images/16339-GE-LED-Tube-Lighting-Refit-Solutions-Whitepaper_tcm201-69385.pdf

I just think down the road the only ones that are going to be readily available are the ones that you have to replace the tombstones and remove the ballast from the circuit.
(http://www.gelighting.com/LightingWeb/na/images/16339-GE-LED-Tube-Lighting-Refit-Solutions-Whitepaper_tcm201-69385.pdf)

[Dave Cav]

I was in my local Costco yesterday and the Feit two tube shoplight fixtures are gone, but they still had a lot of the $17.99/pair LED retrofit tubes. I need to buy two more pair to upgrade the last two T12 shoplights I have out in the shop.

[Andrew R Miller]

d to use 8foot ones
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SUMEEPW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

they are amazing i found some other fixtures at lowes to fill in the gaps