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Flicker-free T8 LED Tubes for Vision Therapy Office Lighting

We are a vision therapy institute that sees patients recovering from traumatic brain injury. One of the symptoms of post-traumatic vision syndrome is an extreme sensitivity to light. Our office has regular fluorescent ballasts. We're looking for a solution with a lower flicker rate and a warmer color temperature. Will purchasing your T8 tubes solve for our flicker rate issues or will we see flicker at the same rate as the current fluorescents? 

Based on the details provided, we might recommend our 4000K CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ Full Spectrum Flicker-Free T8 LED Tube Light product for your office installation. 

​While we can confirm that this product offers flicker-free performance, it might be helpful to know that some tube light fixtures contain pre-installed ballasts which are incompatible. When these products are installed within fixtures that may have not been designed for LED products, they are more likely to exhibit compatibility issues.

However, we do offer an illustrated guide to the alternative ballast-bypass installation methods, as well as a guide for the ballasts which have been tested for compatibility. For your reference, we have included both links below.

Tested Ballast List: https://www.waveformlighting.com/files/CD4020.txt

Product Specification Sheet: https://www.waveformlighting.com/datasheets/CS_4020-4000.pdf

How much LED Lights are needed for Office Lighting

I have a 12x12 home office. I’m wanting to run your LED lights (power supply, connectors) around the perimeter of the office, but I’m unsure of how many complete systems (LED lights, power supplies, connectors, etc) I need to order. From what I see the strips come in 16’ sections, and if I need to go around the entire perimeter I’d need 3, of your complete systems, but I need to how bright the three systems would be would it be better to split one or two up? The LED lights need to be dimmable. 

I've plugged the 12 x 12 foot dimensions into our lumen estimation calculator (https://www.waveformlighting.com/lumen-calculator), which suggests a total brightness of 5850 lumens for an office space (approximately 40 footcandles).

​Our LED strip lights emit 450 lumens per foot, so 14 feet would be sufficient (just short of 1 reel) to meet this brightness level.

If you plan on installing a dimmer, however, there is no such thing as being "too bright" since this can always be dialed down if needed, and having the LED strip lights installed along the entire perimeter of your office space on each side might be a nice way to provide even and well distributed lighting.

One more thing, just so I understand what I need to do to get this operational, could you please provide me with a simple diagram from power in to the LED the entire diagram of this project. Would you suggest breaking the 16' strip into 4 equal parts or even 8 equal parts and place around the perimeter. Also, can you tell me how soon you can ship once we know exactly what is needed?

Below is a simplified wiring diagram showing two 16-ft reel circuits connected to a single dimmer. In your setup, you will want to replicate this a third time for the third circuit.

​https://www.waveformlighting.com/layoutmaps/3001_1C

​I would recommend installing the LED strips as three equal parts at 16 ft each. The reason is that if we do four equal parts (or more), that would potentially require installing four separate power supplies (or more) as each power supply is limited to powering a maximum of 16.4 ft for any given connection.

​Given the dimensions of your space, turning the corners at each 12 ft mark may be a bit of a challenge depending on the configuration of your interior. An additional diagram link below shows how the LED strip sections can be cut into shorter segments and rejoined using our various accessory items. I suspect that PN 3071 may be helpful for you when turning the corners of space.

​https://www.waveformlighting.com/layoutmaps/3001_1B

​Below is an preliminary shopping cart I've put together for you which includes the three sets of LED strip reels and corresponding power supplies. I've also included a 10-pack of the aforementioned PN 3071 accessory.

https://store.waveformlighting.com/27932316/invoices/96f20fd5f0df2415844ff452f475d2dd

​Our order turnaround time is typically 1-2 business days, and we do offer complimentary standard shipping which is typically delivered within a 5-10 business day timeframe. We also offer expedited shipping options for an additional charge; expedited shipping times and costs are calculated at checkout, but I would be more than happy to assist in calculating those for you if you can confirm your shipping address and cart contents.

LED Panel Lights for Home Office Lighting

The space my wife and I use as a home office was originally designed as a sun porch. There's a single, small fixture in the middle of the room that provides very poor lighting to our desks. I was thinking of installing a surface mount LED panel (because the ceilings are relatively low) over each desk, but it's difficult to find LED panel lighting with >80 CRI. I'm looking for something that mounts close to the ceiling, is dimmable, and relatively long (to provide even lighting across a desk).

We unfortunately do not have any LED panel lights, and the requirement for dimmability makes this quite challenging based on the offerings we currently have available.

If you're willing to forego dimmability as a requirement, our T8 LED lamps housed in an appropriate ceiling fixture, or our T5 linear fixtures, could potentially be viable solutions for you. Both are available with 95 CRI and provide excellent light quality that should work well for a home office.

​I've included product links for these products below:

Brighter and Bluer Light for Home Office Lighting

I'm working out of my home office, I would guess the brighter and bluer I can get my room the more productive and alert I will be, no? I filled in the blanks in your lumen estimation calculator and it recommended a color temp of 3249k to 5585k. 

You are correct that increasing the blue content of a light source will generally provide increased alertness, and that 6500K would be the best color temperature option to achieve this.

​I've taken a look at the lumen estimation calculator, and it does appear that the recommended range of color temperatures would be between 3249K and 5585K if you were to stay at a lower brightness level (it looks like you entered 41 footcandles as your brightness needs).

If you did want to go with 6500K and create a comfortable space, we would recommend increasing the brightness levels to at least 50 footcandles.

The reason for this recommendation is due to the relationship between brightness and color temperature, for which we recommend ensuring that the space is optimized for. Below is an article that explores this concept in a bit more depth: https://www.waveformlighting.com/home-residential/lux-and-kelvin-an-overlooked-relationship-between-illuminance-and-color-temperature

LED Lights for Windowless Office Lighting

I want to create a work environment where I do not fatigue my eyes or tire. The office is 180 sq. ft with no windows, so I want it to be brightened up. The walls are light white/greyish. Dull current fluorescent lighting has been depressing and makes me feel tired. I also only need 9 T8 48" 5000K 95 CRI tubes.

Our CENTRIC DAYLIGHT T8 LED lamps sound like a great fit for your windowless office. The 95 CRI will ensure that the light quality matches that of natural daylight, while the flicker-free light output could be a nice, added benefit if eye fatigue is a concern.

LED Home Office Lighting: Best Color Temperature that Mimic Sunlight

I am trying to mimic "sunlight" in my small home office now that the days are getting shorter. The closest thing to my desired lighting that I have experienced is dental overhead lights. I recently purchased a FilmGrade A19 LED bulb, but it felt a bit cool to me. I realize that natural daylight sits in the 5600K to 6500K color range. 

1) Do you have suggestions for which of your A19 or BR30 bulbs may best fit my use case? 

2) Am I always going to find "natural daylight" options a bit too cool? Would 4000K or 5000K offer a better experience? 

Getting the correct color temperature is indeed a challenge!

​You are correct that the 5000K to 6500K range is generally considered a good match for natural daylight. 4000K is also a nice option, and you may find some useful information on our blog post here.

​One thing to keep in mind that oftentimes, natural daylight color temperatures can appear a bit blue or stark when you do not have enough brightness overall. To that end, if you have any information on the total square footage being illuminated, we may be able to provide some additional recommendations on the quantity of lamps needed to provide sufficient brightness at that color temperature.

We would perhaps recommend taking advantage of our free returns policy to test and compare the various color temperature options and lamp quantities. Once you've made your mind, just let us know and we'd be glad to pay for return shipping and refund you for any returned items. 

RGB Accent Lighting with Crown Molding for Office Lighting

I'm looking to add RGB accent LED strip lighting to about 54 ft around three walls for my office room that is 22x10. I have purchased some crown molding (Orac Decor CX190). What would you recommend? I would think I can do two separate runs from the unlit 10ft wall to help cover the existing 54 feet. But I see most strands come in 16ft lengths. 

Unfortunately, we do not offer full RGB product solutions at this time. As such, you will likely need to work with third-party suppliers to purchase a dimmer, controller and power systems.​We do offer full solutions for white LED strip lights (static color). If there is any interest here, we would be more than happy to provide product and solution recommendations.

Do you have a high CRI 48" 5000k T8 LED tubes replacement with no PWM flicker?

I am currently looking for replacement 48" 5000k T8 LED tubes for my office. I want something with a high CRI and also no PWM flicker. I see your company has two listings. "CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ Full Spectrum Flicker-Free T8 LED Tube Light" and "NorthLux™ 95 CRI T8 LED Tube for Art & Studio" Is there a difference between the two? How "Flicker-Free" are they?

Our 5000K high CRI, flicker-free LED tube lights sound like a great fit for your office space!

As mentioned, the two products that have the same part number listing are indeed the same product. They have been listed on separate product pages for marketing purposes, and we do apologize for the confusion caused.

Our T8 lamps do not use PWM as they are not designed to be dimmable. As such, their flicker % is kept to below 2%. (All PWM dimming systems have a 100% flicker rate). In addition to photometric testing, we also periodically perform tests using a smartphone's slow motion video capture mode and can confirm that we do not observe any flashing behaviors associated with non flicker-free lamps.

Also, our test report for T8 LED tube light in 6500K shows the measured flicker values of 2% and a flicker index of 0.00. The electronics of the 5000K are the same and we would expect similar, if not identical, flicker metrics.

One additional factor to consider would be whether or not a fluorescent ballast is installed and used in the current T8 fixture. For our lamps, eliminating the fluorescent ballast can be a sure-fire way to ensure that the ballast is not introducing any extra voltage or current fluctuations that can lead to additional flicker.

https://www.waveformlighting.com/photometrics/TR_4024.65.pdf

Work light for textiles application used to view texture and detail, neutral to daylight color, and good for indoor use and in a desk lamp.

Can you recommend a work light that will be good for indoor use and in a desk lamp, preferably from neutral to daylight color? I am working with textiles, so not only is color important but being able to view texture and detail.

Is there a bulb you think would work? Or is there a range in color/wattage/bulb type coated or clear that I might have success with?

We would recommend our 5000K or 6500K NorthLux 95 CRI E26 A19 LED Bulb for Art & Studio products could be great options for your desk light, so long as your light fixture can accept A19 bulbs with the E26 base.

The 5000K color temperature would be closer to the 4000K mentioned, while offering a neutral daylight color point. Alternatively, the 6500K color temperature has a light output that is similar to full daylight.

Color matching for dental office lighting

I run a dental practice and am looking for better lighting in my office. I need to be able to match tooth colors with various shades of filling material (e.g. ceramic / composite resin). The industry recommendation is to use natural daylight / sunlight as the standard. I currently have 4-ft fluorescent T8 fixtures in my office. What LED tube product would you recommend?

We can completely understand why being able to properly match tooth color to filling materials would be crucial for your practice. With your existing fluorescent lighting, there's a good chance that what appears to be a color match in the office may not actually be a match under natural lighting!

From a technical specifications perspective, we would recommend 5000K with a high CRI, as this will allow you to match natural daylight / sunlight the best.

5000K is likely the most ideal color temperature for your application, as it offers a more neutral color point compared to 4000K (morning sunshine) and 6500K (blue sky). Perhaps most importantly, the high CRI value will ensure that the tooth and filling colors you see in the office are the same colors you will see under natural lighting conditions.

Please see below for our 5000K / 95 CRI product link:

These LED tube lights include DirectWire™ technology, so you'll be able to re-lamp your existing fluorescent fixture without having to worry about re-wiring or re-configuring the ballast connection. Simply remove the fluorescent lamps, and install our LED tubes and you'll be up and running!

Finally, we offer a 30-day free returns policy on our products, so if you're unsure, we recommend testing the lamps to see how they work out for you. If they aren't what you're looking for, we will gladly pay for return shipping and provide a full refund.

LED lights to replicate natural daylight in office space

I would like to upgrade the lighting in my office space. My goal is to get lighting that's closer to natural daylight, and am hopeful that I can create a healthier lighting environment for myself and my colleagues. What lights should I get?

It sounds like the first question we would like to determine is which color temperature would work best for your needs. Since you mention a desire to get closer to natural daylight, my first suggestion would be to consider 6500K.

Keep in mind, however, that 6500K isn't for everyone. It's commonly used to truly replicate blue daylight, and is popular among our customers who use the lights for graphic arts and other applications that require a true match to natural daylight at a technical level.

In reality, most office spaces will utilize a "warmer" 4000K or 5000K color option. These colors would be closer to natural sunlight, rather than daylight, and might be a better fit, depending on your personal preferences. Here is an article comparing 5000K to 6500K that you may find helpful.

We would not recommend anything below 4000K for an office space, as these color temperatures will provide a much warmer, relaxing atmosphere that is more appropriate for a residential area.

With all color temperature options, we suggest a high CRI value of 95 or higher. A high CRI rating ensures that the spectral content, and not just the appearance, of the light source also matches natural daylight or sunlight.

Check out our infographic on color temperature selection below:https://www.waveformlighting.com/home-residential/which-led-light-color-temperature-should-i-choose

Hard-wiring LED T5 linear fixtures

I'm looking to install your LED T5 linear fixtures to replace some fluorescent lamps in my office. I plan on removing the fluorescent lamps as well as the ballast. Would it be possible to hardwire this product into my fluorescent fixture?

While the product does not include any hard-wiring components and instead includes a regular two-prong plug wire, if you are able to modify the wire connection, the lamps can be connected directly to line voltage wires in a fluorescent fixture without any issues from an electrical standpoint.

You will, of course, need to ensure that the fluorescent ballast is removed or bypassed as the LED T5 linear fixtures are not compatible with any fluorescent ballasts.

For any electrical code compliance questions, we would recommend consulting an electrician for further assistance or recommendations.

How do I determine the amount of lighting needed based on specific room dimensions?

How do I determine the amount of lighting needed based on specific room dimensions?

We have a tool on our website for estimating the proper amount of lamps and lumens for ideal lighting of spaces on our website, which I have linked below.

https://www.waveformlighting.com/lumen-calculator

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