In the last 10 years I’ve installed a ton of Fluorescent lights in my houses. Almost all the Laundry rooms, garage, and walk in closets have some type of circular or tubular fluorescent lights (my personal house included). These have generally worked well for me, but my Laundry/Mud/Pantry room in particular has been a bulb killer. I’ve had these two round “puff” fixtures in there for 6 years now and they seem to eat the bulbs.
These fluorescent bulbs are rated for 10,000 hours of life, but I’m telling you I changed these bulbs about once per year the past 6 years since they were installed.
My local Austin CREE rep stopped by my office a few weeks ago and showed me these SL24 and SL40 fixtures and I knew these were going to be a HOT item.
I immediately ordered two to put in my Laundry room to replace the lights pictured above. They have only been in a few days, but so far I LOVE Them! They pump out some serious light at 2000 lumens for the SL24, and 4000 lumens for the SL40. I also like that they are using 3500K for color temperature. That’s a nice white that’s not too yellow nor too blue. Perfect for Laundry, Garage, Closets, Mud Rooms, Pantries, Craft Rooms, Workshops, or even Office Spaces. Well done CREE! This is a great looking fixture, I won’t have to change bulbs, and they are 20% more energy efficient than the Fluorescent fixture they replace. Love it!
Here’s the video I made of the install at my house.
P.S. Here’s the link to the Lutron Occupancy Sensor I’m using.
 Best,
Matt Risinger
– Risinger Homes in Austin, TX
Risinger Homes is a custom builder and whole house remodeling contractor that specializes in Architect driven and fine craftsmanship work. We utilize an in-house carpentry staff and the latest building science research to build dramatically more efficient, healthy and durable homes.
Be sure to check out my video blog on YouTube, and follow me on Twitter @MattRisinger
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I'm a big fan of Cree products as well and have many CR6 6" LED can lights in my house. But your selection of the circular fluorescent fixture is why you needed to consistently replace the lamps. T12 and most all T8 ballasts are Instant Start and shock the lamps with a high voltage to start them quickly. Every jolt shortens the life of the lamp.
But all T5 ballasts are Program Start and T8 ballasts can be ordered as such. Program Start gives the lamp a much smaller voltage to preheat the lamp before providing full voltage. This causes a short delay, but lengthens the life of the lamp dramatically.
If you check a manufacturer's catalog for life rating, you will find two ratings: 3 hours per start and 12 hours per start. Turning on and off the instant start fluorescent fixture often is literally killing the lamps. And, especially in a laundry room, people want to be energy conscious and tend to turn the lights off each time they leave- which can be many times per day.
So while I agree that an LED fixture is an excellent choice, a T5 would have also done a wonderful job. A 2 lamp 4' T5 fixture would provide 5800 lumens, a rated life of 30,000 hours at 3 hours/start and efficacy of 90 lumens per watt. The Cree is 4000 lumens with rated life of 55,000 hours but an efficacy of only 80 lumens per watt.
Cree is making huge strides and always coming out with great new products that continue to become more efficient.
@Pru_Jr: Great info, I didn't realize the starter was the issue with my circular fluorescent fixtures. That's a pretty standard fixture for Texas builders in Laundries and closets. Great info. Best, Matt Risinger
Any price range info ?
I appreciate your info about the quality of the light. Thanks for the heads up on this new LED option. I love how energy efficienct LED are !
Can't find them locally or online. When will they be available?
@pernambuco and @Lightsourceon:
They are selling these at selected Home Depots now, but only for in-store purchase. Search their site for "Cree 40 in. LED Surface Linear Fixture" .
$139 for the 40" model
Wow! Great light, that gets mercury out of our environment! Don't break one of those CFL's with a child in the room! I hope you post an update on how they last the real world.
It's been my experience that, until you can replace them, florescent lights generate enough heat that putting them in any kind of enclosure destroys any life gain you otherwise had.
My daughter's room ate bulbs, until I quit putting a cover over them, or switched to one with open sides.
Many pig-lights state they should not be installed in enclosed fixtures.
The foregoing aside, we switched all our dine from cans to LED's, added a dimmer to the four-way circuit and are totally thrilled with them.
Next, we installed rigid light bars (45 LED's ea - bright white) and ran them off a magnetic power supply, which allowed us to dim them on the 120 VAC side. By setting them back from the front trim, about 1-1/2", they light the entire counter. Ninety percent of the time, my wife uses just these [at full power] and the over-sink lights for most her kitchen chores.
Crescent Electric Supply carries and distributes Cree
http://www.cesco.com/b2c/product/Cree-SL40-40L-35K-SL-Series-LED-Surface-Linear/35011