Replacement for Daylight fluorescent bulbs

I was wondering if you could help us with trying to specify the correct LED solution to replace the daylight fluorescent bulbs we are currently using at our live animal shows. We would love to switch to LEDs, but since we are judging the animals on the color and quality of their fur we need to be as consistent as possible between the LEDs and the old fluorescents that are the current industry standard. 

The bulbs we currently use for the shows are Philips F96T 12/DX Alto and GE F96DX which are both 8' long. Our show table is usually 16'-24' long and we are trying to get a consistent, even light across the length, hence using the 8' bulbs. 

For my own use, I'm looking at ordering a pack of your Centric Daylight T8 tube lights to try out, but I'm not sure that 4' long bulbs would be ideal for the long show lights. The strip lights seem ideal as they would give us lots of flexibility on storage and set up, but I'm not sure that they would give us the same even, more diffuse light that the linear bulbs do. Currently, the bulbs are 28" above the table. 

Though we were unable to locate any details about the GE F96DX, based on my review of the Philips F96T 12/DX Alto product it appears that each 8 ft tube light provides 4200 lumens (525 lumens per foot) with a CRI of 90. 

The primary recommendation that comes to mind as an alternative is our 6500K CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ Full Spectrum Flicker-Free T8 LED Tube Lights. Though these provide a lower 1800 lumens per 4 ft tube (450 lumens per foot), they also provide a greater CRI of 95+. That said, please note that these lights are not compatible with all ballasts found in T8 fixtures, and may require rewiring to bypass the ballasts. 

The second option would be our FilmGrade™ WHITE LED Strip Lights, which feature the same lumens per foot and CRI as the above product. The primary benefit of the LED Strip Lights is that one full 16.4 ft reel can be powered using a single power supply such as our FilmGrade™ DC Power Supply for LED Strip or TRIAC Dimmable Power Supply (for more permanent installations). These items can be installed within the aluminum channels, which feature a diffusion panel for uniform light distribution. 

As the above products would feature a substantially higher CRI than the currently utilized Philips and GE products, we might recommend purchasing an initial test order containing one unit of our 2 ft or 4 ft 6500K CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ 95 CRI T5 LED Linear Light Fixtures to test on your show table to ensure that the color quality matches the industry standard. 

These T5 Linear Light Fixtures utilize the same LED technology as the above products, though they would not require any additional connectors or power supplies for operation. These fixtures can also be daisy-chained (or interlocked) together for a maximum length of 70 feet, which may make them a good third option for your show table installation. 

Question posted under:

LED strip lightsT8 LED tube lightsT5 linear fixturesFluorescent replacements

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