F15T12 LED Replacement

LED lamps are more efficient and last longer than other types of light bulbs. They’re also sturdier and produce almost no heat, so you can use them without worrying about them straining your air conditioning. They’re quickly edging fluorescent tubes out of the market. Read about F15T12 LED replacement here.

Like many of its compatriots, the F15T12 is on the way out. If the superiority of LEDs over fluorescents doesn’t make you change your mind, then a government ban on T12 lamps certainly will. But there’s nothing to worry about. There are plenty of LEDs chomping at the bit to replace your F15T12.

What does F15T12 mean?

• F – Fluorescent (bulb type)
• 15 – Watts (power consumption)
• T – Tubular (bulb shape)
• 12 – Bulb diameter (12 eighths of an inch/1.5 inches)

The F15T12 is 1.5 inches wide and 18 inches long.

Best F15T12 LED alternatives

If you’re on the lookout for LED lamps to replace your F15T12, here are a few excellent F15T12 LED replacement candidates.

NYLL ‎RL-F15T8

This plug-and-play LED from New York LED Luminaries is ballast operated so you won’t need an electrician to bypass your ballast. It works with both magnetic and electronic ballasts. If you have already removed your ballast, you will have to reinstall it.

The RL-F15T8 consumes 40% less power while producing brighter light than a standard fluorescent F15T12. The LED is also made with a plastic casing that helps distribute light better while simultaneously making it shatterproof, unlike fragile fluorescent tubes. 

The RL-F15T8 is rated for 50,000 hours. At ten hours a day, that’s nearly 14 years of operation. 

Keystone KT LED7T8

Requiring only seven watts of power, the Keystone KT LED7T8 saves you 53% on your energy bill while still shining brighter than a fluorescent F15T12 and lasting a lot longer (50,000). The lamp comes with 40 individual LEDs that provide the light and perfect frosting to ensure perfectly diffused illumination.

Unlike the NYLL RL-F15T8, however, the Keystone KT LED7T is not plug-and-play. It requires you to either remove or bypass your existing ballast. The Keystone KT LED7T is also single-ended so it can only be installed in non-shunted lamp holders.

Satco S11952

The Satco S11952 produces light as bright as daylight while only using seven watts of power. It’s rated for 50,000 hours and comes with a five-year warranty. With its power consumption, the Satco S11952 will cost you only $2.52 a year in lighting costs if you use it for ten hours a day.

The Satco S11952 is compatible with both single-ended and double-ended connections but it requires a ballast bypass, however, so there’s that. If you would rather not be bothered with all that, there are always plug-and-play LEDs, like the NYLL RL-F15T8 and the Philips UniversalFit series.

Osram SubstiTUBE PRO LED Tube EM T8 4000K 840 450mm 5.4W

A product of the German manufacturers Osram Licht, the Osram Osram SubstiTUBE PRO LED Tube EM T8 4000K produces a brilliantly bright 900 lumens of light while only requiring 5.4 watts of energy, saving you 64% on your energy bill when compared to a fluorescent F15T12.

The OsramOsram SubstiTUBE PRO LED Tube EM T8 is also rated 75,000 hours which means it will last eight times as long as its fluorescent counterpart.

The Osram LT8/1.5/84/5.4/900EM LDV is not plug-and-play, however. It’s compatible with magnetic ballasts but not electronic ones, so you will need a ballast bypass if your ballast is electronic.

With the different options given above, we hope you find the perfect F15T12 bulb LED replacement for your home.

F15T12 LED Replacement: Can you replace a T12 with a T8 LED?

Yes. While T8s are narrower than T12s (one-inch diameter vs 1.5 in), both bulbs use the same G13 base connectors. Thus, despite the differences in width, they can still fit into the same fixtures as long as both tubes are the same length. 

A T8 will not fall out if you put it in a T12 fixture. T12 lamps are the older technology so T8s were built to be backward compatible with T12 fixtures. In the same way, many LEDs are built to be backward compatible with lighting fixtures made for fluorescent and incandescent lamps.

Which is better: Single-ended or double-ended LED tubes?

Double-ended LED tubes are generally better when it comes to fluorescent lamp replacement. This is because fluorescent lamps are generally double-ended as well. That’s not to say that single-ended LEDs are useless. They just require a little bit more work.