fluorescent tube LED replacement - single or dual end power?

JimS

Senior Member
Have replaced a few T12 bulbs with single end LED tube and they work great.  Now looking at doing some T8s.  Same socket size but have heard some T8 are shunted tombstones (socket pins shorted together) making dual end powered tubes easier (not by much but doesn't require new tombstones).  The brand I have used for bulbs, Hyperikon, seems to have limited selection of dual end powered bulbs but other suppliers have them.  Wondering which is more popular and likely to be most available in the future.
 
I like the double-ended tubes, since they can use the shunted tombstones that are already in place in the fixture.  With single ended, you'll need to replace the tombstones with non-shunted ones.
 
My guess is that both types of tubes will always be available.  If you go with double ended tubes now and find that in the future only single ended tubes are available, it's not a big deal to replace the tombstones at that point.
 
Replacing tombstones isn't a big deal.  One advantage of double ended tubes with ballast bypass I see is that there is no issue with putting in fluorescent tubes - they won't light but also won't damage the bulbs.  I got warning stickers with my single end tubes for the fixtures but have heard some double end tubes don't come with warnings and think it is for that reason.
 
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