Was dead wrong about those flush mount LED panels until I saw them at SFO

I always thought those thin LED panels they put in ceilings were just for offices and looked cheap. But last month I was walking through terminal 3 at SFO and noticed how even the light was on the work counters at the gate. No shadows or flicker. I asked one of the maintenance guys about them and he said they've cut their bulb replacement time by like 80%. Has anyone else noticed these making their way into hangars?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia3171mo ago

Wait, you actually talked to a maintenance guy about them? That's wild. I've walked through SFO probably a dozen times this year and never thought to ask anyone who works there. But 80% less bulb changes? That's a huge number for an airport that never sleeps. Are they really that much better on maintenance than the old fluorescent tubes?

uma_johnson1mo ago

Oh totally, I had the same thought when I first heard about it. I was waiting for a friend at baggage claim and just started chatting up one of the guys changing a light by the escalators. He said they used to have a team of like 6 people just cycling through replacing bulbs all day, every day. Now it's down to maybe one guy doing a quick check once a week. The LEDs just last way longer, plus they don't have that annoying flicker that the old tubes always got right before they died. And the best part is the energy savings - he said their electric bill dropped by almost half after the swap. I honestly didn't think a light bulb change would make that big a difference, but walking through there now it's noticeably brighter and less dingy than I remember from a few years ago.