The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released an Application Summary Report that focuses on the bare-lamp performance of 31 linear LED lamps intended as an alternative to T8 fluorescent lamps. Entitled Application Summary Report 21: Linear (T8) LED Lamps, it found these LED lamps to exhibit a range of performance—some good, some bad, but none truly similar to the performance of a linear fluorescent T8 across the board.
 
Compared to previous CALiPER testing, the LED lamps showed notable performance gains, with the efficacy of many products equivalent to or exceeding that of fluorescent lamps (with ballast). Likewise, some of the LED lamps had similar color quality and power quality to their fluorescent counterparts. But none of the LED products matched the luminous intensity distribution of the lamps they were intended to replace, and only a handful provided comparable lumen output.

In order to save energy and achieve equal task plane illuminance, these linear LED lamps must rely on the directionality of the emission increasing the efficiency of the luminaire or changing its distribution to focus more light on the workplane. This premise is the subject of two additional reports that will follow this Application Summary.
 
Download the full report.