I see they are phasing out those neon gas fluorescent tubes, which is a bit annoying really. We had a job getting one. Screwfix have a few left and said they were being phased out.

I hadn't heard that they're being done away with.

Phased out from 2023, get a stock in, Margaret, you still have time.

I managed to get one Rebbonk, plus with a new starter plug, but The thing is, they do LED tubes now, and it means I will have to get a converter or something for them to work.
I wouldn't know what to do.

You can get straight replacements, Margaret. Link

I'm gradually replacing my normal lamps and compact fluorescents as they die, but I can't say I'm noticing a lower electricity consumption and I've learned that the particular 'warmth' colour of the light is important. Some of the 'cooler' colours can be very stark and harsh.

My son did get a 4ft, LED tube from the Tool Station in the Shires shopping centre. But it didn't work.
So he took it back, and got the Neon tube from Screwfix.

Margaret, you need to be sure to buy the 'plug and play' type unless you want to do a rewire. As a former sparky, I'm quite happy making such modifications, but many aren't.

I see what you mean now from the Link you gave.
Thanks for that information, which I wasn't aware of.
How long to they last ?

The Neon type I replaced can last a fair long time.

They claim 50,000 hours life, but that will have been achieved under ideal conditions, likely in a laboratory and rarely switched on and off. I'd expect at least 5 years of life under normal household conditions. But the big plus with LEDs is no warm-up time, they come on bright instantly; and unlike fluorescent tubes the output doesn't decay over time.

Yes, that'd be about right, 5 years or so, mine did last about 6 years. So we expect at least another 5 plus years with the one we have now replaced. And by then convert to the LED.Plug and Play T8 LED Tube