LED Garage / Shop Lights?
My 34 X 44 shop has (18) 4 ft 4 bulb old school big florescent bulb fixtures. They are arranged in three rows, with six in each row, also each row is switched separately. They were installed when I built the building 16 years ago. About 8 years ago, a contractor friend of mine gave me a huge trash can full of T8 bulbs, taken down from a commercial building. I went into each fixture and pulled the (2) old heavy ballasts, and replaced/rewired them with a single electronic ballast for the T8's and installed all the T8's. This worked well for a while, but I had no Idea of the age of the bulbs, and soon they began to fail, here and there. Also have had the electronic ballast fail as well. Knowing how much power they consume, I am looking into the LED switch.. So, I did some research and decided to test buy 4 hybrid led tubes. I did this as I felt that I could immediately install them with no wiring change, and simply remove the electronic ballasts and wire direct, as the ballasts failed. Hybrid LED are supposed to work with or without ballast. I paid $10.50 each for the Hybrids. I installed them in one fixture that I knew the ballast was still good.. Didn't Work, Wouldn't light. So my electrician buddy and I looked at them and decided it'd be best to remove the ballast and wire the fixture direct. That works fine. Now I am going to order 76 Direct Wire LED tubes at $ 7.50 each. I know , too many, But I have 2 of the same fixtures in the lift bay hanging sideways on the wall, close to the lift. So... I guess I get to go back into the remaining fixtures and wire them all direct. Not really that tough of a job. They will all be 5000k bulbs, and I guess if its too bright, I can just leave a row of lights switched off. Now to find out how much or IF Baltimore Gas and Electric will rebate me !!
My 34 X 44 shop has (18) 4 ft 4 bulb old school big florescent bulb fixtures. They are arranged in three rows, with six in each row, also each row is switched separately. They were installed when I built the building 16 years ago. About 8 years ago, a contractor friend of mine gave me a huge trash can full of T8 bulbs, taken down from a commercial building. I went into each fixture and pulled the (2) old heavy ballasts, and replaced/rewired them with a single electronic ballast for the T8's and installed all the T8's. This worked well for a while, but I had no Idea of the age of the bulbs, and soon they began to fail, here and there. Also have had the electronic ballast fail as well. Knowing how much power they consume, I am looking into the LED switch.. So, I did some research and decided to test buy 4 hybrid led tubes. I did this as I felt that I could immediately install them with no wiring change, and simply remove the electronic ballasts and wire direct, as the ballasts failed. Hybrid LED are supposed to work with or without ballast. I paid $10.50 each for the Hybrids. I installed them in one fixture that I knew the ballast was still good.. Didn't Work, Wouldn't light. So my electrician buddy and I looked at them and decided it'd be best to remove the ballast and wire the fixture direct. That works fine. Now I am going to order 76 Direct Wire LED tubes at $ 7.50 each. I know , too many, But I have 2 of the same fixtures in the lift bay hanging sideways on the wall, close to the lift. So... I guess I get to go back into the remaining fixtures and wire them all direct. Not really that tough of a job. They will all be 5000k bulbs, and I guess if its too bright, I can just leave a row of lights switched off. Now to find out how much or IF Baltimore Gas and Electric will rebate me !!
