LED Retrofit for shop lights

[N2TRUX]

I did a search, but didnt find what I was looking for. I have eight 4' x 4 bulb florescent fixtures in my shop. They are getting slow to start up, and I know they could use some fresh bulbs, and maybe a couple of ballasts.

I have been considering LED retrofits vs new LED fixtures. I know new LED light fixtures are the future, but they are still rather pricey. What have you done to update your existing fixtures?

[Wasted Income]

Following!

[flashed]

You can switch to electronic ballasts and bulbs .

[NONHOG]

I got some from my electrician friend. No ballast change. Not sure they are better, definitely different. Jury is still out.

[Advanced Design]

My T 12 lights have been starting to fail so I ordered 14 of these T5 lights today..https://www.e-conolight.com/e-ln6t5sunn5.html

Have been watching them for a couple years and the prices were starting to come down. Every building I've seen these in has had great illumination. The company website has a lighting layout tool to help determine how many lights you need and where to place them in the shop to reach a specific light level.

[midnight rambler]

Theres a led lamp by sylvania that didnt require a ballast. Not sure if they still sell them. About 40 bucks each a few years ago.I would install some new electronic ballast then use some t8s. T8 are cheaper than led especially when there is 4 per fixture. The last leds a
I bought i put them in an alcove 50 foot above and there still working after a year and half.

[richard2717]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

My T 12 lights have been starting to fail so I ordered 14 of these T5 lights today..https://www.e-conolight.com/e-ln6t5sunn5.html

Have been watching them for a couple years and the prices were starting to come down. Every building I've seen these in has had great illumination. The company website has a lighting layout tool to help determine how many lights you need and where to place them in the shop to reach a specific light level.

Doug
you will be happy with them just make sure you mount them away from the ceiling as directed (they get pretty hot). I replaced 9 400watt metal halide lights with 6 of these and have 3 times the light (and don't have to wait for the warm up) I am going to get a few more to do the other room with as well.

Richard

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by richard2717

Doug
you will be happy with them just make sure you mount them away from the ceiling as directed (they get pretty hot). I replaced 9 400watt metal halide lights with 6 of these and have 3 times the light (and don't have to wait for the warm up) I am going to get a few more to do the other room with as well.

Richard

Thanks Richard. A friend has some up in his shop and it is bright in there. Yes, the instructions advise to keep them a foot or so from the cieling so will be sure to do that. Appreciate the heads up! They will be a welcome change from the current lights with failing ballasts.

[Daddy'O]

Doug,

You will need sunglasses with 14 of those light fixtures. I have two 6 lamp and six 4 lamp fixtures in my 40x60 shop plus three eight foot (four 4 foot lamps per fixture) times three under the loft.......I think I could perform surgery if I was qualified. They are awesome! You will love them.

[slowcpe]

I'm in to see options. I went with 8' lights with (4) 4' T8s and have been happy with performance for the money. I couldn't justify LEDs at the time but pricing does seem to be coming down.

[richard2717]

The best bang for the buck if you dont want to change the whole fixture would be to swap to T8 electronic ballast and bulbs. Pretty simple change out that takes about 10 mins tops per fixture and should cost you no more than $20 per fixture for 4 lamps and ballast. The existing T12 sockets will work with the T8 bulbs.
Even if you go with LED bulbs, most of the good ones require upgrading the ballast to electronic. I attached a PDF of the ones I used last with good luck. Warranty required installing their ballast with the lamps but I think it upped it to a 6 year warranty. The lamps my cost were just shy of $20 each so you would be more around $100 per fixture in material

A lot of people have bought into the hype that the LED is a permanent solution to lighting but it is not. I have found in a lot of instances that by the time you reach the break even point they are at the end of life and need to be replaced again.

One thing I did forget to mention about the T5 lights that Doug was talking about is you really want a higher ceiling for them. They are super bright but you would end up with hot spots on a low ceiling. My ceilings in my garage are 16' and they are a perfect solution for me.

.edit* the PDF I tried to load with the LED bulbs was to large for the site. PM me your email if you would like to see it

[Advanced Design]

Hey Wayne, the future's so bright, I gotta wear shades! The failing shop lights really hit me when I was inside the frame welding an engine mount and I asked a friend to hand me the flashlight so I could inspect the weld. That was it for me, time for improvements. Your clean new shop must be super bright!

Richard brings up a good point about ceiling height. Mine are 15' and the lighting layout tool takes a number of variables into account, including height. It calculated 12 of the lights in three rows of four to cover the 50' x 60' space. Looking forward to getting them installed.

[tommys66]

I purchased the LED 4' replacement tubes from amazon. I got the 5000k bright white and am impressed with the output. These led tubes have the driver built into them, so you remove the ballast from your fixture and replace the ends so the lamps are direct wire. They were about $16 ea.

[richard2717]

had a supplier email me this out of the blue today. The led's are magnetized so they just stick to the fixture or anywhere you want to put them and they come with power supply. Looks like 2- 48" strips with power supply would be about $55-60 shipped


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[_Ogre]

i find that repairing florescent light usually cost more than buying new ones
same goes for converting them from t12 to t8, t5 or led
price new lights, then price all the parts

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

i find that repairing florescent light usually cost more than buying new ones
same goes for converting them from t12 to t8, t5 or led
price new lights, then price all the parts

You may be right, but I have 9 4x4' drop ceiling fixture in my shop. I may not need that many if I go with LED, but thats still a chunk of change to replace even half of them.