Shop Lighting Upgrade to LEDs

[James Combs]

Built my 20x32 shop in 2009, no real though on lighting it, just picked up some cheapie 4ft troffers and hung them up, done deal right. Well let’s move forward a few years to late 2015, in the intervening time, haven’t really counted but I suspect that I have replaced at least 75% of the ballasts in those troffers. Replace a final one in late 2015 and decided if anymore went bad I was going to do something different. April 2016 comes along and two more go bad at nearly the same time so a-nuff is a-nuff. I did some research and discovered that 4ft LED fluorescent replacement tubes had dropped drastically in price, nearly a factor of 10 so I start smiling and researching LED products. Long story short, I replaced all my dual fluros with LEDs and even added a couple singles. There was a “night and day” ;-) difference in the apparent light plus power usage was cut significantly. Here are some pics of the change over process. The LED I used was from Amazon. It came in as a 4-Pack of Hyperikon® T8 LED Light Tube, 4ft, 18W (36W equivalent), 4000K (Daylight), Single-Ended Power, Frosted Cover.


Typical of "as received".

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Just disconnected the ballasts by clipping the wires at both ends.
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Marked the trofers inside and out showing that they were now LED only.
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Left in the on/off switch. When wiring was complete, not much left inside except a couple wire nuts and little wire. The tum-stones at the far end are only used to hold the tubes in place.
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With the tubes in place it doesn't look much different until you turn it on.
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I took some before and after photos of the light but the camera adjusts for differences and I couldn't tell any difference in the pics but you can sure see a difference with the eyes..

[Fred Belknap]

James I replaced the florescent lights in my shop and like you said "like night and day". Very simple to do.

[Gail Ludwig]

Thanks for the great directions! I have been wanting to do this and your photos and instructions got me moving. Just ordered and I probably will thank you numerous times once they get here and I hook them up.

[Jim Becker]

While I went with direct replacements compatible with existing ballasts, the cost of the line-voltage versions you used are very attractive. One suggestion...be sure you put a clearly visible notice in the fixtures that they are line voltage so that "someone that comes after you" doesn't inadvertently mistake them as compatible with standard tubes...the fireworks might not be pleasant.

[Wayne Cannon]

I suspect the pin spacings are different so you can't accidentally interchange them.

[Mark Blatter]

JD, I read your post several times but couldn't see if you said you replaced T8 or T12 bulbs. I am interested in knowing which, and how much power savings you achieved. From what I have seen, LEDs save a great deal over T12s, but not nearly so much over T8s.

In my work, I get involved in lighting at retail stores some and have been frustrated by the quality of LED fixtures. For me, the cost of actually replacing bulbs is almost as high as the cost of electricity, so I have been trying to get our company to move to LEDs. Yet I am still replacing bulbs about every 12 - 15 months when they should last 60 months or so.

We also have display lighting that are LED strips. The strips last a long time, but the power supplies go out in a year.

[James Combs]

James I replaced the florescent lights in my shop and like you said "like night and day". Very simple to do.

Fred, thanks for reading and commenting. The only problem I encountered was in the type of LED tube I used. The first batch I used had frosted covers and looked very much like the original fluro' tubes. The next time I went to order I could not find the frosted version w/o paying a major premium so I went with the same spec tube less the frosting. I noticed a little difference during the installation but I don't pay any attention to it now. It's about a 50-50 split between the two.

Thanks for the great directions! I have been wanting to do this and your photos and instructions got me moving. Just ordered and I probably will thank you numerous times once they get here and I hook them up.

Gail,thanks for posting and commenting. I though the installation was a piece of cake but I do have an electrical/electronics background.

While I went with direct replacements compatible with existing ballasts, the cost of the line-voltage versions you used are very attractive. One suggestion...be sure you put a clearly visible notice in the fixtures that they are line voltage so that "someone that comes after you" doesn't inadvertently mistake them as compatible with standard tubes...the fireworks might not be pleasant.

Hi Jim, thanks for the suggestion and I agree. The tubes are suppose to come with extra tomb-stones(sp)(BTW my spell checker showed "tum-stone" as being a correct spelling in the original post ), anyway, and warning labels, most of the tomb-stones were missing and I got only one page of 4 labels, one of the reasons I marked each fixture with "LED ONLY" in magic marker.

I suspect the pin spacings are different so you can't accidentally interchange them.

Hi Wayne, thanks for the response. As to the pin spacing, no they are identical to the original fluro's. The reason you are "suppose" to get new tomb-stones is that some OEM fixtures have jumpers between the two pins in-side the tumb-stones and either the t-s has to be replaced or the jumper cut, particular on the end that the power is applied to, it doesn't really matter on the other end because in the case of the directly powered tubes I used there is no electrical connection. The t-s is only used to support the tube.

JD, I read your post several times but couldn't see if you said you replaced T8 or T12 bulbs. I am interested in knowing which, and how much power savings you achieved. From what I have seen, LEDs save a great deal over T12s, but not nearly so much over T8s.
In my work, I get involved in lighting at retail stores some and have been frustrated by the quality of LED fixtures. For me, the cost of actually replacing bulbs is almost as high as the cost of electricity, so I have been trying to get our company to move to LEDs. Yet I am still replacing bulbs about every 12 - 15 months when they should last 60 months or so.
We also have display lighting that are LED strips. The strips last a long time, but the power supplies go out in a year.

Sorry for the oversight Mark. My original tubes were T8s. However, since these LED's are not ballast compatible they could be used in a T12 fixture because you would be eliminating the use of the ballast anyway. I believe the tomb-stones for the T8 and T12 ballast are identical but don't quote me on it.
So far I have had no failures in my group of tubes, but it's only been a few months, I will keep my fingers crossed. I guess on the con side for these there is no externally accessible power supply to repair or replace so I will see I suppose. On the plus side I just turned 71 so I can't imagine that I would out live many of them

[James Combs]

Meant to post these above but... Examples of the labels and tomb-stones you are "suppose" to get with the tubes. As mentioned most were missing, I got 4 labels and maybe 3 tomb-stones out of 12 4 pks of bulbs. I didn't really need the TS's so I didn't pursue replacement of the missing ones which would be considered as shipping damage(is suppose, the end flaps on the boxes were mostly loose or even open).

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BTW anyone need a replacement T8 ballast, lol
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[Dan Rude]

I did this with 2 of my shop standard white light 2 fluorescent bulb fixtures about 1.5 years ago. They were $80 for 4 at that time. They are now $40 for 4 of the same ones now. I was about to convert the 3 remaining lights this week. I then saw Menards had a SMART Electrician 3200 Lumen shop light on sale for $19. When I stopped in they were on clearance for $15. Picked up 3 with my Menards Rebate check and some change. Put them up last night. I was impressed, seemed brighter than the 2 Hyperikon T8 tubes. Today I stopped and saw 4 left at my local store. So, I grabbed them paid $63.30 w/tax and will send in the 11% rebate. So with free Florescent recycling this weekend I took down my remaining fluorescent shop lights and stripped out the ballast and bulbs. I can even put 2 florescent bulbs in the 4’ box for safety in transporting them to the recycle. Once I get them all up I may just move the other Shop light LED’s up to my garage. I think they will work great up there. Dan.

[Wade Lippman]

Pretend I am an idiot.

You clip the wires going to the ballasts. You mentioned wirenuts, so presumably something has to be connected, but what?
Do you physically remove the ballast, or is that irrelevant?
If you foolishly put a fluorescent bulb in, would it be dangerous, or just not work?


I have two decorative fixtures with flaky ballasts, so I would like to put in LEDs, but find the process intimidating.
Thanks

[Wade Lippman]

Hi Wayne, thanks for the response. As to the pin spacing, no they are identical to the original fluro's. The reason you are "suppose" to get new tomb-stones is that some OEM fixtures have jumpers between the two pins in-side the tumb-stones and either the t-s has to be replaced or the jumper cut, particular on the end that the power is applied to, it doesn't really matter on the other end because in the case of the directly powered tubes I used there is no electrical connection. The t-s is only used to support the tube.

How do you tell if you need new tombstones or not? If you need them, how do you replace them, or clip the jumper?

Thanks again.

[Jim Becker]

Wade, there are two types of LED lamps you can use; one type (what I bought) just goes in like the previous fluorescent tubes without touching the ballasts. These are a bit more expensive. Then there is "direct wire" or "line voltage" types which is what was being described up above. For these, you eliminate the ballasts and are piping direct 120v to the tombstones. Presumably, you can damage normal fluorescent tubes. As also noted above, while many times one might install new tombstones to freshen up the fixture, it doesn't appear to be required.

[dan petroski]

Got a dozen lights today and converted one. Boy what a difference ..thanks for the post
biggest issue is getting the fixture apart. I have the electronic ballast with the circuit board. Whatever they are called. Dan

[Gail Ludwig]

I ordered four lights and installed them a couple of days ago. They work GREAT and the light is much brighter than my old T12 tubes. It took me awhile to figure out how to rewire the shoplights. But it was pretty easy once I figured things out. I just took out the old ballast and wired all the hots together and then all the neutrals together. You only have to wire on one end. My 4 bulbs came with 4 tombstones -- and I needed 8. So I just cut the wires on the old tombsones and used those on the ends that didn't need power. Thanks to everyone for the tips and the SHOVE to get me to replace my aging T12's.

[Marty Schlosser]

Actually, no, Wayne. On the ones I replaced they were so close that the retrofit instructions tell you to leave the non-electrical end ones in place.

I suspect the pin spacings are different so you can't accidentally interchange them.