You already have fluorescent troffers or strip lights, and you're unsure if you can just insert LED tubes into them or whether you'll need to replace the fixtures with ones made for LED.
The good news is that LED tubes work flawlessly with your current fixtures. But initially, you must comprehend the many kinds of LED tubes.
The two main kinds of LED fluorescent replacements available today are "ballast bypass" LED fluorescent replacements and "ballast compatible" LED tubes. Let's quickly review them both.
1. LED replacement tubes compatible with ballasts
These LED tubes, sometimes referred to as Type A or "plug and play" LEDs, are ready to use as soon as you just insert them into your current fixture. Okay, perhaps.
There are three different types of ballasts available for your fluorescent fixtures: magnetic (inductive), electrical, and rapid start. One or two of these are suitable with the majority of LED tubes for ballasts, but not all. Look for the manufacturer's ballast compatibility list and make sure the fixture you have is mentioned there to ensure a tube will function with your fixtures. (If a list of compatible ballasts is absent, use a different tube.)
2. LED Replacement Tubes for Ballasts
Kind B retrofit tubes are compatible with all linear fluorescent lights, independent of the type of ballast, as well as ballast-free LED-ready fixtures. When you choose a ballast compatible LED tube, there is no chance of purchasing the incorrect LED tube for your fixture.
This is due to the fact that before installing these tubes, the fixture's ballast must be removed or "bypassed" in order to ensure that the electricity from the building is sent straight to the lamp sockets. You are cutting out the middleman!
This offers a number of advantages:
When the ballast is not there, a ballast failure won't cause your lights to go out.
You won't ever have to change a ballast again, saving you time and money on maintenance.
You may further reduce your lighting expense by eliminating the energy use of the actual ballast.
Because of this, the majority of our clients use ballast bypass tubes. Start enjoying cheaper lighting costs right now by finding new LED replacement tubes for your fluorescent lighting fixtures here.
The installation instructions for your tubes will include illustrations when you buy them, however the general idea of converting a fluorescent light to run LED tubes is as follows:
Remove the fluorescent tubes and open the fixture after shutting off the electricity.
Disconnect the tubes' and the ballast's wires (and between the starter and the tubes in the case of a magnetic ballast). Any unneeded wires should be covered with nuts and tucked away.
At the "live" end of the fixture, connect the line and neutral wires to the G13 sockets. (Only one tube end requires electricity.) Connectors should be covered with electrical tape and fastened with nuts.
Close the fixture back up and attach your new LED tubes after making sure it is correctly grounded.
