I've been eyeing LED fixtures for my garage for a long time. The six fluorescent fixtures (and the tubes in them) were installed in 1998 when the house was built. I've been discouraged because the new LED fixtures seemed very expensive. $70 to $80 is a lot when you have to replace six of them. I've also been reluctant because the new fixtures are never the same size and shape as the old fixtures. I don't want to end up painting the ceiling to make everything look right.
A couple of the fluorescent tubes failed recently. They've all been getting weaker and some not turning on at all when the weather is cold. So I decided to see what was available.
I found a GE Lighting product that was a tube that was just like my fluorescent tubes but entirely LED. The product claimed that it was compatible with many ballasts and if your ballast was on the "approved" list, you could simply replace your existing tube and it would work. I bought a couple of them to try and assess.
Of course, the ballast in my existing fixtures was not on the list. So I had to rewire my fixtures, essentially eliminating the ballast. After getting it to work with the first fixture and being happy with the result, I bought enough tubes for all my fixtures and rewired all of them. There is a good diagram on the LED tube box to guide the rewiring, but I needed a magnifying glass to read it. It was straightforward and understandable.
The LED tubes are brighter and slightly smaller in diameter than the old tubes, and the light is very uniform. I wouldn't know they were LED if I hadn't put them in myself. They will certainly outlive me, they turn on when it's down to -4 degrees F., and they only use about 1/3 the energy of the fluorescents. They also come on instantly.
![794750]()
Before the fixtures are rewired, here's what they look like, ballast in the circuit:
![794752]()
![794753]()
After turning the power off, the rewiring process involves cutting all the wires going into the ballast (close to the ballast), then removing the ballast completely. Then the side of the fixture with only 2 wires has both of those wired to the neutral (white wire). The side of the fixture with 4 wires has all of them wired to the hot (black) wire through a 1-amp inline fuse. I had to buy the inline fuse holder and 1-amp fuse separately for about $2 per fixture; they were not included. This wiring change also requires one more wire nut and a few cable ties for neatness.
When done, the re-wired fixture looks like this:
![794754]()
![794755]()
Except for being brighter, you can't tell the difference between these LED tubes in these old fixtures and the old fluorescents.
![794756]()
The 4-foot LED tubes were about $9 each at Lowes, so I upgraded each fixture for about $20. The diffusers hadn't been cleaned in over 20 years in most cases, so getting the layer of dirt and bugs out of there also increased the light transmission. The product label for the LED tubes is shown below:
![794757]()
I found it best to only rewire 2 fixtures per day. (Mine are on a 10-foot ceiling.) Electrician's work is very hard on the body.
Keane
A couple of the fluorescent tubes failed recently. They've all been getting weaker and some not turning on at all when the weather is cold. So I decided to see what was available.
I found a GE Lighting product that was a tube that was just like my fluorescent tubes but entirely LED. The product claimed that it was compatible with many ballasts and if your ballast was on the "approved" list, you could simply replace your existing tube and it would work. I bought a couple of them to try and assess.
Of course, the ballast in my existing fixtures was not on the list. So I had to rewire my fixtures, essentially eliminating the ballast. After getting it to work with the first fixture and being happy with the result, I bought enough tubes for all my fixtures and rewired all of them. There is a good diagram on the LED tube box to guide the rewiring, but I needed a magnifying glass to read it. It was straightforward and understandable.
The LED tubes are brighter and slightly smaller in diameter than the old tubes, and the light is very uniform. I wouldn't know they were LED if I hadn't put them in myself. They will certainly outlive me, they turn on when it's down to -4 degrees F., and they only use about 1/3 the energy of the fluorescents. They also come on instantly.
Before the fixtures are rewired, here's what they look like, ballast in the circuit:
After turning the power off, the rewiring process involves cutting all the wires going into the ballast (close to the ballast), then removing the ballast completely. Then the side of the fixture with only 2 wires has both of those wired to the neutral (white wire). The side of the fixture with 4 wires has all of them wired to the hot (black) wire through a 1-amp inline fuse. I had to buy the inline fuse holder and 1-amp fuse separately for about $2 per fixture; they were not included. This wiring change also requires one more wire nut and a few cable ties for neatness.
When done, the re-wired fixture looks like this:
Except for being brighter, you can't tell the difference between these LED tubes in these old fixtures and the old fluorescents.
The 4-foot LED tubes were about $9 each at Lowes, so I upgraded each fixture for about $20. The diffusers hadn't been cleaned in over 20 years in most cases, so getting the layer of dirt and bugs out of there also increased the light transmission. The product label for the LED tubes is shown below:
I found it best to only rewire 2 fixtures per day. (Mine are on a 10-foot ceiling.) Electrician's work is very hard on the body.
Keane
