Looking to give your shop lights an upgrade? Why not retrofit them? Unlike fluorescent tubes, LED tubes are more efficient, require less maintenance, live longer, and don’t contain toxic chemicals. You can get the same color and same lumen output at a fraction of your current operation cost. If you don’t already have a current fixture or aren’t very familiar with what a shop light is, allow us to do the honors.

Shop lights are lighting fixtures typically affixed to chains and hang from the ceiling. They can also be directly mounted onto the ceiling and are usually made up of fluorescent tubes. In order to make the retrofitting process as smooth as possible there are a few things you need to know about your current fixture. The color temperature (K), lumens (Lm), and wattage (W) are some specs you want to keep in mind while you are shopping for replacements. Not to mention if you have shunted or non-shunted tombstones.

1. Retrofit

There are plenty of reasons as to why you may consider retrofitting your fixture instead of replacing it altogether. Keeping an aesthetically pleasing fixture, or having a bunch of fixtures are a couple examples. There are three ways that you can accomplish better lighting without replacing your fixture. You can use Direct Wire (Ballast Bypass) tubes, Hybrid LED Tubes, or Electronic Ballast Compatible LED tubes. Each option offers a different set of pros and cons.

Direct Wire (Ballast Bypass): This process is the most efficient way to retrofit your shop light. This is because unlike the Hybrid LED Tubes, the direct wire option does away with the ballast. Although it isn’t a tough task to hard wire these lights, we suggest you hire a certified electrician for this retrofitting option.

Hybrid LED Tubes: These are a great option when you want to lower your power consumption with a limited amount of downtown and aren’t interested in hiring an electrician to remove the ballast. They can be used with or without a ballast. Your retrofitted fixture will be more efficient but it won’t be as efficient as it could be with it still operating in conjunction with the ballast.

Electronic Ballast Compatible LED Fluorescent LED tubes: These tubes cannot operate without an electronic ballast. However, this is the simplest solution available and is often referenced as a plug and play tube. Unfortunately, with the development of the Hybrid LED tube, there isn’t a valid reason to go with this option.

2. Replace the fixture

Replacing your shop light with a LED linear shop light is a great option. This light is ideal for commercial, industrial, and institutional applications. Replacing your current shop lights with an LED shop light allows for your LEDs to work in a fixture specifically designed for LEDs. This fixture is 5” tall making it compact and versatile for multiple applications commercially, and industrially. The LED linear shop lights have led chips integrated into the fixture and offer a high lumen output.

Shop lights are ideal for indoor and outdoor applications. Because of their mounting versatility and thin profile, they can be found in parking garages, bars, warehouses, walkways, tunnel lighting, advertisement, and factory lighting. Below is a list of products we offer and their wattage equivalent. If you see your wattage below, click your LED wattage equivalent.

So, are you ready to reap the benefits of LED shop lighting?

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