T8 32W Fluorescent Light Fixture Replacement

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

For the last couple of days the lights would flicker when I turned them on and today they failed. This is in my bathroom. i thought I'd just go to Home Depot and get 2 new 48" bulbs. That did not fix the problem, they still flickered so I wiggled them to be sure they were not loose and one of them started making a hissing crackling noise and smoking and had a horrible smell. Now I need a new fixture as I don't trust this one. I assume that the ballast has probably failed even though it was definitely the bulb that was smoking.
Has anyone else had this problem?
Is LED the new standard for replacement of these fluorescent bulbs? The fixture itself is hidden so I just plan to install a new more efficient version of what I already have.
I appreciate any feedback

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Yes, you can replace it with an LED bulb. Better yet, for most of them, you simply cut the ballast out of the circuit. They come with new electrical contacts/bulb holders. You just cut the connection between the 120V and the ballast, and connect the new bulb holder/contact to the 120V. So you do not even need a new fixture.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

That sounds like what they did at my office years ago. Some company came in and retrofitted all the lighting in the warehouse and inside offices for free and billed it all to Edison. There was some kind of program at that time. I remember watching them do it and they were fast.

 

[OldShooter]

There are some replacement tubes that are LED, not fluorescent. Whether they work or not seems to be hit and miss. I had fixtures with magnetic ballasts and the LED tubes never worked for me. Buy where you can easily return if they don’t work. Maybe you'll get lucky.

Mine were troffers and hanging shop light fixtures. I just replaced them all. PITA but nice when it's done. Be sure to pay attention to color temperature and get what you like.

 

[RetireeRobert]

You just cut the connection between the 120V and the ballast, and connect the new bulb holder/contact to the 120V.

You cut the 120V connection AFTER you turn off the circuit breaker for the circuit those lights are on! And test that that circuit is indeed not "live".

 

[nobody]

I've done about a dozen fixes of the same deal, probably a ballast, I don't like them. I do a retrofit from Fluorescent to led tubes. Basically you get rid of the ballast then buy led tubs rated for direct wire 120 vac, usually not found at your basic home improvement store. You can usually find the color of light and power from the led your looking for. I did 5 sets alone from a local veterinary clinic and she loved the out come. Also with a ballast if one bulb is bad for a while it will burn out the ballast and cause the problem. Just my experience....

 

[38Chevy454]

I agree that time for LED. It will probably be nearly the same cost to just buy a new complete LED fixture vs retrofitting the old one. Any home improvement place or lighting store will have multiple choices. Most newer LED are pretty good about directionality, some of the older ones could cause more shadows.

X2 on check the light color (kelvin value) to get the light you want. 3000K or less is kind of yellowish "warm light" as they call it, 5000K is kind of neutral white, 6000K and higher are very bright.

 

[1242Vintage]

I just today replaced all the overhead fluorescent fixtures in my garage and shop. Don’t know why but the fluorescent tubes were dying frequently and some were flickering. Tried using LED tubes but not much luck there.

The LED lights are much brighter and whiter, perfect for a garage and shop. I picked up the LED light fixtures from Lowe’s at $70 each and took me 1/2 hour to remove the old lights and wire in each new one.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I found this one at HomeDepot with the LED lights integrated into the fixture. I checked the installation instructions for wiring and the colors match up. The problem is that is says to mount to junction box but I have no junction box. The existing light is wall mounted about a foot from the ceiling to the drywall and wires come through a hole in the wall. Maybe that was legal when the house was built in 1992, I'm the original owner and we've never messed with the wiring. I don't want to burn the house down. Do you think this will fine?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commerc...king-Cord-54261141/206028944#product-overview

 

[OldShooter]

...Do you think this will fine? ...

Yes. Or HD can also sell you a box that will retrofit.

 

[NameTaken2]

Installed several Feit 4' Linkable LED Shop Lights (plug-in) in basements of 2 homes. 42W, 4,000K Cool White, 4,000 Lumens. Costco has sales for <$20. Great so far -they put out a lot more light than the replaced fluorescent 32W T8's, but not so bright to be annoying.


Need to replace two 4' fluorescent fixtures the shop with hardwired LED (not plug-in).

-appreciate any recommendations!

 

[1242Vintage]

-appreciate any recommendations!

The ones I just installed today in the shop and garage are Lithonia 4-ft 5000-Lumen Cool White LED Wraparound Light. Cost is $80 at Lowe’s. Much much brighter and whiter than the fluorescents that I replaced.

 

[Bamaman]

I just today replaced all the overhead fluorescent fixtures in my garage and shop. Don’t know why but the fluorescent tubes were dying frequently and some were flickering. Tried using LED tubes but not much luck there.

The LED lights are much brighter and whiter, perfect for a garage and shop. I picked up the LED light fixtures from Lowe’s at $70 each and took me 1/2 hour to remove the old lights and wire in each new one.

I have 3 such lights in my garage that are malfunctioning and need replacement. Unfortunately the garage has a 14' ceiling and I only have a 9 foot step ladder. And I hate to spend $210 for replacements, but they're badly needed.

Sometimes one must suck it up and pay the price. And go to a rental center to rent a ladder that'll get you up there. LED's are the way to go.

 

[finnski1]

I have 3 such lights in my garage that are malfunctioning and need replacement. Unfortunately the garage has a 14' ceiling and I only have a 9 foot step ladder. And I hate to spend $210 for replacements, but they're badly needed.

Sometimes one must suck it up and pay the price. And go to a rental center to rent a ladder that'll get you up there. LED's are the way to go.

Had 2 in my shop and garage that I replaced with LED's. Like the instant on and extremely inexpensive to run.
My old flourescent lights did not like the cold in NH and would take a long time to warm up to full brightness. The LED's are instantaneous and much brighter. Should have done it a long time ago.
I also got very lucky in that my local discount chain(Ocean State Job Lot) has these crazy deals in which I bought 2 shop fixtures with bulbs included and they then gave me a gift card for the entire purchase price. Since we shop there frequently it basically means I got them for free.

 

[Music Lover]

I also replaced fluorescent with LED. I removed the ballast in the kitchen fixture and put in LED bulbs and now have better light with no noise or flickering.

 

[Cobra9777]

I don't think we have a single fluorescent fixture left in the house. I've changed them all to LED over the last few years. I've replaced one in the kitchen, all the under-counter lights, about a dozen or more in the garage, one in the utility/laundry room, and one in the master bath.

We also replaced all can lights in the ceiling with LED retrofits as well as all lamps, ceiling fixtures, ceiling fans, and outdoor security lights. I think the only non-LED left in our house is a seldom-used fixture in the attic, a couple closets upstairs, plus a spare bath upstairs that has CFL bulbs in the vanity light.

For the fluorescent conversion, in some cases, I remove the ballast and rewire the existing tombstones to accept retrofit-style LED bulbs. In other cases, I buy long LED fixtures and just attach them to the old metal case or housing, and discard the old ballast and tombstones entirely.

I buy all my LEDs on Amazon. With some careful comparison shopping, you can get much better pricing online than at a big box retailer. I've found that the online sellers are very good about sending replacements if you get a bad LED.

As for kelvin color temperature, we consistently use 4000K. It's not as blue as the 5000-6000K, and not as yellow as 2700-3000K. It's a nice in-between color that we both like. We also just like having a consistent color throughout the house.

 

[OldShooter]

... For the fluorescent conversion, in some cases, I remove the ballast and rewire the existing tombstones to accept retrofit-style LED bulbs. In other cases, I buy long LED fixtures and just attach them to the old metal case or housing, and discard the old ballast and tombstones entirely. ...

We are now mostly LED, but I have decided to avoid all-in-one fixtures because their brightness is kind of a crap shoot and can't be changed easily. I put one in our shower/laundry area and it it far too bright for the space. The adjustment would be to get up there with a pliers and start destroying LEDs. With LED bulbs in sockets I can increase or decrease brightness (and color temp) by changing the bulbs.

In theory the number of lumens advertised by the all-in-one fixtures should be helpful but my eye are not good at measuring in lumens. There are apps, but I have not tried them.

 

[Cobra9777]

We are now mostly LED, but I have decided to avoid all-in-one fixtures because their brightness is kind of a crap shoot and can't be changed easily. I put one in our shower/laundry area and it it far too bright for the space. The adjustment would be to get up there with a pliers and start destroying LEDs. With LED bulbs in sockets I can increase or decrease brightness (and color temp) by changing the bulbs.

In theory the number of lumens advertised by the all-in-one fixtures should be helpful but my eye are not good at measuring in lumens. There are apps, but I have not tried them.

That's true. I just think that at some point, the availability of retrofit-style bulbs will start being phased out in favor of standalone/all-in-one LED fixtures. I've also noticed that the standalone fixtures are often cheaper (per lumen) than retrofit and just as easy to install. You can update the style at the same time, if desired.

In our living room, we installed some REALLY bright LED track lights but I also installed a smart dimmer switch, which I can control manually, via Alexa, smartphone app, or Fire TV remote. We seldom use them at full brightness, but it's nice to have it available when needed. So that's an option as well. We have manual-only dimmers on 3 other LEDs as well (dining room, breakfast nook, and master bath).

 

[ncbill]

I agree that time for LED. It will probably be nearly the same cost to just buy a new complete LED fixture vs retrofitting the old one. Any home improvement place or lighting store will have multiple choices. Most newer LED are pretty good about directionality, some of the older ones could cause more shadows.

X2 on check the light color (kelvin value) to get the light you want. 3000K or less is kind of yellowish "warm light" as they call it, 5000K is kind of neutral white, 6000K and higher are very bright.

When I was looking at fixtures to replace T12 twin-tube fluorescent fixtures in my kitchen & laundry room all the integrated LED fixtures had terrible reviews..."died in under than a year" seemed typical.

Most of the integrated fixtures I found were also designed to replace a 4-tube fixture, meaning I'd also need a separate, expensive, LED-compatible dimmer...as OldShooter now finds he needs.

So for ~$8/tube (in a 4-pack) I instead bought 4" LED ballast-bypass tubes off Amazon & removed the ballast, wiring 120VAC direct to the tubes.

 

[OldShooter]

... I just think that at some point, the availability of retrofit-style bulbs will start being phased out in favor of standalone/all-in-one LED fixtures. ...

Forecasting is hard, especially about the future. There are a lot of Edison base sockets out there, though*, and even LED "bulbs" die. IMO there will be a steady demand for a long time. Total Available Market in units will decline ve incandescent, however, because the LEDs are so much more reliable. That shrinking will probably see LED conversion bulbs rise in price a bit. But I think they will continue to be available.

*125 million US households, certainly eight sockets per household, so that’s a billion sockets. Even with a twenty-year LED life, that's 50M bulbs/year. WAG, of course.

 

[teetee]

Back in 2004 all my ceilng lights were replace with CCFLs and not with the common long light saber kind. But the less common gx24q with ballasts.

They started flickering and sometimes just quit working as soon as 2013.

I finally had enough and just replaced all of them with cheapo e26 sockets with LED light bulbs. It was much cheaper and use less power than the CCFLs and the dispose was much safer (no broken glass ). I can't believe I tolerated CCFLs for so long. I learned that a grounding foil is needed to be within half inch to the gx24q bulb to make it light up. I was like it has got to be simpler than this!

 

[Cobra9777]

Forecasting is hard...

That's why it pays so good.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I ended up with a $40 Commercial Electric fixture.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commerc...-Lumens-4000K-Bright-White-54283191/313258660 For most it should be a quick install but the location of mine behind a wall made it really difficult, drill was to big to get back there for wall mount pilot holes and then plastic anchors broke because hard to get a straight hammer tap. I still can't figure out how to snap the cover back on but since it's hidden it does not really matter. On the plus side they have quick connect fittings and the light is really bright although may not look like it in my photo.