Recommendation for 4 bulb, 4 ft florescent light fixtures.

[TeamTruett]

I am replacing my old 4 bulb units with LED link-able units. Any recommendations or ones to avoid?

 

[kbuhagiar]

Just curious...do you currently have conventional old-school-with-ballasts fluorescent fixtures?
Why not rewire your existing units and replace your existing fluorescent tubes with LED-bypass tubes?

 

[TeamTruett]

I have 2 older units, replacing those and adding an additional 2 units. Just want all the same

 

[AC-WC]

I don't have a real long history i.e. 3 yrs or more but so far I've been happy with the HF Braun LED lights. Been doing good at 1 1/2 yrs. If you catch them on sale $16-18 is a pretty good price. Everyday price is $23.
I can tell you NOT to get Rural King worksaver LED lights. I think the longest life on those I had was 6 months shortest was 3 months.

There's also a blog on the electrical forum for LED lights you should check out...

 

[four.cycle]

I have had raving success with the run-of-the-mill "plug-and-play" LED replacement bulbs from both Home Depot and ACE at my sister's studio. (Studio A has about 24 ceiling fixtures, Studio B about 12, plus the hallways and bathrooms and two offices.)
The fixtures are double-tube, using the T8/F32CW bulbs.
Now she wants me to replace all of the T12/F40 CW bulbs in her studio at home, as well as the garage. Home Depot has the "plug and play" LED replacements for $70.00 for a 10-pack. She will need three or four boxes.
I told her to check online and see if she might be able to get a better deal with Amazon.

What I can offer - other than the "plug and play" - is that she had two fixtures that were toast. Bad ballasts or tombstones or whatever - I didn't care and I'm not fooling with fluorescent fixtures ever again. Pulled them down, installed new "STRIP LED" fixtures. (They were about $65 a pop at ACE Hardware, as I recall.) She loves them!
They are super bright!

Great timing - I was checking prices for her yesterday at Home Depot:

 

[M.Wong]

The previous owner left me a Home Depot four-bulb "Commercial Electric" 4' (80 watt 4000K 7000 lumens) and it's worked fine for five years, not sure how long he had it. It's the center of the three here.

I added several two-bulb 4' Amazon hykolity LEDs that were much cheaper. They have also been up five years with no problems.

 

[PassnThru]

I have 2 older units, replacing those and adding an additional 2 units. Just want all the same

The problem with buying cheap LED lights is that once one burns out you have to buy another one. And there is no guarantee that you will be able to buy another one exactly like it at that point so now you are back to having mismatched fixtures.
The inlaws called the other day with a lighting issue in their kitchen. They didn't know how to change the bulb in one of their can lights. Upon inspection it was a LED fixture so the entire thing had to be replaced - including the trim ring - all built into one unit that attached to the can. After several hours going from store to store looking for an exact replacement we ended up with one that was close but not exact. Since they had 4 in the kitchen I advised him to buy the 4 pack so he would eventually have them all the same again.
T8 conversion bulbs are plentiful and if you dig around you can find new fixtures that use those bulbs so you only have to buy the fixture once. I would suggest trying to find one with standard replaceable tombstones so that you aren't locked into one specific bulb type (ie power in one side or both sides) and with a little wiring knowledge you can modify it for pretty much any bulb type that fits the T8 format.

 

[finn]

The problem with buying cheap LED lights is that once one burns out you have to buy another one. And there is no guarantee that you will be able to buy another one exactly like it at that point so now you are back to having mismatched fixtures.
The inlaws called the other day with a lighting issue in their kitchen. They didn't know how to change the bulb in one of their can lights. Upon inspection it was a LED fixture so the entire thing had to be replaced - including the trim ring - all built into one unit that attached to the can. After several hours going from store to store looking for an exact replacement we ended up with one that was close but not exact. Since they had 4 in the kitchen I advised him to buy the 4 pack so he would eventually have them all the same again.
T8 conversion bulbs are plentiful and if you dig around you can find new fixtures that use those bulbs so you only have to buy the fixture once. I would suggest trying to find one with standard replaceable tombstones so that you aren't locked into one specific bulb type (ie power in one side or both sides) and with a little wiring knowledge you can modify it for pretty much any bulb type that fits the T8 format.

That happened to me in my covered, but unheated 16’x60’ enclosed lean to. Actually, one of the linked cheap LED fixtures went out, and the replacement failed a year after I replaced the original.

My shop has a 16 foot ceiling and 11 eight foot double bulb fixtures, which I rewired to eliminate the florescent ballasts and installed LED tubes. So far, so good.

I do use the inexpensive four foot linked fixtures for spot lighting over benches and tools, and haven’t had issues other than in the unheated lean to.

 

[PassnThru]

My shop has a 16 foot ceiling and 11 eight foot double bulb fixtures, which I rewired to eliminate the florescent ballasts and installed LED tubes. So far, so good.

I've got 8 nice Lithonia covered fixtures in my detached garage - 4 bulb 8 footers so 32 bulbs in all. Eliminated the ballast and replaced the tombstones in the center of the fixture for single end powered LED tubes about 7 years ago. Have only had one tube go out so far but I have about 5 new tubes from the original order in reserve. Fairly simple to do.

 

[finn]

I've got 8 nice Lithonia covered fixtures in my detached garage - 4 bulb 8 footers so 32 bulbs in all. Eliminated the ballast and replaced the tombstones in the center of the fixture for single end powered LED tubes about 7 years ago. Have only had one tube go out so far but I have about 5 new tubes from the original order in reserve. Fairly simple to do.

I hired a local electrician to do mine. I don’t like heights.

Still have one leftover LED bulb. I hate storing that stuff. I also had all of those old fluorescent bulbs to dispose of, plus a couple of new spares. Dropped the ballasts off at the recyclers. Scrap yards won’t take the ballasts that are filled with toxic oils, so I just recycled them, although I think mine were not the “bad “ ones.

What partially drove me to install LEDs, in addition to better light output, was that the ballasts were starting to fail, and I had several florescent bulbs on their way out. I don’t recall what I paid for the electrician and his helper, along with his boom truck, but considering that ballasts and fluorescents were flaking anyway, the one time upfront cost was a no brainer.

 

[TeamTruett]

The problem with buying cheap LED lights is that once one burns out you have to buy another one. And there is no guarantee that you will be able to buy another one exactly like it at that point so now you are back to having mismatched fixtures.
The inlaws called the other day with a lighting issue in their kitchen. They didn't know how to change the bulb in one of their can lights. Upon inspection it was a LED fixture so the entire thing had to be replaced - including the trim ring - all built into one unit that attached to the can. After several hours going from store to store looking for an exact replacement we ended up with one that was close but not exact. Since they had 4 in the kitchen I advised him to buy the 4 pack so he would eventually have them all the same again.
T8 conversion bulbs are plentiful and if you dig around you can find new fixtures that use those bulbs so you only have to buy the fixture once. I would suggest trying to find one with standard replaceable tombstones so that you aren't locked into one specific bulb type (ie power in one side or both sides) and with a little wiring knowledge you can modify it for pretty much any bulb type that fits the T8 format.

That is a good point!

 

[mgeoffriau]

I'm a big fan of Barrina LED shop lights. They have been around for several years. When I moved into our current house, I decided I wanted to add 2 more strips of their 4' T8 LED lights. I was able to order the same style, lumens, and bulb temp that I had purchased 6 years ago. They had slightly updated the connector but they made them such that they are backward-compatible with their older design.

You can see all their offerings on their own website but you can also peruse and order via Amazon if you prefer.

 

[JohnC1957]

How many light fixtures?? i built a new shed and used the HF fixtures. They work great. My friend did his shop and went down a search rabbit hole. His look great also. I only needed 4 so next time i'm in there I will buy a spare

 

[TeamTruett]

How many light fixtures?? i built a new shed and used the HF fixtures. They work great. My friend did his shop and went down a search rabbit hole. His look great also. I only needed 4 so next time i'm in there I will buy a spare

4 fixtures total

 

[cybrdyke]

4' LED strip

It doesn't have to be this brand, but get yourself 4 of a 6000 lumen strip fixture that has a drop lens on it. You'll likely find them at your local electrical supply house. They probably carry Satco or RAB brand or something similar, or they can order them in for you. Just be mindful that anything that you see online or at the big box stores is garbage.
Good luck,
CD