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Incandescent Lights?

Hatman52

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 11, 2008
Messages
59
Re-doing the ceiling and lighting in my 500 sq. ft. garage (actually it's a carriage house). When I did the lighting almost 20 years ago, I put up 4 incandescent lights, switched at the door, then wired up ceiling outlets, on a separate switch, for 9 four-foot fluorescent light fixtures. Back then, the thought was the incandescents come on immediately in cold weather vs. the fluorescents, and I switched them separately thinking there might be times where I was just ducking in to grab a tool and there wouldn't be a need to fire up all the lights for a 15 second trip in.

In practice, of course, I almost always just reach over and hit both switches. :)

I've replaced a few of the fluorescent fixtures with LED fixtures over the past few years, and will be using LED rather than fluorescent in the new lighting plan. Given their instant-on capabilities and low power draw, I'm thinking just leaving out the incandescent fixtures in this version. Any reasons not to that perhaps I'm missing?
 
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gungatim

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Joined
Jan 8, 2013
Messages
8,101
Location
west mich
you can always just put led's in the incandescent fixtures and call it good. That's what I did, went fromincandescent to CFL (which sucked) to 300w LED's. pricey but hella light. I only turn on the T8's occasionally now.
 

bdbecker

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Nov 18, 2015
Messages
5,543
Location
Iowa
IMO, the only reason to keep the incandescent bulbs would be for mood lighting. Otherwise, go ahead and skip it. LED's are instant on even when its zero outside.
 
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RGKSR

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Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Messages
47
Location
Bucks County, Pa
I upgraded to led’s in the garage. Simple as bypassing the ballast and replacing the tombstones. Instant on and low power consumption. I gave the old bulbs away to guys who are using them as spares.
 
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Phantomd

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Joined
Aug 26, 2015
Messages
183
Location
Near Boulder CO
I upgraded to led’s in the garage. Simple as bypassing the ballast and replacing the tombstones.

The "double ended" ballast bypass LED T8 replacement don't require tombstone replacements. Hot on one side and neutral to the other, orientation does not matter.
 

Dick in Wisconsin

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Joined
Mar 3, 2012
Messages
3,048
Location
Shawano, Wisconsin
I upgraded to led’s in the garage. Simple as bypassing the ballast and replacing the tombstones. Instant on and low power consumption. I gave the old bulbs away to guys who are using them as spares.

I put 30 fluorescent fixtures in my 1000sf race shop in 2014 on two circuits. The price of LEDs weren't down far enough to make sense.

I apparently bought "commercial grade" and not "residential grade" fluorescent fixtures and there is a hummmm in the AM radio. I'm told the residential grade fixtures have a different/better ballast that eliminates the hum (or I have one or must weak/bad grounds). Half the shop has less hum than the other half when I switch on only half the lights; so I'm guessing some or all of it is a weak/bad ground somewhere.

RGKSR: Did you experience an AM radio hum with your fluorescent? If so, did it go away with the LED?
 
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