Installing your own overhead lights

[Vinko]

Maybe there’s a thread on this, or maybe I should just google I’m the non-mechanical one in the family compared to the others. But it’s something I’ve been meaning to look into.

I’ll update this thread with photos when I can.

We’ve got a warehouse with a lot of older lights from the 70’s. Maybe 60’s too. Long ones with the old US-made ballasts.

We’ve been (or an electrician has been) occasionally replacing them with 4ft’ers (one end on end to the other) to replace the old 8 ft’ers. Hell, there must be over 100 units that need to be replaced. Eventually. But man, the costs, esp. when you add up the labor. In the old days, we had an electrician that would replace the ballasts or rebuild them even for a reasonable amount. All the old timers -- those good old guys -- are retiring or going to the old electrical house in the sky.

And it’s expensive to have someone else do it -- esp. in this economy when there are so many other expenses. I was stunned how expensive it was when we had a bunch replaced. Though there was a lot of “deferred” maintenance and it was a long time coming and one only has so much time and if one has a family, one tries to prioritize!

I was thinking of doing it myself. How hard can it be?

If I were to say, every couple of months replace (As needed) a few of them, and get them probably at an electrical supply house (Assuming i could get them at a trade price), I guess I could do my own work. Anyone have a suggested link or a book for idiots they’d suggest?

And would you recommend certain brands to look for? I assume the Home Depot stuff ain’t that good (but maybe it’s OK) and all of it’s made in China now. Maybe that’s OK too.

My only experience is changing outlets and making extension cords

But it’s something I’ve been meaning to tackle myself. I figure once I get the hang of it, it can’t be that hard.

So, just more of a post of me thinking aloud (sorry about that . . .)

The ones that would be more complicated would be the ones hanging from 40’ ceilings.

What I like about the old 8 ft’ers is they really seemed well made. The sheet metal housings, the “shades” that went over the top that helped reflect light down. You look at the new stuff and it just doesn’t seem built right. But replacing 1 8 ft’er with 2 4 ft’ers and man can you notice the light difference. And I think the costs are a lot more reasonable.

 

[Tyberius]

I'm confused.

Why are the 8 footers being replaced at all? And why are they being replaced with 4 footers?

The innards of all those can easily be replaced. Yes, sometimes the costs of the components exceed the costs of the new units, is that the reason?

 

[Kevin54]

We had that done at our shop a few years back. They took all the 8 footers out and replaced them with double 4 footer. One is that it is supposed to be energy saving over the older T8's, plus the utility companies give a break to the shop for doing it.

They may have cost less as far as electricity, but at the rate we were replacing bulbs and ballast was ridiculous. We probably had 50 fixtures total in the Toolroom. On the average, we were replacing maybe 5 bulbs a week, every week, and probably 2-3 ballast a month. So any money saved on electricity went right out the door in repairs.

They also took every incandescent bulb out and replaced them with the curly fluorescent bulbs. The thing is, the curly bulbs would hang upside down in the fixture and the heat off of them would melt out the silicone that held the bulb to the ceramic, or the heat destroyed the circuit board. They probably replace 2 dozen a month throughout the shop, @ $13 each. Yea, huge cost savings there. The incandescent bulbs they replaced had probably been on and hanging for 10 years.

 

[bczygan]

To answer the OP's question, there is no big secret about rehabbing your existing fixtures. You could do it. You simply need to find the right ballasts and see how to wire them. There may also have been a change to the pin type. Just check it all out and find a good source for the materials. Electrician probably has a trade discount at the supply house. You may not do as well.

Take a look at the ones that have already been done, and follow that method.

Your labor rate is probably less than the electrician, so you will save money overall.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

The old 8 ft bulbs are a bear to handle and store. The old T12 bulbs simply dont put out the light and cost more to operate. They do make a T8 that is 8 ft and with a change in ballast is a direct fit replacement for the old 8 ft T12. Still that is an odd and expensive bulb.

The best bet is to get new 4 bulb tandem strips which can be had with or without reflectors. 4 ft T8 bulbs are readily available anywhere and are dirt cheap. 70 % of ALL light fixtures made in the entire world are made in the Shanghi free trade zone. Kinda hard to avoid Chinese made fixtures.

Are these 120v or 277v? How high up? Are you using a scissor lift or scaffolding? Some locales do not allow non-tradesman to do electrical work in commercial businesses.

Charles

 

[Vinko]

We had that done at our shop a few years back. They took all the 8 footers out and replaced them with double 4 footer. One is that it is supposed to be energy saving over the older T8's, plus the utility companies give a break to the shop for doing it.

They may have cost less as far as electricity, but at the rate we were replacing bulbs and ballast was ridiculous. We probably had 50 fixtures total in the Toolroom. On the average, we were replacing maybe 5 bulbs a week, every week, and probably 2-3 ballast a month. So any money saved on electricity went right out the door in repairs.

Interesting. Thanks for the info. It may well be a double-edged thing then. I hope not

The T12’s replaced were complete toast. And the lighting was a lot better with the 2 4 ft’ers, I was told, rather than repairing the 8 ft. old T-12.

Utility co’s were subsidizing this a while back. We missed that opportunity, unfortunately. I looked into doing it myself (that is applying for the rebate) and it’s pages and pages and pages of fine print.

 

[Vinko]

The old 8 ft bulbs are a bear to handle and store.

Yep, they sure are

The old T12 bulbs simply dont put out the light and cost more to operate.

I didn’t really realize the light limitation until the replacements. You just accept it as the norm. But it really does make a difference having the others. Esp. over certain work areas. Makes a big difference and is, I think, safer.

They do make a T8 that is 8 ft and with a change in ballast is a direct fit replacement for the old 8 ft T12. Still that is an odd and expensive bulb.

That’s good to know. We were (and still are) buying the bulbs at Home Depot. Or at least we bought a lot last year sometime. I was told they were going to be phased out but didn’t get any particulars about that.

The best bet is to get new 4 bulb tandem strips which can be had with or without reflectors. 4 ft T8 bulbs are readily available anywhere and are dirt cheap.

This was what I was told was the best course to take and what we’ve done for those T-12 that have failed in the past few months. replaced the old 8’ T-12 for the 4 ft’rs in tandem. Again, before that, we had an old-timer (alas, retired for good), who would repair the ballasts. Just a superficial examination though: those old US-made T-12 housings and whatever-you-called-them: the “frame” (?) was really stout and well made compared to some of this stuff we replaced them with.

70 % of ALL light fixtures made in the entire world are made in the Shanghi free trade zone. Kinda hard to avoid Chinese made fixtures.

Just for the sake of curiosity, where are the other 30% made? And how’s the quality? And how easy is it to obtain them? Any places like McMaster-Carr or the like where I could at least take a look and see? And what are the qualitative differences between that 30% and the 70%. I suppose there’s a top of the market for most things, no matter the cost. Sorry for all the questions here, but you’ve got me curious

Are these 120v or 277v? How high up? Are you using a scissor lift or scaffolding? Some locales do not allow non-tradesman to do electrical work in commercial businesses.

120v. Most of what we’ve replaced we haven’t had to use a lift. But if we had, we built a cage that is lifted via forklift. The highest would exceed the lift’s capabilities though. My guess is 40’. We’ll have to get a little creative or we can borrow a scissor lift. Thanks for the heads up on possible restrictions though.



PS. Just found a few of your older posts here, Charles. Informative. I’ll take some photos and do some research, and find out exactly what I have and repost if I come up with other questions. Thanks again to everyone for their time. I appreciate it.

 

[Vinko]

To answer the OP's question, there is no big secret about rehabbing your existing fixtures. You could do it. You simply need to find the right ballasts and see how to wire them. There may also have been a change to the pin type. Just check it all out and find a good source for the materials. Electrician probably has a trade discount at the supply house. You may not do as well.

Take a look at the ones that have already been done, and follow that method.

Your labor rate is probably less than the electrician, so you will save money overall.

Thanks. I have gotten a few times the trade discount under an electrician’s account, so that’s been good. I don’t know how much of a lock the trades have on getting bulk supplies and fixtures wholesale, but I guess it varies by the area. I figured with the internet, I might be able to find something -- though it might make warranty more difficult. The labor does add up (and I don’t begrudge the trades for that), but I sure would like see if we can’t do some of it ourselves. At least on the weekend.