[Shop-talk] flourescent to led changeover

[John Bach]

My garage has 12 4 foot 2 tube fixtures. about 5 years ago I dumped all 
the fluorescent bulbs and ballasts and went to led. Tombstones were fast 
and easy to change. Only need to do 1 end. Rewiring took 5 minutes per 
fixture. I used all 5000k daylight bulbs. Tremendous difference. I now 
have light in corners that were just shadows. I am in NW Ohio where it 
gets very cold. I put some in my shed and trailer with no heat and they 
come on immediately. I don't know for you if 4 foot or 8 foot will be 
cheaper but I do know I would do it again. Actually option 1 sounds like 
the way to go if 1 8 foot ballast will light 2 4 foot bulbs. I don't 
know that answer. If you need to buy more ballasts that could be bad. I 
used all no-ballast bulbs. Good luck.

On 10/19/2026 1:09 PM, john niolon wrote:
> Hi all
> My 30 year old 8' t-12 (single pin) garage fixtures are slowly 
> dying...(4 total double tube)
> the old t-12s are hard to find and expensive (16-20 bucks a tube)
> Want to change to led... lots of options  - 8' led tubes are expensive 
> too ...
> I was gifted a box of 20 4' bi-pin bulbs that work with a 
> ballast...(heat sink)
> option 1
> if I use these I'd have to change all the tombstones to bi-pin and 
> figure out the
> shunted vs non shunted type...  AND find the 8' to 4' fixture 
> conversion kits (adding the middle tombstones
> option 2
> 8' type a led single pin tubes (about the same price as 8' 
> fluorescent) and use a ballast
> not great reviews when shipped...
> option 3
> replace all the crap with the internet specials  linkable stick lights 
> and hope they work
> comments on options ????
> questions... when using the ballast type plug and plays... aren't I 
> using more electricity using the ballast
> and heating it up... is there any savings here ???
> please educate the old dummy on best (least expensive) options
>
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