Lighting Insights Blog | Expertise and Education in Commercial Lighting

Does bypassing the ballast with an LED tube void the UL rating on a fixture?

Posted by Tad Mehringer on Jul 17, 2019 3:00:00 PM

Unlike fluorescents, some linear LEDs do not need a ballast to power up and produce light. So, a lot of our customers have been asking us about the safety of just bypassing the ballast and direct-wiring their LED tubes.

Several years ago, we saw a lot of problems with this. People were using the wrong sockets. Fires were starting because of mistakes during install. Fluorescent tubes were accidentally post-installed instead of LED tubes, and they were failing immediately when they came into contact with the line voltage running to the sockets.

Back then, we were adamant with our warnings against ballast-bypass linear LED solutions. There were just too many safety hazards for us to recommend this, and the technology wasn't quite there.

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Topics: Ballast, LED retrofit, Commercial office lighting

How to purchase LED lighting on a tight budget

Posted by Brad Newbold on Jul 11, 2019 9:30:00 AM

There is no other way to put it -- the lighting industry is becoming increasingly complicated.

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Topics: LED, Energy efficiency, LED retrofit

Common light bulbs and LED upgrades for hotels

Posted by Caitlin Ferrell on Dec 3, 2018 11:53:00 AM

The perfect hotel lighting needs to be functional, aesthetically pleasing, and efficient. It can be difficult to find lighting that achieves all of these things, but our team is here to cut through the complexity.

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Topics: Energy efficiency, Parking Garage Lighting, Hotel lighting, Hallway lighting, LED retrofit

Common light bulbs and LED upgrades for parking garages

Posted by Caitlin Ferrell on Nov 26, 2018 1:47:00 PM

Proper lighting is key in providing a positive tenant, guest, or shopper experience in any parking garage. In many respects, it's a first impression for the people visiting your facility and shouldn't be overlooked.

This lighting typically remains on 24/7, so it’s important to have long-life bulbs to avoid burnouts at the wrong time. Additionally, these 24/7 burn-time light fixtures present a quick payback on energy-efficient LED upgrades.

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Topics: Parking Garage Lighting, HID, Hospital lighting, Fluorescent light, LED retrofit, Commercial office lighting

Common incandescent light bulbs and LED retrofits by application

Posted by Andrew Thomas on Sep 5, 2018 4:05:27 PM

There's a long and heated debate about the use of incandescent light bulbs. We have debunked the myth that incandescent bulbs were banned in the US, but the reality is that efficiency standards have changed the way consumers shop for lighting.

And with changing efficiency standards come changes in product availability.

Regardless of your stance on the political side of this issue, we still need light in our homes, offices, schools, gyms, airports –– you get the idea. So, we get regular questions about where to buy incandescent light bulbs or what the best options are for converting to LED.

We're interested in making lighting easy for our customers, so we've put together a list of the most common places you might find an incandescent bulb along with links for where you can buy either the incandescent product or a compatible LED upgrade.

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Topics: Product Comparison, LED, Energy efficiency, Hotel lighting, Incandescent lighting, LED retrofit, Multifamily lighting

Lighting Terms Glossary: 2018 Edition

Posted by Brittany Woodard on Feb 6, 2018 10:58:00 AM

As we start a new year full of new retrofit, design, and maintenance projects, we've updated our Lighting Terms Glossary to include some important terms that you'll want to be aware of this year.

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Topics: Lighting 101, Lighting maintenance, LED retrofit, Lighting as a service

Where are the best places for LED tubes in commercial offices?

Posted by Mike Zeccardi on Sep 6, 2017 10:30:00 AM

Replacement LED tubes for T12/T8/T5 bulbs have come a long way over the last couple of years. Between questions on plug-and-play versus bypass ballast to figuring out when it’s the right time to retrofit, it’s clear that linear LEDs are here to stay.

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Topics: LED, Fluorescent light, LED retrofit, Commercial office lighting

Here are 4 hot LED lighting rebate programs that could jumpstart your next retrofit

Posted by Tad Mehringer on Aug 30, 2017 3:10:00 PM

Energy rebates can be a big boost for building improvement projects, like a lighting retrofit. But is the reward even worth the hassle?

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Topics: Savings, Payback, & ROI, Lighting rebates, Energy efficiency, Energy savings, LED retrofit

Limited project capital? Try these 3 pro tips to reap big savings from an easy LED retrofit

Posted by Ron Pilner on Jul 25, 2017 5:05:00 PM

What products should you retrofit to LED first?

Our lighting experts get that question all the time. Fortunately, there’s a pretty simple answer.

If you have any applications in your building that still have incandescent or halogen lighting, start there first. Why?

The retrofit from incandescent or halogen to LED gives you the biggest energy savings and almost always the fastest return on investment. We all want to make our money back quickly on investments, right? If you’re using linear or compact fluorescent lighting anywhere in your building, your lighting is already fairly efficient, especially when compared with incandescent or halogen lighting.

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Topics: LED, Savings, Payback, & ROI, Project Management, LED retrofit

UT Dallas retrofits from HID to LED in arena to boost performance and controllability

Posted by Sean Walters on Apr 17, 2017 5:15:00 AM

The University of Texas at Dallas faced a number of problems with the metal halides it was using to light its Activity Center. If you've used high intensity discharge (HID) lighting before, you can probably empathize with their troubles. The challenges the university was facing with its HID lighting system are commonplace –– the very ones you'd expect with HID.

Click here to see how we helped make UT Dallas' lighting easier

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Topics: LED, HID, LED dimming, Education facility, LED retrofit

Practical advice on commercial lighting from LED retrofits to lighting design.

Does bypassing the ballast with an LED tube void the UL rating on a fixture?

How to purchase LED lighting on a tight budget

Common light bulbs and LED upgrades for hotels

Common light bulbs and LED upgrades for parking garages

Common incandescent light bulbs and LED retrofits by application

Lighting Terms Glossary: 2018 Edition

Where are the best places for LED tubes in commercial offices?

Here are 4 hot LED lighting rebate programs that could jumpstart your next retrofit

Limited project capital? Try these 3 pro tips to reap big savings from an easy LED retrofit

UT Dallas retrofits from HID to LED in arena to boost performance and controllability

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