Did you know that LED lights can cut down your utility bills by half? Lighting your home or office can take up a major part of your electricity bills. This can change, if you switch your fluorescent lights with LED lighting.

You can do the switch in two ways. You can change your current fixtures to make them work for LEDs. Or, you can replace the fixtures completely.

These two are just a broader choice of what you can do. There are several other options. Factors such as location and the type of fixtures present control the selection you make. Your budget and lighting needs also influence the choice.

Regardless of the option you select, LEDs offer good benefits. You will find your energy usage has come down along with operating expenses. And, lamp life is also prolonged.

In this blog, we discuss how you can use LEDs and reduce your utility bills.

1. LED Retrofitting – replacing fluorescent tubes with LED Tubes

Use LED retrofit tubes to replace your existing fluorescent tubes. You need not replace the entire fixture. So, this is not expensive. But you have to do some rewiring work. This is because you have to bypass the ballast in the fixture. You wire the mains directly to electric sockets.

Pros of Retrofitting

This process is energy saving as the ballast uses about 10% of energy used by the fixture. Another benefit with this method is you can avoid failures of ballast. There will be no annoying dimness or flickering. You can find retrofit tubes in standard models and models with high efficiency.

The brightness doubles when you replace a fixture of 4 foot with 4 fluorescent tubes with four LED tubes. The brightness can increase based on the lumen rating of the LED tube you use.

Electricity usage is also very efficient. LEDs use around 80W for the 4 lamps and 4-foot LED fixture as against 172W in case of fluorescent tubes. This is for the standard models. The savings is more for the high efficiency models. A single ultra-high LED light can replace 2 fluorescent lights. That is, 40 W power consumption against 128W.

Another advantage is rebates from utility provider. This is for the energy saving upgrades you do to your lighting. You can avail this, if you buy an LED with DLC listing. You can also get LEDs without DLC listing.

Lamp life is also prolonged. You can expect 50,000 hours on an average for an LED. With fluorescent lamps, the life expectancy is around 30,000 hours.

2. Use Magnetic LED Strips In Place Of Fluorescent Lights

Upgrade your fluorescent lights with magnetic LED strips. This method has the advantage of hassle free set up.

Pros of Magnetic LED Strips

Being magnetic, the LED driver and strips fix easily to metal fixtures. Both use magnets and can quickly attach themselves to a metallic fixture. Wiring of power to sockets is not needed. You can connect the driver to the power source and link the driver to strips using the included quick connects. The LED Driver replaces the old ballast and the strips replace the bulbs. Frosted covers are included for fixtures that do not have a frosted cover, providing a ‘fluorescent’ look.

Brightness is higher for the ultra-high LED strips when compared to the Lumen LED tubes mentioned above. The strips use around 30W for two 4 ft strips  fixtures and 60W for four 4ft strips. Lumens are 2100 lumens per strip. Strips are available in 1, 2, 3 and 4 per set. One driver is all you need for each set.

3. Replace Fluorescent Fixture with LED Fixture

Replace the entire fluorescent fixture with LED fixture and LED tubes. The LED ready models we have work with all models of LED tubes.

Pros of LED Fixtures

No rewiring is needed, other than the wiring that is required to replace the fixture. The main advantage is you will be able to take advantage of many of the new features of LED – light distribution, color temperatures and better light levels. Plus if your fixtures are old or the lenses are yellowed of faded, this upgrade will immediately fix those issues.

4. Replace with LED Panels

The panel light model is for surface mounting or drop ceilings. This panel light keeps the troffer look intact in spite of the trendy look. This type of LED fitting is perfect for use in suspended grid ceilings. For flat ceilings, you can surface mount it.

Pros of LED Fixtures

Lighting is evenly spread and distributed without any dim spots. Lighting in the panel looks even and pleasing. It provides brightest option for replacement of a 2×4 fixture with 2 tubes. For a 2×4 fixture, it offers 5000 lumens and uses 40W. The average lamp life is 100,000 hours. DLC listed panels are available for getting rebate on utility bill.

Optionally, we have color changing and dimming panels. If you’re unsure what color temperature to choose, worry no longer. By simply using the supplied remote, you can easily change color temperature and light levels to suit any requirement

5. Replace With Linear LED Fixtures

This is an all in one linear LED light fixture. It is very slim and sleek. The integrated LED lights are similar in size to a fluorescent tube. You can suspend them from wires or surface mount them. These lights are very popular replacement in shops.

Pros of LED Linear Fixtures

Brightness level is higher than fixtures with tubes. It gives longer lamp life, saving expense of frequent replacements. Protection from water and dust is present with this integrated design. Other options include vapor tight and water-proof. We can easily replace fluorescent lighting with these models providing you with a bright and evenly lit work area.