You most likely do! If you have these troffer fixtures and they have not already been retrofitted to LED, then they most likely contain T12 or T8 fluorescent tubes, and there are LED alternatives that can save you quite a bit of money over the long term and prove to be a smart investment for your business.
Generally speaking, there are 3 options when it comes to retrofitting these fixtures to more energy-efficient alternatives:
- Re-lamp existing tubes with energy-efficient LED tubes
- Change existing ballast to new one & re-lamp existing tubes with energy-efficient LED tubes
- Change whole fixture to new LED flat panel
There are pros and cons to each option, depending on what you are looking for and what your budget is. The simplest option is number 1, where you simply swap out the existing lamps and replace each with an LED tube that can consume up to half the energy. This will only work if the existing fluorescent tubes are T8, because LED tubes will not be compatible with a T12 ballast. This is the lowest cost option in terms of product and labour. The only con to this option is that you are still relying on the current ballast to operate the lamps, and depending on how old it is, you will need to prepare to make service calls to an electrician to replace it sooner or later when it dies, because then the lamps will no longer be able to operate.
To avoid having to make that service call in the near future, the next best option is to change the existing ballast to a newer one at the same time as re-lamping the existing tubes. This will give peace of mind knowing you have new ballasts along with new lamps. As mentioned previously, if your fixtures currently contain T12 lamps and ballasts, then you need to change the ballast anyways because the T8 LED tubes will only be compatible with T8 ballasts.
The third option is to replace the entire fixture with a new LED flat panel. Although the upfront cost is the highest for this option compared with the others, it is a much better long-term investment because the LED panels do not contain ballasts, so you are saving money in ongoing maintenance costs over a 50,000 hour lifespan of these particular fixtures. You will realize significant energy savings, more lighting, and a much better overall look going with this option.
If you have any questions at all, or require further information regarding your troffer lighting system, feel free to reach out to our office at 416-548-7847.