# Going from fluorescents to LEDs in a warehouse, need advice.



## Jakaii (Jan 3, 2019)

I have a customer who just leased a relatively small warehouse space (5,000 sq ft) and he intends to sell mattresses in it and wants brighter light. 

The fixtures are approx 18' off the floor and they are currently 4-bulb 48" reflective fixtures with 54W T5 HO bulbs in them. (The exact bulbs are Satco HyGrade F54T5/835HO/ENV)

My customer's budget is tight, and because of that I'm recommending he choose ballast bypass LED's. The original fluorescents say mean lumens are roughly 4650. 

One of the best choices for an LED replacement I've found is a Euri 3500 lumen 4000K 25W LED with double-ended wiring (can be used with shunted sockets)

My actual question is this: Will these LEDs definitely provide brighter light than the former fluorescents? Or would a 2x4' LED panel be better?

Thanks in advance for advice.


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## Malywr (Jan 23, 2018)

Jakaii said:


> I have a customer who just leased a relatively small warehouse space (5,000 sq ft) and he intends to sell mattresses in it and wants brighter light.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




4-T5 54W are pretty bright LED tubes should not give you more light but will save energy 
At 18’ I would recommend low bay or high bay lamps they are much better in my opinion for that if you use tubes remove ballast and power directly it works better and brighter 


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

I have become a bit more cynical about retrofits.
Personally, I would keep those nice T5-HOs unless more than 1/4 of them are out.
Otherwise, I would swap all of them out with properly engineered LED fixtures.
BTW,
They now they have plug and play retrofits.


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## Jakaii (Jan 3, 2019)

Thanks for the quick replies.


Malywr said:


> 4-T5 54W are pretty bright LED tubes should not give you more light but will save energy.


They definitely won't be brighter? I thought they'd be at least a little brighter due to the directional LEDs and the upgrade from 3500k to 4000k. 


> At 18’ I would recommend low bay or high bay lamps they are much better in my opinion for that


 I agree but the issue with that is they're 2x to 3x the cost.



> Otherwise, I would swap all of them out with properly engineered LED fixtures.
> BTW,
> They now they have plug and play retrofits.


 Would a 2x4 LED troffer rated at, say, 4200 lumens be brighter or dimmer than 4x of the 3500 lumen LED tubes? And I know about plug and plays but there's limited selection of LEDs for T5's and I'd prefer his new lights not be dependent on the ballasts.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

The last retro I did we used what the sales guy called "T5HO killers"

They worked out very well and had a built in occupancy sensor.


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## Jakaii (Jan 3, 2019)

Southeast Power said:


> The last retro I did we used what the sales guy called "T5HO killers"
> 
> They worked out very well and had a built in occupancy sensor.


Do you know what model of light those were? 

All this info considered, I'm leaning towards recommending my customer buy 8050 lumen LED low bay lights from 1000bulbs for $77. They would effectively double the current brightness and almost quarter his lighting wattage, if he's willing to pay for them.


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## Galt (Sep 11, 2013)

How about leaving existing lights and add some LEDS. The reflectors on hibays don't do any good with the LED replacements.


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## Forge Boyz (Nov 7, 2014)

What benefit is he looking for by changing them out? Short term, lowest cost is leaving them in and using them till they quit. Long term, lowest cost would likely be replacing them with quality LED highbays. Can he get rebates to help cover the cost of the fixtures? And that 8050 lumen fixture I really doubt will be equivalent to the t-5's

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## Jakaii (Jan 3, 2019)

Forge Boyz said:


> What benefit is he looking for by changing them out? Short term, lowest cost is leaving them in and using them till they quit. Long term, lowest cost would likely be replacing them with quality LED highbays. Can he get rebates to help cover the cost of the fixtures? And that 8050 lumen fixture I really doubt will be equivalent to the t-5's
> 
> Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk


More light is his goal. He wants to use the area as a sort of showroom. and the 3500K color temperature of the current T5s is not doing it any favors.


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## Forge Boyz (Nov 7, 2014)

Try something like this https://www.shineretrofits.com/atg-...-bay-fixture-frosted-lens-dimmable-5000k.html . It will be far better than a retrofit and this particular fixture has a 10 year warranty. If you contact the seller and give them the room dimensions they can give you a layout and light level. Also if you get a quote the price will probably be lower than website price
Another thing: buy the fixtures yourself. Don't give the markup away.

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## MikesLights (Nov 27, 2018)

I would probably use 2 foot 110 Watt LED high bays for this application. You'd need less fixtures, it would halve energy costs, more than triple lumen output, and 5000k CCT would make it appear brighter and give the showroom that bright white light hes looking for. I had a buddy put 4 165 Watt ones in his warehouse with the exact same dimensions and hes super happy with them, only complaint was they were almost too bright lol But theyre dimmable if you care to wire them to a dimmer switch.. Tubes arent the way to go in a ceiling that high and for the look hes going for.


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

Sounds like he's turning storage space into retail space.

First thing is needs is a bright colored walls & ceiling/ roof underside. That alone will light the place up.


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## Malywr (Jan 23, 2018)

MikeFL said:


> Sounds like he's turning storage space into retail space.
> 
> First thing is needs is a bright colored walls & ceiling/ roof underside. That alone will light the place up.




Simple stuff ... easy to overlook


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## CTshockhazard (Aug 28, 2009)

Someone trying to start a retail business should really loosen the tightness of their budget in regards to such important matters.


Saving a couple bucks in this instance could prove disastrous.


I would defer this type of thing to a retail sales lighting expert, and I don't mean someone that works in a retail store selling lighting.


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