When my brother was helping with the construction he worked in the garage under our old florescent light bulbs. We had to supplement with extra lighting to see well enough to do the work. He told me that older florescent bulbs not only were dimmer but they use more electricity as they age. Although the bulbs were still lighting they were black at the ends. So with this encouragement I ordered new LED bulbs as replacements for the old 4 foot florescent bulbs.
Hypericon LED T8 Bulbs
Some of the replacement bulbs require only newer ballasts or rewiring to eliminate the ballast. But the ones I ordered were labeled as working with or without the ballast.
The lights came with instructions to remove the ballast but I decided to try the bulbs without removing them. I had to run the lights only one way in the “tombstones”. This is the new word I learned for the bulb holders in the long fixtures. They didn’t light one way but they did the other.
Although the lights work in the fixtures, one light shines dimmer than the other. Not sure why but maybe it is the power going through the ballast. Someday I will try wiring without the ballast but for now it is nice to have new brighter lights in the garage that also use less electricity.
Garage Lights