We recently installed 21 new 4' fixtures with two each 4' LED bulbs in my wife's shop. They're great, nice light, and plenty.
My research started here,
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=278420Note coupon codes in that first post applicable to below items.
We ended up ordering from here
These bulbs,
https://www.prolighting.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=GL07103-2MChoose the 4000 instead of the 5000 because the softer (less blue) seemed better for my wife's purposes, and I think they'd be great in my shop as well.
These bulbs wire from one end or both, direct wired 120V or with existing ballast. Keep it simple and more efficient by direct wiring them, from one end.
These fixtures,
https://www.prolighting.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=LSS2XT8USE4803 no ballast, just steel box with things to plug in the above lights. They're sturdy enough.
Next I'll buy more bulbs for my shop and remove the ballast from existing fixtures that take 4 bulbs each.
With a lot of lights it still adds up, but in the long run it's a pretty cheap option, and I believe the fixtures and LED bulbs are cheaper than the florescent fixtures I started with that have lasted ~10 years or a little more before replacing some ballast and bulbs.
Last thought, if you want solar power do that before you reduce power usage with LED lights. They don't generally want you to install more panels than your demand, which means averaging out you still owe the power company something each month or year instead of them owing you. So get that solar panel calculation done with your higher electrical load, then if you use less power with better lights or other energy saving measures you're more likely to have a zero or negative power bill.
Grigg
