LED lighting retrofit ???

[Davebones]

Management is looking into possibility of installing all new flat LED type 2' X 4' lay in light fixtures in all of our drop ceiling areas . Also converting the manufacturing floor lights to all LED type's . We have around 185,000 sq ft of total space so this would be quite a few light fixtures . We have a lot of machines with VFD's thru out the plant . How concerned about adding harmonic's to electrical system should we concerned about ? Any recommendations on what we should consider before doing a complete change out ??

 

[JFletcher]

See what size your main service neutral is compared to the ungrounded phase conductors, maybe take a set of current readings. I may be wrong, however I do not believe that fluorescent ballast are devoid of harmonics themselves.

It seems to me you would have to really be pushing the capacity of the service to have a chance of frying the neutral with triple-n harmonics.

While harmonics from LEDs can be a factor, you also have to keep in mind you're going to shed quite a bit of power usage switching from hid or fluorescent to LED lighting.

also would be a good time to see if your existing loads are balanced.

Using line to line voltage for the lights would seem to me to bypass any (more) harmonic issues in the neutral