Metal Halide to LED Conversion

[A/A Fuel GTX]

I have a parking garage with ceiling mounted 100w metal halide fixtures the customer wants converted to LED. The existing fixtures are fed via surface mounted EMT entering and leaving the fixtures at opposite ends. Removing the existing fixtures and replacing will be extremely labor intensive. Has anyone tried removing the ballast and associated components and simply feeding the existing socket with 120V and using a screw in LED lamp of equal output in a situation like this?

 

[mjf]

I have a parking garage with ceiling mounted 100w metal halide fixtures the customer wants converted to LED. The existing fixtures are fed via surface mounted EMT entering and leaving the fixtures at opposite ends. Removing the existing fixtures and replacing will be extremely labor intensive. Has anyone tried removing the ballast and associated components and simply feeding the existing socket with 120V and using a screw in LED lamp of equal output in a situation like this?

I believe eliminating the ballast compromises the UL listing of the luminaire.

 

[GoldDigger]

You might be hard pressed to find a screw in LED that included the driver circuitry that gave that light output.
An LED that was a 100w incandescent replacement would not do that.

Tapatalk!

 

[tom baker]

We just purchased some but have not installed. From a company called Light Efficent Design. A replacement for a 400 W MH is $388, 150 watts. They have many types.
2014 NEC requires these to be listed.
Note the ballast has to be wired around. In Washington we have a requirement for these luminaires that are modified to be labeled in a prominent place.

 

[LEO2854]

I have a parking garage with ceiling mounted 100w metal halide fixtures the customer wants converted to LED. The existing fixtures are fed via surface mounted EMT entering and leaving the fixtures at opposite ends. Removing the existing fixtures and replacing will be extremely labor intensive. Has anyone tried removing the ballast and associated components and simply feeding the existing socket with 120V and using a screw in LED lamp of equal output in a situation like this?

Here is a video that will give an idea on how it's being done out there..

 

[A/A Fuel GTX]

We just purchased some but have not installed. From a company called Light Efficent Design. A replacement for a 400 W MH is $388, 150 watts. They have many types.
2014 NEC requires these to be listed.
Note the ballast has to be wired around. In Washington we have a requirement for these luminaires that are modified to be labeled in a prominent place.

Sounds fair enough to me. I guess by keeping the guts in the fixture, one has the option to return to the original lighting method. I've got to act on this quickly so please respond with any post conversion feedback after you have installed the LED's.

 

[A/A Fuel GTX]

We just purchased some but have not installed. From a company called Light Efficent Design. A replacement for a 400 W MH is $388, 150 watts. They have many types.
2014 NEC requires these to be listed.
Note the ballast has to be wired around. In Washington we have a requirement for these luminaires that are modified to be labeled in a prominent place.

Tom.....I ordered and just received some LED retrofits from Light Efficient Design. The instructions state the ballast on the retrofitted fixture can be wired around or removed so I assume either way is legal. The label stating the fixture has been modified is included with the new lamp.

 

[TNBaer]

The problem with this stuff, and it's not just a single manufacturer like Light Efficient Design, is that these products largely do not have any third party testing. These things are lots of wattage without really any way to cool them. Simply put, they negate the long life aspect of LEDs. There's no magic here, you just can't push 100 lumens per watt in an enclosed space without proper thermals and get long life without a steep lumen maintenance curve.

For the price you paid you could buy a brand new fixture from a major manufacturer (or even a B-Grade line) that would do the job and have the proper third party testing to ensure it'll do what it says it'll do.

For instance, I frequently sell 40 Watt Canopy lights for under $200, with proper labels and such. I also sell high wattage lamps similar to Light Efficient Designs products (in fact, they probably come off the same factory line) but it's not my recommendation that anyone spend their money on such things.

 

[mgookin]

...

For the price you paid you could buy a brand new fixture from a major manufacturer (or even a B-Grade line) that would do the job and have the proper third party testing to ensure it'll do what it says it'll do.

....

That is a common misunderstanding. Third party listing is not quality assurance. It is safety. Operate it at the manufacturer's specs and the presumption is that it will be safe to operate (i.e. it will not catch fire or electrocute someone).

 

[A/A Fuel GTX]

For the price you paid you could buy a brand new fixture from a major manufacturer (or even a B-Grade line) that would do the job and have the proper third party testing to ensure it'll do what it says it'll do.

You are correct however when you figure in the cost to modify the conduit system, in my case this is a parking garage with all conduit surface mounted, and with removing and repulling the wire, the cost to retro fit is very enticing to the customer. If it were just a matter of removing an existing fixture and replacing it, I totally agree with you. In this case there are conduits entering and leaving the existing fixtures on opposite ends of the units.