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+1 (813) 649-8899The Benefits of Bypassing Your Ballast
LED Lighting is a highly efficient and more reliable method of lighting. Requiring only a fraction of the wattage needed for traditional Metal Halide and HID fixtures, it’s the sensible choice for cutting back on energy costs and lowering your energy bill.
With such efficiency, certain components from older lighting sources are now incompatible or obsolete, including the majority ballasts for older light fixtures. As such, it is now common for installers to bypass an existing ballast when retrofitting to LED in order to maximize an LED fixture’s potential savings and ensure a clean installation.
What is a Ballast Bypass?
For older light fixtures, a ballast was effectively treated as the main power supply for the light source. Used to control the current from a power source, this created a stable and longer-lasting light. However, LED technology now surpasses even these advancements, meaning that at best the ballasts are actually inhibiting any energy savings, as the same wattage is being used to power the ballast.
Even worse, the drivers on some LED fixtures are not even compatible with ballasts, leading to potential damage to the fixture. As a result, bypassing the ballast is necessary for the efficiency and longevity for LED retrofitting.
To do so, you simply remove the ballast cutting the wires as close to it as possible and rewire the fixture based on the product type and wiring needed to function.
Benefits of Ballast Bypass
One of the immediate benefits of bypassing your ballast is the cost effectiveness when switching over to LED. Without a ballast, the power is directly connected to the fixture, requiring less wattage and saving you energy.
Additionally this increases the overall lifespan and lower maintenance for an installation, as the ballast is no longer a potential cause for fixture failure.
As a result, bypassing a ballast for retrofitting to LED is a quick and easy way to increase energy savings and extend the life of your fixtures.
Feel free to reach out to us for any questions or assistance needed with your next retrofitting project! For any additional input or questions, please feel free to contact us by giving a call at (813) 649-8899 or simply by emailing us at sales@htm-lighting.com.
- Michael Tomas
