5 Reasons to Upgrade Your Business to LED Lighting—Today Reading How Can I Tell What Kind of Ballast My Fluorescent Fixture Has? 2 minutes Next How to Upgrade a Fluorescent Troffer to LED

How Can I Tell What Kind of Ballast My Fluorescent Fixture Has?

Regardless of whether you're looking to use retrofit or ballast compatible LED tubes in your existing fluorescent fixtures, you'll need to know what kind of ballast your fixture has. 

For retrofit LED tubes, you'll be re-wiring your fixture to bypass the existing ballast, and just how that re-wiring is to be done depends on the type of ballast you have.

On the other hand, if you're using ballast compatible or "plug and play" LED tubes, you have ensure that the tubes you're buying are compatible with the type of ballast your fixtures have. 

To help you out, ELEDLights has made a handy diagram. 

 Diagram showing wiring for magnetic ballast vs. electronic ballast vs. instant-start ballast 


For those of you using retrofit LED tubes, you'll want to note that, with fixtures that have instant-start ballasts, you'll need to replace the G13 socket (also known as "tombstone" or "lampholder") nearest where the power comes into the fixture to a non-shunted G13 socket. Don't worry: the tombstone replacements, like the ballast rewiring in the first place, is a quick, simple task.

You can find 2ft, 4ft, and 8ft LED fluorescent replacements at ELEDLights.com—and if you want to replace your entire fixture instead of worrying about the ballast, we carry LED-ready linear fixtures too!

The Latest Articles from ELEDLights

URGENT: Time to Upgrade Your Fluorescent Light Fixtures to LED

URGENT: Time to Upgrade Your Fluorescent Light Fixtures to LED

With fluorescent supplies disappearing from shelves and regulatory compliance becoming mandatory, now is the critical time to upgrade to LED lighting.
Overhead-Reducing Lighting Upgrade at Thompson Lexus Willow Grove

Overhead-Reducing Lighting Upgrade at Thompson Lexus Willow Grove

Stroll through the lots of Thompson Lexus Willow Grove and you’ll see more than shiny vehicles—you’ll feel an intentional glow. In December 2024, this Bucks County Lexus teamed up with ELEDLights t...
Maximize Business Tax Savings with a 100% Deductible Lighting Upgrade This Year

Maximize Business Tax Savings with a 100% Deductible Lighting Upgrade This Year

It's official: Congress has passed the “Big, Beautiful Tax Bill,” and with it comes a major win for businesses — the return of 100% bonus depreciation. If you purchase and install qualifying equipm...
Trinity Lutheran School’s Bright Transformation:  How Schools Can Get LED Lighting at $1 Per Fixture

Trinity Lutheran School’s Bright Transformation: How Schools Can Get LED Lighting at $1 Per Fixture

Normally, these 4ft LED fixtures are priced at $101 each—which means a full replacement could have easily cost tens of thousands in fixture costs. However, by leveraging utility rebates applied ins...