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I'm retrofitting the remaining 4 fluorescent tube lamp fixtures in my garage to use LED tubes. I've already removed the ballasts.
I'm debating whether to wire them for single-ended tubes or double-ended tubes.
Safety Test Shows Double-Ended EasiRetrofit LED Tube Safer Than Single Ended Tube For Maintenance - according to this page, double-ended tube fixtures are safer, because if someone accidentally puts a regular fluorescent tube into a single-ended fixture, it will cause a short. The short could burn out the tube, or if it's a 277V fixture, possibly even make the tube explode.
The Perfect Tube: What are the Differences Between Single-Ended LED Linear Light Tube and Double-Ended LED Linear Light Tube? - according to this page, double-ended tube fixtures were originally more dangerous, because someone putting up a tube, holding it on both ends, could potentially get shocked. Since then, double-ended tubes have features to prevent that.
Based on the above, I'm still not sure which are really better or safer.
The tombstone sockets on my fixtures are not shunted, so they are ok for either kind of tube. They are however, discolored, as are the fixtures themselves (from white to shades of gray), apparently from the heat generated by the old tubes and/or ballasts. So I might end up replacing the sockets anyway, to be on the safe side.
For the 2 fixtures that I already retrofitted in 2014, I used single-ended tubes. It would be best to have all the garage lamp fixtures be consistent, so I should probably use single-ended ones in the other fixtures too.
But I'd hate to do that and a couple years down the line find out that single-ended ones are obsolete, and aren't made anymore. Or vice versa.
Or it may be that tubes in general will become obsolete, as new fixtures will tend to have the LEDs built-in rather than as separate bulbs.
Lowes seems to only have the kind of LED tubes that require a ballast to still be present. I expect those to become obsolete eventually, as LEDs don't inherently require ballasts. But if everyone installs these kind of LED tubes, maybe they'll eventually end up replacing the ballasts too.
Home Depot has some of those kind and some of the ones that work without ballasts. Their product pages don't say if the LED tubes are single or double-ended. I suspect the latter.
But other stores have more choices, so I won't be buying from Home Depot anyway.
Another thing to decide is whether to get glass tubes or shatterproof plastic ones. If I knew the plastic wouldn't discolor over time, that would seem the better choice. I think the LED tubes I have already are plastic.
And then, frosted versus clear. The existing LED tubes I have are clear.
Here are some that say Dual-End & Single-End Powered, Works with/Without Ballast. I wonder how they can work as either dual or single ended, with the same tube. I guess they must have something inside to detect which pins have voltage across them?
I'm debating whether to wire them for single-ended tubes or double-ended tubes.
Safety Test Shows Double-Ended EasiRetrofit LED Tube Safer Than Single Ended Tube For Maintenance - according to this page, double-ended tube fixtures are safer, because if someone accidentally puts a regular fluorescent tube into a single-ended fixture, it will cause a short. The short could burn out the tube, or if it's a 277V fixture, possibly even make the tube explode.
The Perfect Tube: What are the Differences Between Single-Ended LED Linear Light Tube and Double-Ended LED Linear Light Tube? - according to this page, double-ended tube fixtures were originally more dangerous, because someone putting up a tube, holding it on both ends, could potentially get shocked. Since then, double-ended tubes have features to prevent that.
Based on the above, I'm still not sure which are really better or safer.
The tombstone sockets on my fixtures are not shunted, so they are ok for either kind of tube. They are however, discolored, as are the fixtures themselves (from white to shades of gray), apparently from the heat generated by the old tubes and/or ballasts. So I might end up replacing the sockets anyway, to be on the safe side.
For the 2 fixtures that I already retrofitted in 2014, I used single-ended tubes. It would be best to have all the garage lamp fixtures be consistent, so I should probably use single-ended ones in the other fixtures too.
But I'd hate to do that and a couple years down the line find out that single-ended ones are obsolete, and aren't made anymore. Or vice versa.
Or it may be that tubes in general will become obsolete, as new fixtures will tend to have the LEDs built-in rather than as separate bulbs.
Lowes seems to only have the kind of LED tubes that require a ballast to still be present. I expect those to become obsolete eventually, as LEDs don't inherently require ballasts. But if everyone installs these kind of LED tubes, maybe they'll eventually end up replacing the ballasts too.
Home Depot has some of those kind and some of the ones that work without ballasts. Their product pages don't say if the LED tubes are single or double-ended. I suspect the latter.
But other stores have more choices, so I won't be buying from Home Depot anyway.
Another thing to decide is whether to get glass tubes or shatterproof plastic ones. If I knew the plastic wouldn't discolor over time, that would seem the better choice. I think the LED tubes I have already are plastic.
And then, frosted versus clear. The existing LED tubes I have are clear.
Here are some that say Dual-End & Single-End Powered, Works with/Without Ballast. I wonder how they can work as either dual or single ended, with the same tube. I guess they must have something inside to detect which pins have voltage across them?