I had a similar setup and just swapped the tubes with LED ones, bypassing the ballast like others mentioned. The whole thing lit up fine after that, no flicker. I did this for my garage first, then did something similar with wall lights in a hallway—just had to check how they were wired before messing with them. Swapping tubes isn't too tricky once you figure out the wiring layout.
The old fluorescent lamp did have an inrush, and also very voltage dependent, at one time we saw voltage optimisers used to reduce the excess power used when we got high voltage, the move from magnetic to electronic ballasts, resulted in higher lumen output, and lower current, and longer life, and also it auto adjusted for voltage variations, so the optimiser was no longer required.
Firm i work for has removed thousands of T8 and T5 tube fittings and replaced with led fittings in retail stores, all still with existing mcbs often original since the 1980s and I don't recall any issues.
I would say that the short answer is that virtually no-one would even consider that, let alone do it!
What is this "higher inrush current" (with LEDs) you're postulating? For a start, LED lighting uses dramatically less current than any of the historical alternatives, so all currents (both 'running' and 'at start up') will be lower with LEDs. Furthermore, whilst both fluorescent and incandescent lighting has/had (for different reasons) appreciable 'inrush current' at switch-on, there may (theoretically) be no appreciable 'inrush' current with LED lighting - it depends entirely on how they are powered.
It is based on a few things I have read, see the link.
adlt.com.au
Fair enough. It appears that the crux of what the article is saying is ....It is based on a few things I have read, see the link. ...LED Driver Inrush Currents | LED Lighting Solutions | ADLT
A Light Emitting Diode (LED) is an electronic device (chip) that produces light when an electrical current is passed through it.
The article goes on to say ...
That really reinforces your suggestion that this is only ever likely to be become an even remotely significant issue in relation to large commercial installations. 150W or 220W of LED lighting is probably more than the total of all LED lighting in a standard domestic property, and the use of 7-10 or 6-8 of such drivers (i.e. 1,050W - 1,320W) is a world far divorced from anything 'domestic'.
Quite so. With the simplest LEDs (no external driver), it's likely to be minimal but, for the larger ('commercial') drivers, it may well be more significant, primarily due to filter capacitors (just like any other electrical/electronic equipment).
Yes - I should probably have said 'LED driver' rather than simply 'LED'.
Thanks for your answer. I was as surprised as anyone when I first heard about the high inrush of an LED (driver), and wondered if it was just another money-making scare by the manufacturers of electrical components. I still wonder if anyone, anywhere, actually implements this MCB upgrade, especially in places like Tesco , Sainsburys etc., hence my asking if anyone here has experience of it.
As I've said, it may be an issue in massive commercial installations, but probably no more of an issue than if they had countless phone chargers, modems, TVs/monitors, 'cash registers etc. etc. In all cases, it's the power supplies/drivers that could have significant inrush currents, regardless of whether they are supplying LEDs or anything else. Because of their size and multiplicity of loads, large commercial electrical installations are a very different world from domestic ones
Whatever is behind those figures (and whether they make any sense!), I find it very hard to believe that it is anything to do with 'inrush current'.
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