This LEDs Magazine column says — maybe NOT.
The allure of a ready market is just too much of an enticement for SSL manufacturers. Plug-and-play LED lamps enable facility managers to gradually transition to LED technology by simply stocking LED lamps or tubes rather than legacy products. The LED replacements will pay off through energy savings and longer life — presumably.
The LED products that work with ballasts sound at first like a win-win situation. And I won’t suggest that the idea of installing such a product is a terrible decision. In some cases, it may be a good decision and for some organizations the only path toward SSL, given the cost of comprehensive building retrofits.
Still, building managers and owners or businesses that buy the LED replacements need to understand the full consequences of the choice. The existing ballast does represent an additional point of failure. Proponents of the technology will tell you that state-of-the-art ballasts will last virtually as long as LED lamps, especially since the ballasts operate at far lower temperatures while supplying a lesser power load to LED lamps.
But what are the chances that the fixture, into which you install a new replacement lamp or tube, also has a state-of-the-art ballast? I’d say near zero.
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