Greetings,

I welcome advice for a control unit and for luminaries / fixtures.

This is the kind of fixture in place https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/154235/LITH-0006.html

The ceiling looks like this https://images.app.goo.gl/MxjFsN2eiuiXmgfW9

I manage a small post office with a 2' x 2' suspended ceiling in the 24 hour customer lobby. The existing 2x2 fluorescent troffers use a "ubend" tube with 1.625" leg spacing. Ballast replacement is a problem because the maintenance folks are hard to get onto the site.

I want to go with a ballast free LED solution. I have considered 2x2 led panels. They are available on the ebuy system we are supposed to use whenever possible. The prices are around $60-66 each, including transportation to the site. The manufacturer shows expected life at 50k hours. That is about 5.7 years at the expected 24 hour a day operation. The led lamp elements are supposedly not user replaceable meaning replacement of the entire luminaire would be necessary once they fail. 5.7 years is not long for something that is rather more involved than replacing a bulb or tube.

I have considered bypassing the existing troffers and having small recessed lighting installed adjacent to the troffers. But I still want something with readily available user replaceable lamps. Many of the recessed LED units are integrated so that the entire thing must be replaced upon failure of the lamp. I am still open to going with the $60 panels that replace the troffers. Exploring and considering all the options.

Also, I am asking if whatever solution is found could have an extended life by using occupancy and ambient light sensors. It is important to have a small amount of light at all times. That is, the lobby lights should be on a little bit all the time because a pitch black lobby would be very unwelcome to folks checking their po box or dropping off mail at night. There is a large amount of unoccupied time overnight. It would be preferable to have a ramp up of the light rather than sudden increase; but that is not a necessity.

Thank you. 🙂