Lithonia Lighting Fluorescent Strip Light | Commercial-Grade Shop Lighting
Our fluorescent strip light fixtures are engineered for high-bay commercial and industrial environments where reliable overhead illumination is non-negotiable. Each unit ships with a heavy-gauge steel channel housing that resists impact and corrosion in workshop, warehouse, and garage settings. We pre-wire every fixture with electronic instant-start ballasts compatible with both T8 and T12 fluorescent lamps, so you can retrofit existing installations without rewiring the branch circuit.
We build every fluorescent strip light around a continuous cold-rolled steel channel that runs the full length of the fixture. The galvanized finish bonds to the base metal through hot-dip processing, not spray coating, so moisture and cleaning chemicals won’t lift the protective layer in humid environments. Corner welds are continuous TIG beads rather than spot welds, eliminating the fatigue cracks that appear in lightweight consumer-grade shop lights after a few years of daily use.
Ballast technology & lamp compatibility
Our electronic instant-start ballasts eliminate the flicker and hum associated with older magnetic-coil designs. The circuit energizes T8 and T12 tubes in under one second, even in unheated spaces where ambient temperature drops below 50°F. Lamp electrodes receive a high-voltage pulse at startup, so you won’t see the dim glow or delayed strike that magnetic ballasts produce in cold environments.
Voltage range
Each ballast accepts universal input from 120 to 277 volts, which means the same fixture works on both residential 120 V circuits and commercial 277 V branch wiring. We pre-configure the unit for multi-tap operation—no field rewiring or jumper adjustments are necessary when you move a fixture between facilities with different electrical systems. The ballast housing mounts inside the steel channel and vents through stamped louvers, keeping internal temperatures below the Class P thermal-cutoff threshold during continuous operation.
Lamp replacement & maintenance access
The open-channel design means you never remove a lens or diffuser to service the lamps. When a tube reaches end-of-life, rotate it ninety degrees to disengage the bi-pin sockets and lift it straight out of the fixture. New lamps drop into the same sockets without any adjustment—the spring-loaded contacts grip T8 and T12 bases equally well, so you can switch between tube diameters as long as the ballast supports both types.
Cleaning & dust control
Dust and debris settle on the tube surface rather than collecting inside a sealed lens cavity. Wipe the lamps with a dry microfiber cloth every few months to maintain lumen output—accumulated grime can reduce visible light by fifteen to twenty percent before the tube actually burns out. If your facility generates airborne metal shavings or wood dust, consider installing the fixture above the primary work zone so chips don’t land directly on the lamps during cutting or grinding operations.
Specs & installation details
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Common questions about Lithonia fluorescent strip lights
Yes, but you’ll need to bypass or remove the existing fluorescent ballast first. Our fixtures ship with electronic ballasts designed for fluorescent tubes, which are incompatible with direct-wire LED tubes. You can either install ballast-compatible LED tubes that work with the existing ballast, or remove the ballast entirely and rewire the sockets for direct 120 V or 277 V input to accommodate ballast-bypass LED tubes. We offer a dedicated LED retrofit kit that includes detailed wiring diagrams for converting fluorescent strip fixtures to LED operation.
T8 tubes measure one inch in diameter while T12 tubes measure one and a half inches. Both use bi-pin sockets, but T8 lamps are significantly more efficient—a 32-watt T8 produces roughly the same lumens as a 40-watt T12. Our strip light ballasts support both tube types, so you can choose based on availability and energy cost. T12 lamps are being phased out under federal efficiency standards, so we recommend specifying T8 tubes for new installations to ensure long-term replacement availability.
As a general rule, plan for one four-foot dual-lamp fixture per eighty to one hundred square feet of workspace when mounting fixtures eight to ten feet above the floor. For tasks requiring fine detail work—assembly, inspection, or precision machining—increase fixture density to one unit per sixty square feet. Eight-foot configurations cover more linear area per fixture but may create shadows if ceiling height exceeds twelve feet. Measure your space and sketch a layout on graph paper before ordering to visualize spacing and avoid dark zones between fixtures.
Yes, as long as you have access to structural framing above the finished ceiling. Drill pilot holes through the drywall or plywood and install lag screws or eye bolts into the ceiling joists to anchor the chain. Each fixture weighs between twelve and eighteen pounds depending on configuration, so standard quarter-inch lag screws threaded into solid wood provide adequate support. Do not hang fixtures from drywall anchors alone—they will pull out under the fixture’s weight over time.
T8 fluorescent tubes are rated for twenty thousand to thirty thousand hours of operation, which translates to roughly five to eight years of typical shop use at ten hours per day. Replace tubes when you notice dimming, flickering at startup, or blackened ends near the pins. Don’t wait until a tube burns out completely—end-of-life tubes can stress the ballast and shorten its lifespan. Mark the installation date on the fixture housing with a permanent marker so you can track lamp age and plan replacement before failures occur.
Our standard fluorescent strip fixtures are rated for damp locations only, meaning covered porches, breezeways, or semi-enclosed loading docks where the fixture is protected from direct rain but may experience condensation or humidity. They are not suitable for fully exposed outdoor mounting or wet locations where standing water or direct spray contacts the fixture. For outdoor canopies, car washes, or unprotected exterior walls, specify our vapor-tight LED linear fixtures, which carry IP65 ingress protection and gasketed end caps.
Most jurisdictions require 12 AWG copper wire for 277 V branch circuits serving fluorescent fixtures, even though a single four-foot dual-lamp unit draws less than one amp. The NEC permits 14 AWG for lighting circuits under fifteen amps, but many commercial electrical codes mandate 12 AWG as a minimum for all 277 V runs to provide additional current capacity for future fixture additions. Consult your local electrical inspector before rough-in to confirm wire gauge requirements for your specific installation.