[jenjacksonsd]

Im am a health care provider and the bulbs in my office are way too glaring and bright. All I know about them is that the bulbs are fluorescent, there are 4 tubes in each light, and they are the kind of fixtures that are the size of a standard rectangular ceiling tile. Is it possible to install a dimmer switch so I can control the amount of light in my office? I know I can put in smaller wattage bulbs, but I would really like to have the ability to control the amount of lighting myself. Also... are there NON fluorescent bulbs that can be used in these fixtures that you could use a dimmer with?

Thanks!
Jennifer

[jack dandy]

You can put something called a light defuser in front of the bulbs, that will make it so the light dos'nt come down directly on you, but you still have enough light. I think you can buy these at places like Home Depot, Lowe's, or a lighting shop should have them. A lot of doctor offices and professional buildings have them so the light doesn't hurt the peoples eyes but is still bright enough.

[Stratmando]

They do have dimming balast, and fluorescent dimmers. You could also disconnect hot wire to 1 ballast of each fixture(2 bulbs per ballast usually) plus it would cut down brightness and power use. Save Money.

[tkrussell]

My guess is the fixture type you have is a 2 x 4 recess dropin or troffer, with a prismatic lens, that is translucent, which is the standard typical lens. Adding another lens will not diffuse the light much more than you already have.

There is no other alternative to using fluorescent lamps in these fixtures.

You cannot change the wattage of the lamp, as it must match the ballast. You may have either 32 watt T8 or 34 watt T12 lamps. The T12 lamps are the older version, the T8 are newer and a bit brighter.

To alter anything on these fixtures, you will need to know which version of lamps/ballasts you have, either the T12 or T8.

To use a dimmer, you will need to install a special dimmer in place of the switch, replace all the ballasts to match the dimmer, and rewire between the dimmer and each fixture. The components needed to do this are expensive, approx $100 for each dimmer and each ballast, plus the labor to change out the ballasts and wiring.

The only method of reducing the light output to half will be to add a nother switch, and wire to each fixture, and either switch one ballast to one switch, and the other ballast to a second switch. Of course, this will only be if you already have two ballasts in each fixture.

Many T8 fixtures use one four lamp ballast. If this is the case then it could be changed out to two 2 lamp ballasts and control them with two switches.

Many times I find the amount of light can be dealt with by changing the "color" of the lamps. You may have the typical Cool White T12, or T8 4100 Deg Kelvin lamps (41K). You could try using either Warm White T12 or T8 30K, or White T12 or T8 35K. Changing the lamps out is the only easy method a DIY'er can do.

The adding switches to switch half of each fixture or dimmers with dimming ballasts is a minor project and best done by a contractor.

[ceilingfanrepair]

TK, can he just remove two symmetrical bulbs?

[tkrussell]

Sure but then your stuck with half amount of light, permanently.