I'm concerned that the warehouse lights won't put out enough light. A 75 W equivalent
bulb puts out a fraction of the lumens from a pair of 8' fluorescents.
A less glamorous option would be to use
LED retrofit tubes in the existing fixtures. They put out more light than the anemic, energy saver fluorescents sold today. They require almost no maintenance and save energy. There are three types of retrofit tubes.
Type A,
ballast compatible:
LED tubes go right in place of a
fluorescent tube, and relies on the existing
ballast.
Ballast life is extended by the lighter load, but not all ballasts will work. Not dimmable.
Type B,
ballast bypass: The tubes require removal of the
ballast, and rewiring the
fixture. The
LED tube has an internal
driver and runs on 120V, and requires a small
fuse inside the
fixture. Not dimmable. Some electricians and jurisdictions don't consider type B safe.
Type C, remote
driver: The tubes run on an external
driver that replaces the
ballast, along with rewiring the
fixture. Dimmable drivers are available, and they are controlled from common, 0-10V controls. Drivers are basically low
voltage, constant
current supplies. The advantage is that this combo probably lasts the longest, and has no
safety worries.
I rebuilt almost 200 linear feet of lights in a church with GE type C lamps and drivers. It took me roughly 12 hours to systematically demo out the old parts, wipe down the fixtures, and install drivers and wiring. I had a helper to cut
wire kits,
hand me parts, and keep us organized. They have been perfect for a couple of years now.
Another option would be to replace the
fluorescent fixtures with new,
LED fixtures. If the work is done by a contractor, this might be cheaper because swapping fixtures could take less time than retrofitting.