A method and apparatus for operating a light assembly with fewer peripheral devices than is currently required is presented. The apparatus of the invention includes a lamp unit, a current restricting unit coupled to the lamp unit, and a current sensing unit that is coupled to the current restricting unit. Upon detecting a current output exceeding a predetermined magnitude for at least a predetermined time period, the current restricting unit increases the load on one of the lamps. The current sensing unit senses the output from each of the lamps as modified by the current restricting unit, and sums the outputs to determine a total current flow through the lamps. A current control unit that is coupled to the current sensing unit uses the total current flow to adjust the current input to the lamps.