ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area 96" T- 8 HO Fixtures

T-5s are good, they are also still fairly expensive to buy lamps and ballasts for.

I also see a much higher failure rate with T-5s.

I am sure the technology will improve and the price will drop,

With that in mind I would light a typical garage with T-8's they work well, are inexpensive and durable.

JMO, Bob

I agree they did work fine, I have installed many. My own garage and part of my basement have 8' HOs.

But you will see all T-12 size lamps being phased out. I am not sure the reasons but they are going away.

Not sure of the reason??? Think energy efficiency and government environmental mandates.

Although this is not about the task lighting you are talking about here, i might suggest another incandecent light on a motion/occupancy sensor. That way you are never wandering around out there in the dark. It helps when your arms are full.

[This message has been edited by gfretwell (edited 01-12-2007).]

Do you guys have an fixture recommendations for T-8 installations? I am particularly interested surface mount fixtures that are suitable for frequent switching, eg. with 'programmed start' ballasts.

-Jon

Lithonia offers programmed start ballasts as an option across their full line of T-8 fixtures. Not sure how much extra they cost, or how many you have to buy, but they will supply them.

I suspect that other manufacturers are the same. The big question will be the term to payback of the increase in initial cost.

Rather then going with the 96" T-8 HO fixtures. I ordered the 96" channels with four T-5 54 watt HO lamps.

I will be needing sunglasses in the garage if I have them all on at once.

Thanks for you your comments

I see many of you have stated that T8's light in very cold weather and to discard HO T96's.
I put T8 in my personal garage ands when it gets in to the 40's F One of them wont start till it has been on for a while. Colder it gets the worse it is.

Well that is not 'normal' you may have a weak ballast.

In general the T-8s will light right away but will take a few minutes to come to full intensity.

Same as any of the CFLs that have become so popular.

When you replace a typical 2 lamp 8' HO with a typical 4 lamp 8' T-8 you will have greater light output and the power consumption is less than 1/2 of the HOs.

A typical F96-T12/HO 2 lamp 120 ballast uses 237 watts and has a min start temp of -20F

2 lamp 8'Ballast


A typical F32-T8 4 lamp 120 ballast uses 112 watts and has a min start temp of 0 F

4 lamp 4' ballast

I have changed some new old stock 2 lamp T-8 ballasts that were in vapor tite fixtures. That were not 0 degree start. They were 50 degree. Since we were putting them in walk-in coolers.. the 50 degree ballasts had to go.