here goes the govt piddling around with stuff again!

[Kevin Gregoire]

i was at menards yesterday looking at fluorescent light fixtures they had on sale and i learned the government is banning t-12 bulbs and going with t-8

i cant even fathom how many schools, hospitals, businesses, etc. will have to swap out fixtures and/or bulbs.

i have six fixtures in my shop alone and another four in my patio and another six in my garage, thats thirty two bulbs!

[Neil Brooks]

Yeah. I think that one happened under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Let there be light !

[Jim Matthews]

I have heard energy efficiency is between 17 and 48% greater with the T8 bulb.
Given the flinty nature of funding local schools, that could translate into more teachers over the course of a year.

Even at the low end, it's 5 years to free money for the change over - less if you have high consumption.

I use outdoor fixtures, with daylight color balanced CFCs in my shop. They cost me LESS than a new ballast in my overhead fluorescent bank.
(And I can't break bulbs inside the Lexan cover.)

[Phil Thien]

What is the date for no new T-12 sales or production? I need to stock up.

[glenn bradley]

T-12 elimination has been coming for quite awhile. As discussed here and elsewhere, T-8's or other alternatives give better value (and better light in my use). All my fixtures are inexpensive electronic ballast T-8's. Dual lamp 4 foot fixtures are about $17 at Lowe's. Mine have been running since 2006 (at a not un-noticeable, although not extravagant savings) and I have replaced 1 lamp in that time (15 fixtures).

[Rod Sheridan]

i was at menards yesterday looking at fluorescent light fixtures they had on sale and i learned the government is banning t-12 bulbs and going with t-8

i cant even fathom how many schools, hospitals, businesses, etc. will have to swap out fixtures and/or bulbs.

i have six fixtures in my shop alone and another four in my patio and another six in my garage, thats thirty two bulbs!

Yes, and as others have posted it's a good thing.

You don't have to change fixtures, simply change the ballast and lamps when your lamps fail.

You'll save money on energy, have better lamp starting, no lamp flicker, and good cold weather performance.........It's a definite financial, environmental and technical improvement.

A good example of legislation acting for our good.............Regards, Rod.

[Kevin Gregoire]

is it good like these fluorescent bulbs in our homes we are supposed to go to? when they burn out there is no place to dispose of them.

i did see the new lamp in action at menards and it was brighter compared to the old one right next to it.
but wouldnt it be easier to change the whole thing instead of 'simply change the ballast and lamps when your lamps fail'?
its usually always cheaper to buy the whole 'kit'?

and im not saying it wont be better in the long run but its just about every single place in this country has the old four footers or the
eight footers and thats a lot of money for some places to spend.

[Tom Walz]

I am relamping my commerical shop. A get a rebate from the power company for about half the cost. It is estimated I will save eough for a 5 year payback on the rest.

Also it will be about seven years before I have to change a light bulb. Moving equipment then setting up a ladder to change light bulbs on an 18 foot ceiling is a real pain.

[James White]

Aren't the T8 bulbs a lot more expensive for high lumen high color temperature high CRI (90+) bulbs. In fact I couldn't even find them in the big box stores.

James

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Kevin, yes disposal of CFL's is an issue depending upon where you live.

In most cases we found that it was less expensive and faster to change the ballast than the entire fixture.

At work we did the conversion in sections over a 3 year period, at home I'm doing the conversion when the lamps or ballasts fail..........Regards, Rod.

[Paul Johnstone]

i was at menards yesterday looking at fluorescent light fixtures they had on sale and i learned the government is banning t-12 bulbs and going with t-8

i cant even fathom how many schools, hospitals, businesses, etc. will have to swap out fixtures and/or bulbs.

i have six fixtures in my shop alone and another four in my patio and another six in my garage, thats thirty two bulbs!

It would've been nicer if the government just had the stores stop selling T-12 fixtures, but still let the bulbs be sold.
I honestly don't care if hypothetically there's a 5-7 year payback (Not attacking the poster that said that, just using an example).. I don't use my shop that often, so I suspect my payback is going to be a lot longer (probably never). This is going to cost me a significant amount of money, and I will probably move or die before I get "payback".

[Jerome Hanby]

FWIW, I just bought a bunch of 4 bulb t12 fixtures. I'm changing the ballasts to t8 before I install them. i suspect these things came from some hospital refurb where they were replaced with t8 fixtures...

[Greg Portland]

i was at menards yesterday looking at fluorescent light fixtures they had on sale and i learned the government is banning t-12 bulbs and going with t-8

i cant even fathom how many schools, hospitals, businesses, etc. will have to swap out fixtures and/or bulbs.

i have six fixtures in my shop alone and another four in my patio and another six in my garage, thats thirty two bulbs!

I've got 75+ bulbs in use between my 2 garages. I'm holding out hope for a dramatic cost reduction & output increase in LED lighting. Ideally a string of LED bulbs in a fluorescent form factor...

[Greg Portland]

Oh BTW, the T8 electronic ballasts don't last nearly as long as the old T12 magnetic ballasts. Whatever you'll save in electrical costs will go right into your maintenance budget.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Greg, we're going on 5 years at work for the first phase of our conversion to T8 lamps and ballasts. So far our failure rate hasn't been higher than the magnetic type.

It may depend upon the quality of the ballast purchased............Regards, Rod.