Thanks alot everyone. One more quick question...Please forgive my ignorance, but do the lowes, hd, and walmart ones have the electronic ballasts or is that something special that i need an electrical supplier for? thank you.
[OP]
Member
Thanks alot everyone. One more quick question...Please forgive my ignorance, but do the lowes, hd, and walmart ones have the electronic ballasts or is that something special that i need an electrical supplier for? thank you.
Member
HD carries the Electronic ballast fixtures. But I can say from experience stay away from the $10 ones. In 16 months now 5 have failed.
Lowes carries electronic ballast fixtures in a higher priced line. I just pickup of 6 of these. And last week I was in Wally World and they had USA made electronic fixtures. So, I picked up some of those to see how they are. Suprised me had big Made in USA label on the box. So, I will be replacing the bad HD ones with some of the others. Will see how it goes. And whats odd. Is the ones that failed do so in the spring?? Not middle of winter, or when its the warmest in the summer. But in the spring?? Not sure why. First 4 failed last spring. And 2 more just recently (day after I bought the newer more expensive fixtures to replace the bad ones).
Lowes has the electronic ballast units for about $27. I'll try to dig up the part # as it doesn't show online.
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
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When I put together my basement shop last year, I purchased five Lithonia GT8 fixtures from Home Depot and love them. They each have 4, four foot T8 bulbs and electronic ballast. They are the troffer type that you can place into suspended ceilings, but you can mount them directly to the ceiling if you like (I mounted them to my basement joists). They are instant on and completely silent. The best part is that they only cost me $44 each, which includes the bulbs and a six foot whip for wiring them up.
Moderator
I have 6 8' fixtures (4 4' bulbs per fixture) in my garage and all from Home Depot...Lithonia brand. They are doing just fine 4 years later...only 1 bulb has died on me thus far. T8s RULE!
Member
Hey Jason,Originally Posted by Jason Rutkowski
go to www.lithonia.com they have a rep locator that will give you who sells these in your area. A good fixture is a tandem strip # TC 2 32 MVOLT 1/4 GEB10IS. It's economical and the lamps and it uses a standard T8 lamp. I would suggest a lamp with coloring of 5000K and a CRI of 85% or better. That combo puts out great working light. The only downfall to T8 fixtures is the cold weather. A T8 will not put out 100% of it's light if you drop below 40 degrees. If you shop is always heated it won't be a problem. If you have to deal with a cold shop or wait til it warms up put one or more fixtures with stock # UN296HO. This uses a F96 T12 high output tube. It will start a 20 below zero. What I did in my shop is put one cold weather fixture in and the rest in T8. That way when I walk out I will have light until the place gets heated up. The only other thing to look at is the ballest. Most will use a commercial grade ballast that may cause some interference on radio or tv. You can get a residencial ballast that will take care of that but if you order it with the fixture it will be a 4-6 week lead as they are nonstock for lithonia. I know this is too much information but since I work with these everyday I thought I would put in my two cents. But bottom line is to go to the rep locator call the rep and ask for a wholesale house in your area and get them from them. You will get better product and if but some chance you have a problem with them you will get help to get it resolved.
Member
Use your local electrical supplier for the fixtures and lamps. You may pay more for the fixtures but you definately get what you pay for. The lamps will probably be cheaper than the home centers. And all T-8 fixtures have electronic ballasts, that is part of the energy savings.
Member
I am not trying to hijack this thread or anything but I was planning to put nine 4', 4 bulb fixtures in my 24'x30' workshop. Does that seem like enough? I see that others have a lot more than that in theirs. What do you think?
Chuck
Member
Bubbabulbs.com sold me 16 Phillips high end bulbs 4 years ago that are still going strong. Honest and easy to deal with.
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