Lighting question... Convert fixtures to T8 or just swap new fixtures?

[David Hostetler]

Now I am a notorious cheapskate, or you could look at it that way. I hate to waste resources. Now I am coming up on a problem... My T12 fixtures have been humming along very nicely for years now, but I am running out of bulbs... So my question is...

Do I convert my T12 fixtures to T8, or just pitch the dumb things in favor of brand new T8 fixtures?

If I go with new T8 fixtures, can anyone recommend a decent, not too terribly expensive fixture to replace my T12s with?

I presently have 6 T12 fixtures in my shop. I am pretty happy with the amount of light they give. Will T8s perform just as well?

[Jerome Hanby]

I've been told that T8's are more efficient and provide more light. I can't seem to find a straight answer if that's more light per volume or more light per bulb. The sockets are the same, so upgrading should be a simple ballast swap and socket rewiring (at least the wiring was different in my case). My sockets didn't' look too friendly when it came to rewiring and replacement sockets were sky high at the Borg, so I bought a 100 off of E-bay for very little. I bought a contractor pack that contained 8 4-bulb t8 ballasts. They were a good bit cheaper that buying them as singles and in my case I needed 8 anyway. I read reviews until I was half blind and the only conclusion I could draw is that no one has ever posted a review about a t8 ballast that they actually liked. With that said, I'm thinking I may do my rewiring such that the ballast can be easily replaced. I'm thinking a pair of diagonal cutters and a handful of wire nuts when they start failing. I had to have fixtures anyway and found a bunch of t12 fixtures on Craigslist for cheap (worked out to about $8 a piece for 4 bulb fixtures with diffuser panels. Throwing out all consideration of my effort and running around, I think I'll end up with about $25 a shot in these fixtures not including bulbs. A good bit less than what i would have paid for really flimsy fixtures at the Borg.

[Don Jarvie]

HD has a 4ft T8s from Lithonia for around 20 buck each. They have a plastic cover on them. I have 10 of them and no issues for 2 1/2 years. They take a few minutes to warm up when it goes under 40 but no complaints at all.

You can switch out a few at a time if you don't want to take the hit all at once.

[David Hostetler]

HD has a 4ft T8s from Lithonia for around 20 buck each. They have a plastic cover on them. I have 10 of them and no issues for 2 1/2 years. They take a few minutes to warm up when it goes under 40 but no complaints at all.

You can switch out a few at a time if you don't want to take the hit all at once.

Yeah I don't think under 40 is gonna be much of a problem for me... Now over 100 is a different story...

I have considered swapping over to the Lithonia T8s. My T12s are Llithonia and they have been fine... My only complaint with them is that they are taking my bulbs away...

[Victor Robinson]

Same issue - have T12 fixtures in my shop and I'd rather not spend the $150 to replace them. But I still have a few T12 bulbs left...

[glenn bradley]

More likely than not you will need to change your ballasts to get the rated output from the T-8's; simply swapping lamps will result in a lower than rated output. I use about 15 of the $17.00 2 lamp fixtures from Lowe's and buy the lamps I like from HD by the case. If you are running upper end enclosed and lens covered 4 lamp T-12 fixtures the figures may not work out. As to light output, I left one dual 40 watt T-12 over the laundry area. The output is pathetic compared to a 2 tube 32 watt T-8. No warm-up time, no flicker, pretty happy with them.

[Don Wacker]

My electrician suggested HO t12 and i couldnt be happier. There is not a single shadow in my shop even the corners are bright.Don

[Don Jarvie]

Go buy a bunch of bulbs to at least replace half of them and then over time swap out the fixtures for T8s. It won;t be as bad of a hit in the pocketbook.

[Don Morris]

When I renovated the home I switched over the shop to T8's, 10 of them from HD, (previously had fewer T12's: older you get you need more light) and as was said, immediate on, no flicker, reasonably cheap from HD. I'm happy and it's been over 5yrs.

[Carl Beckett]

I Can be cheap. I use the bulbs that the building guys throw out ( when they change bulbs they changed them all, even ones that are still working ). In a way, this is saving energy because it is recycling something that would otherwise go to waste

I did see amazon had bulbs ($20 for 20 bulbuls??)

[Kevin Presutti]

Swapping ballasts is not cheaper. One T8,4'-2 tube flourecent fixture with the proper bulbs will give you light that I am sure you will find most acceptable and will run 15% more efficiently. Bulb choice is paramount in trying to light your shop with tube fixtures. I like the Lithonia mini strip in T8 for price and the instant on feature is great, now for the tubes. HD has Philips F32T8/TL850 which is considered "Natural Light". Cool White is to low on the temperature scale typically around 3000K which produces a yellowish tone in the light, on the other hand "Daylight Deluxe" is 6500K which produces a blue tone. The "Natural Light" is 5000K which is in the middle of the spectrum and produces the purest "White Light" and is considered the closest thing to outside natural light. In other words colors tend to look the same as they would appear under natural light.

http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical-...Id=10053#specs

http://www.homedepot.com/Lighting-Fa...atalogId=10053

They also have a 10/pack of these bulbs for $30.00 if you don't need that many.

Best of luck!

[Rod Sheridan]

Now I am a notorious cheapskate, or you could look at it that way. I hate to waste resources. Now I am coming up on a problem... My T12 fixtures have been humming along very nicely for years now, but I am running out of bulbs... So my question is...

Do I convert my T12 fixtures to T8, or just pitch the dumb things in favor of brand new T8 fixtures?

If I go with new T8 fixtures, can anyone recommend a decent, not too terribly expensive fixture to replace my T12s with?

I presently have 6 T12 fixtures in my shop. I am pretty happy with the amount of light they give. Will T8s perform just as well?

Hi David, change the ballasts and rewire the existing lampholders.

A piece of paper clip wire can be inserted into the lampholder, either above or below the existing wire. This allows you to pull the wire out of the socket and re-use the socket.

If you're smart, you'll cut one old ballast wire about 2 " long at each lampholder, so that it can be stripped about 3/8" and inserted into the other pole on the lampholder. (All T8 sockets have the two poles shorte together).

You won't need any Marrettes, use the paper clip to remove the old wires from the lampholders, insert the new ballast wires.

Buy good name brand ballasts from an electrical wholesaler, ballast quality/price is an issue with lifespan/reliability.

Regards, Rod.

[Phil Thien]

More likely than not you will need to change your ballasts to get the rated output from the T-8's; simply swapping lamps will result in a lower than rated output. I use about 15 of the $17.00 2 lamp fixtures from Lowe's and buy the lamps I like from HD by the case. If you are running upper end enclosed and lens covered 4 lamp T-12 fixtures the figures may not work out. As to light output, I left one dual 40 watt T-12 over the laundry area. The output is pathetic compared to a 2 tube 32 watt T-8. No warm-up time, no flicker, pretty happy with them.

When I was researching the option of running T-8's w/o swapping ballasts, I think I read that T-12 ballasts would overdrive T-8 bulbs and lead to their early demise. That, the T-8's were intended to be run at 32-watts (or 34?), and T-12's at 40. And due to the nature of how the "system" works, the ballast dictates how much juice the bulb gets.

But I could be wrong. Not an expert in this area.