average life span of bulb

[FredWanaker]

we have some T8 32 florescents in the garage, and they are only living about 18 - 24 months. Is this normal life expectancy of them these days? Usually GE or Phillips are what we buy.

 

[cybrdyke]

Life for fluorescents is measured in hours of burn time. Depending on the brand, the amount of time from day 1 to failure is from 25,000 to 30,000 hours. There are long-life versions available, too. T8's also fade over time. You can expect 25% depreciation or more by end of life.
Many things can shorten or lengthen the average life:
Frequent on/off operations. More than 10 times per day would be concerning. Sensors sometimes do this.
Higher than normal temperatures will shorten life. Cooler temps can lengthen life.
Incorrect ballast will shorten life.
Incorrect, corroded, or loose wiring can shorten life by arcing at the sockets.

Yours is not a bad ballast situation, although someone will probably claim it to be one.
A good solution would be to change your lamps to LED.
Good luck,
CD

 

[nadogail]

Lamp life is a function of many variables such as number of starts, operating temperature, number of hours of operation and applied voltage.

You have not included the appropriate information to make a firm estimate.

 

[acer66]

Unless you have someone who takes all of the t8 of your hands and if your comfortable doing a bit electrical I would replace them every time one burns out with bypass led tubes.

 

[Bert_]

5+ years is common in commercial settings, 10-12 hours a day. I've seen good lamps go close to 10 years.

Im guessing someone made the mistake of using instant start ballasts in a residential setting. Frequent on/off cycles with instant start are very hard on lamps. Should have been rapid start. Also will see short lamp life if it's not twisted into the socket all the way.

 

[FredWanaker]

they are electronic units. There are no new ballasts or starters. The do get turned on every time someone walks into the garage, which could be 20 times a day if the other half is doing laundry, or passing thru to throw out the trash, crush aluminum cans, or work outside, get the mail. She is in and out of that garage all day long since she started working from home, and you know, that is about when the problem started.

 

[Bert_]

Electronic means nothing. T8's are 90% instant start. For residential I always ordered them with rapid start ballasts, nobody stocked them.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

O failures since I started buying led bulbs, but I have upgraded a few as the quality of light has gotten better.

 

[FredWanaker]

Bert, it is an electronic ballast, not a transformer ballast. When I bought these lights they were one size fits all.

 

[Bert_]

Bert, it is an electronic ballast, not a transformer ballast. When I bought these lights they were one size fits all.

You're not hearing me. Electronic ballasts come in both instant start and rapid start, sometimes called "program start". The fixtures can usually be ordered with either one. It's common for stores to only stock instant start since they are a few bucks cheaper.

 

[FredWanaker]

Ok. Thanks for sharing. Next time I order a fixture I'll be sure to remember that.

 

[American Locomotive]

Ok. Thanks for sharing. Next time I order a fixture I'll be sure to remember that.

Next time you order a fixture, you should just get an LED fixture. I still have plenty of fluorescent fixtures on my property, including some T12 8 footers with 90 CRI 5000k bulbs in them. They've been holding up so far, but they'll definitely get replaced with LED.

I basically wouldn't go out of my way to replace working T8 or T5 fixtures (especially if they're high efficiency fixtures with the polished reflectors) with LED, but if one dies - you should really consider an LED replacement instead.

 

[FredWanaker]

I won't be ordering any more fixtures but thank you for the suggestion.

 

[Zeke]

Converting all my fluorescents, no matter how old, to LED was the best thing I ever did. LED's mostly come with the ability to wire 2 different ways, both eliminating the ballast *throw it out). One is power and neutral at the same end and the other is running the neutral down to the other tombstone. The lamps are clearly marked.

5000K was a bit bright for me so I chose 4000.

 

[BillK]

we have some T8 32 florescents in the garage, and they are only living about 18 - 24 months. Is this normal life expectancy of them these days? Usually GE or Phillips are what we buy.

I have 4 in my garage that are probably 5 years old. They pretty much stay on all day. I turn them on when I leave in the morning and back off when I get home in the evening. I wonder if turning them on and off all day is what is killing yours ??

 

[FredWanaker]

I have 4 in my garage that are probably 5 years old. They pretty much stay on all day. I turn them on when I leave in the morning and back off when I get home in the evening. I wonder if turning them on and off all day is what is killing yours ??

probably. As I indicated this started about the time my other half started working from home. The same ones in my office last six to ten years.

 

[larry4406]

I have T8's in our attached garage now for about 7 years. There are 24 bulbs out there. I am sure I have relamped 2-3 times. These lights are on/off umpteen times a day. The bulbs start to dim and get the black ring around them at the ends. Some fixtures refuse to light with new tubes so I am certain the ballast has died.

A am guessing I have the instant start as Bert described; learned something new. These were a low price point fixture from the Blue Box store.

I need to replace with LED's but too much **** in the way presently to access the ceiling.

 

[mikedodge]

They should last longer then 18-24 months you might want to experiment and change one fixture to led as a test because maybe its your use that's killing them faster.
I'm sitting on a big pile of t8 bulbs. Once they're gone ill decide if I want to be cheap and buy more or go led.

 

[White Shadow]

O failures since I started buying led bulbs, but I have upgraded a few as the quality of light has gotten better.

Maybe not 100% relevant to this discussion, but when I built my house 7 years ago, I went LED with every single bulb inside and outside of the house. The only bulb in the entire house that is incandescent is in my clothes dryer. Other than that, 100% LED. And 7 years later, not a single one has failed. That includes all of my exterior lighting and landscape lights, which stay on from dusk 'till dawn every night.

 

[Bert_]

I've got a building with f54t5/ho fixtures. They are like 12 years old and I've never changed a single bulb. Some days they are on 12 hours, some days a lot less. One fixture is on a motion sensor and might turn on/off 5-15 times a day. ALL T5's are program (rapid) start.

Instant start was always best reserved for commercial buildings where the lights are turned on once or twice and left on all day. They are terrible for residential but nobody takes the time to understand the difference.

 

[FredWanaker]

Bert - thank you for the knowledge. I have six of these in the garage that were put in 14 - 15 years ago. I don't see myself replacing them. At the time led systems were 4x as expensive, and troublesome. They came from an electrical warehouse.

 

[Bert_]

At this point a line voltage led tube is the best option. Can't hardly buy a ballast for the cost of a couple of those tubes.

For the most part I only sell the frosted glass led tubes with a wide beam angle. They do not produce glare and put a little light on the ceiling

 

[FredWanaker]

when they are $5 each, and fit in the existing fixtures without mods I will consider them. I have plenty of new bulbs, and will be putting in a larger LED bulb over the washer so she can use that instead of the ones I put in to work at my workbench, and on the cars.

 

[brianpgriset]

On a slightly related note:

- longest running continuous lightbulb has been lit since 1901(!)

- bulb life would probably be better if there wasn’t a conspiracy to make them burn out sooner Why we can’t have nice things

 

[dcg9381]

florescents and incandescents - they're just never ending work. And if it's not the tube, it's the ballast.
Go LED, never look back. I have not lost a light in the shop since it was built 3 years ago.

 

[FredWanaker]

I have not lost a light in the shop since it was built 3 years ago.

I laughed at that. As I mentioned, some of the florescents are 8 - 10 years old with no issues. It is the constant on off over the washing machine and going in and outside on them that is causing it. I'll put a LED over the washer and solve it.

 

[Bert_]

florescents and incandescents - they're just never ending work. And if it's not the tube, it's the ballast.
Go LED, never look back. I have not lost a light in the shop since it was built 3 years ago.

I've replaced plenty of drivers in led fixtures already. Had to replace a warehouse of led highbays under warranty, every single one had part of the array go out after 3-4 years.

There's nothing magical about led. Still plenty of parts to fail.

 

[dcg9381]

I've replaced plenty of drivers in led fixtures already. Had to replace a warehouse of led highbays under warranty, every single one had part of the array go out after 3-4 years.

There's nothing magical about led. Still plenty of parts to fail.

I hear you, they are still electronic devices. My personal experience with high bay lights is WAAAY better than any tube setup with ballasts I've ever done in terms of reliable. We have had residential LEDs fail in our home. I'll never touch an florescent again.

 

[yatg]

On a slightly related note:

- longest running continuous lightbulb has been lit since 1901(!)

- bulb life would probably be better if there wasn’t a conspiracy to make them burn out sooner Why we can’t have nice things

See it in almost real time!

Livermore's Centennial Light Bulb

You have found Livermore California's World famous Centennial Light Bulb! Feel free to read the facts sheet, take a close-up look at bulb photos, tour Station #6, of our downtown of 1901. Learn about the 110th birthday party. Take a look at the Bulbcam, and be sure to leave your...

centennialbulb.org

The best part of LED tubes, aside from the better light quality, is no BUZZ!

 

[FredWanaker]

less heat on the drywall too. But as to buzz, only a <30 year old can hear that stuff.

 

[CJ7VFR]

Converting all my fluorescents, no matter how old, to LED was the best thing I ever did. LED's mostly come with the ability to wire 2 different ways, both eliminating the ballast *throw it out). One is power and neutral at the same end and the other is running the neutral down to the other tombstone. The lamps are clearly marked....

I re-wired all my old fluorescent 4 foot fixtures to use ballast bypass LED's too. In my case it was more for how slowly the old fluorescent tubes would take to come up to full brightness in my garage and basement when it was cold in those areas.

That, and the constant buzz, flickering and flashing of some of the old fluorescent tubes as they were on their way out that drove me crazy!

Now, with the ballast bypass LED's, the light is instant on no matter what the temperature is, there is no more buzzing, flickering and flashing of the tubes, I am using less electricity, and it is absolutely brighter in the basement and garage using the exact same amount of fixtures I had before.

Jim

 

[Rudyjr]

I too was sick and tired of replacing t8 tubes all the time and decided to go with the Greentek Versatubes in my garage 6.99 a tube by the case. Didnt need to get rid of the ballasts but I went ahead and stripped them out to be done with them. Pretty stark difference in light output when you see them side by side especially in the winter. T8s are great when they are brand new but its all downhill from day one.