Guys,
The law was passed in 2009 and the lamp ban for 4', 8' , and T12HO went into effect in 2012. Here's an excerpt: Effective July 14, 2012, linear T12, T8 and T5, and U-bend lamps must meet 2009 DOE regulations. 2-foot U-shaped, 4-foot and 8-foot lamps must meet minimum initial lumens per watt (LPW) requirements. Lamps above 4500K have a slightly lower standard.
As I said, you can find some new old stock on internet sites and in dusty backrooms of supply houses, but these lamps are not allowed to be manufactured or imported.
Not in 4 foot or 8 foot full lumen lamps. Cant be made or imported. The only T12's that can be made are short lamps, reduced lumen lamps (to get an exemption), or specialty lamps.
Hey Pattenp, there were a couple of exemptions made for cold weather T12HO because there no viable products to replace them. Tons of these get used outside and in signs, so they needed to be exempt from the legislation.
Another exemption was for 6500k (daylight) T12HO tubes because, again, there was no viable replacement. These get used in inspection areas in factories, like steel and auto plants.
These T12HO products can still be found, but aren't very popular anymore.
And yes, there's an electronic ballast available.
They're dumping them because sales are so low, they're not worth carrying anymore. There's so many products now that are better, that no one wants to fool around with these anymore.
And to the OP, sorry for the derailing of this thread. Just trying to clear up some confusion.
CD