8ft T8 choices

[NUTTSGT]

Since they've decided to make T12 obsolete, I need to make some changes. I want to swap out a few 48" T12 fixtures for some 8ft T8 fixtures. I want 2 8ft bulbs not 4- 48".

So what are my choices? I searched HD website and didn't really see anything. What do you like and not like ? Thanks.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

8 ft bulbs are a hassle to transport and handle and dispose of. You could easily convert your existing fixtures to 4 ft T8 by installing new ballast and bulbs.

Charles

 

[NUTTSGT]

8 footers will fit in the back of my truck and disposal is covered. The fixtures I have now are about 10 years old, plus I want some more light. I'll be replacing 2 48" T12s with 3 8ft T8s.

 

[Random Guy]

Why do you want the 8' lamps over the 4' ones?

 

[Friartuck]

Eric, this has been covered in depth here on GJ and using 48 inch T-8's is more cost effective and as I recall, puts out more light than using two of the 8 foot version.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Considering that one 8 ft T8 is about 50% more than the cost of two 4 ft T8's, that would be a hard one for me to want to do.

Charles

 

[NUTTSGT]

Why do you want the 8' lamps over the 4' ones?

This way is there is only 2 bulbs per fixture.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Eric, this has been covered in depth here on GJ and using 48 inch T-8's is more cost effective and as I recall, puts out more light than using two of the 8 foot version.

Considering that one 8 ft T8 is about 50% more than the cost of two 4 ft T8's, that would be a hard one for me to want to do.

Charles

I guess I didn't realize there is that much of a cost difference between the bulbs. Nor did I realize the 48" put out more light.

I've shyed away from the T12 vs T8 discussions, as it mostly pisses me off with the amount of T12 fixtures I have. That and the fact of both my parents retired from GE, where they made the T12s, I had about a 18 months in before I left to go to the fire dept. I guess you could say that the T12s are in my blood.

So is this what I should be looking at for 8' fixtures ?

well I guess I can't link form Lowes website, no wonder I dislike that place. I'm looking at the

Metalux 8' 2-Light Strip Light Fixture
Item #: 163723 | Model #: 8TSNF-232-UNV-EB81-U

 

[Hurricane_Whisperer]

They will make bulbs for a long time. Just keep your old fixtures if they are working and put out satisfactory light.

Besides, one day the T8's may be obsolete.

 

[Aceman]

Your crazy for wanting 8' T8's. 4' T8's are probably 10 times more common, meaning most likely a lower price, plus the fact ballasts are dirt cheap. If your doing all this just to install 2 less lamps, I think you're missing the big picture.

Any electrical supply house would probably tell you the same thing.

 

[BioHazard]

Next time you go shopping look up at the thousands and thousands of fluorescent lights you see. 99% of retail business these days are lit with 4' T8 bulbs - and they only chose that after spending a lot of money with various engineers. You simply can't buy an 8' T8 tube at a normal store like Home Depot, and there is a reason for this. (no demand)

I've got 8' T12HOs on my ceiling and I'm replacing them with 4 footers simply for convenience. The 8' HO tubes put out more light than T5s even though they are T12, (with more juice) still not worth the trouble to deal with 8' tubes.

 

[Norcal]

Next time you go shopping look up at the thousands and thousands of fluorescent lights you see. 99% of retail business these days are lit with 4' T8 bulbs - and they only chose that after spending a lot of money with various engineers. You simply can't buy an 8' T8 tube at a normal store like Home Depot, and there is a reason for this. (no demand)

I've got 8' T12HOs on my ceiling and I'm replacing them with 4 footers simply for convenience. The 8' HO tubes put out more light than T5s even though they are T12, (with more juice) still not worth the trouble to deal with 8' tubes.

F96T8 lamps are avail from big box retailers but they are costly compared to 48" lamps (4-F32T8 lamps will cost less then 1-8' T8), BTW F40T12 lamps will continue to be sold, only the non-electronic ballasts for a lot of popular lamps will cease being manufactured in July 2010.

 

[BioHazard]

F96T8 lamps are avail from big box retailers but they are costly compared to 48" lamps

Hmmm...I couldn't find any at Lowes or HD...maybe special order? I was just curious about cost. If you do plan to go ahead with 8' T8s I would buy them from 1000bulbs.com.

 

[Norcal]

Hmmm...I couldn't find any at Lowes or HD...maybe special order? I was just curious about cost. If you do plan to go ahead with 8' T8s I would buy them from 1000bulbs.com.

It may be a regional thing,here in the People's Republic both Home Despot & Blowes have them.

 

[Falcon67]

Home Depot here has 8' T8 bulbs. But it's cheaper to buy the 4' bulbs by the 10 pack box. And there is more selection. I personally use the 6400K bulbs for the most light. I used all 4' because I can place them where I want easier. If I put an 8' at the end where the overhead door is, I'd have no light with the door open. Instead, I put 3 4'ers on that end with two turned sideways out of the door path and one over the door area. Left the chain switches in, so with the door open I can have plenty of light and the one over the door is off. On the long bench I replaced the 8' fixture to a 8' x 4 bulb T8. 8' bulbs of any kind are a PITA and we have two pickups, so hauling is not the issue. Handling, storage, etc is an issue so I skipped all that by using 4' bulbs.

I also left the pull chain in all the new T8 fixtures. I have my 20x24 set up with two banks of 6 fixtures and the pull chains let me run just the lights I need in whatever spot and save a bit of power.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Your crazy for wanting 8' T8's. 4' T8's are probably 10 times more common, meaning most likely a lower price, plus the fact ballasts are dirt cheap. If your doing all this just to install 2 less lamps, I think you're missing the big picture.

Any electrical supply house would probably tell you the same thing.

What I tried to link to from Lowes (wouldn't work) is a 4 bulb T8 fixture but two end to end and not 4 side by side. I think I will check them out Friday.

Wasn't so much to install 2 less lamps but more of a start over to change to all new fixtures. I thought it might be easier to have fewer fixtures, therefore, less lamps.

 

[rlme36]

What I tried to link to from Lowes (wouldn't work) is a 4 bulb T8 fixture but two end to end and not 4 side by side. I think I will check them out Friday.

Wasn't so much to install 2 less lamps but more of a start over to change to all new fixtures. I thought it might be easier to have fewer fixtures, therefore, less lamps.

I purchased 8ft 4 lamp units like you are talking about from my local elec supply place. Mine have the reflective white shade, but its the same damn light with or without by metalux. I like the unit, was easy to install. I put 16 of them up in the garage. My only gripe with them is that the elec ballast that they use does cause some radio interference. I still get the FM stations, but with some static. Totally worth it to have light in my opinion. The local supply house sold them to me for $44 bucks way cheaper than HD or lowes with the shade.

 

[Falcon67]

Wasn't so much to install 2 less lamps but more of a start over to change to all new fixtures. I thought it might be easier to have fewer fixtures, therefore, less lamps.

Hear that. Thought about it, then just went with the 4'ers and R&Rd a couple here, couple there until the T12s were gone. Mine are all hardwired, so there was a slightly higher hassle factor per fixture.

 

[BioHazard]

If you already have 4' T12 fixtures, you can probably easily convert them to use T8 tubes instead. This is what I'm doing in my shop, except I'm replacing 1 8' with 2 4's. The sockets are the same for both tubes. All you need to change is the ballast. Home Depot sells very efficient Sylvania electronic 2-4 tube ballasts for about $15.

 

[NUTTSGT]

If you already have 4' T12 fixtures, you can probably easily convert them to use T8 tubes instead. This is what I'm doing in my shop, except I'm replacing 1 8' with 2 4's. The sockets are the same for both tubes. All you need to change is the ballast. Home Depot sells very efficient Sylvania electronic 2-4 tube ballasts for about $15.

I've bought some 4'ers that I'm not happy with. I picked up 4 of them last spring, within a month everyone of them, had one bulb that was not working. Now, I'm wondering if those were made for T8s.

 

[Falcon67]

If you already have 4' T12 fixtures, you can probably easily convert them to use T8 tubes instead. This is what I'm doing in my shop, except I'm replacing 1 8' with 2 4's. The sockets are the same for both tubes. All you need to change is the ballast. Home Depot sells very efficient Sylvania electronic 2-4 tube ballasts for about $15.

Thought about that, but the new lights are cheaper than a ballast and are better made, plus they have the pull chain. I can take the center off the new lights for wiring and everything else stays in the fixture. The older sheet metal cheapie T-12 units fall apart when the reflector is removed from the base. All those old ones went in the trash.

 

[jwcknet]

If you have a problem with ballasts you maybe want to try LEd. Led-O.com has a T8 with 85-277V PSU.

Thanks,

Joel

 

[Shiny Lil Detlr]

I would have to agree with the folks here recommending the 48" T8s over 96" ones. I just got done retrofitting a bunch of 48" T12 shop lights I had been using (which were about 25 years old and still had their original magnetic ballasts) with electronic T8 ballasts (GE branded) and 6500K Phillips lamps. The difference in light output is absolutely night and day (pun intended).

I also added two new 8' T8HO fixtures which use four of the same 48" lamps and they put out as much, if not more light than the 8' T12HOs I have in my shed and under my carport -- and they're a LOT more efficient. Not to mention the quality of light, which at 6500K is much better for task lighting than the T12s put out with 4300K lamps.

From what I found when pricing my retrofit and new fixtures, I found that the ballast retrofit cost around half of what new fixtures would have, and the T8HO fixtures were $10-15 cheaper than T12HOs let alone the difference in price for the lamps themselves. Even though I, too, can fit 8' lamps in my truck with no problem, the 4' are a LOT easier to store and install/replace. Best part was that everything I used came straight from Home Depot -- no having to hassle with ordering stuff, or deal with a lighting contractor that would have soaked me for not being a union electrician.

 

[jarhead]

Since they've decided to make T12 obsolete.

Dammit I wish I had seen this a week ago!

I just bought a 8 foot T12 HO fixture from HomeDepot and two HO bulbs and put it in my pole barn. I bought the same setup I had put in my garage 3 years ago.

So how long will they make the T12 bulbs?

 

[Falcon67]

"Despite strong, on-going sales of 4-foot T12 fluorescent lamps, the magnetic ballasts commonly used for the lamps’ operation will start becoming relics of the past on July 1, 2010, when their continued manufacture for commercial and industrial applications becomes prohibited by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ballast efficiency regulations.
According to the National Lighting Bureau, the July 1, 2010 date marks the last step of a multi-step phase-out that began on July 1, 2005, the date when ballast manufacturers could no longer sell T12 magnetic ballasts for use in new fixtures with full-wattage T12 lamps. March 31, 2006 was the last day lighting-fixture manufacturers could incorporate the ballasts in new fixtures with full-wattage T12 lamps. And on July 1, 2010, the manufacture of T12 magnetic ballasts solely for replacement purposes will cease."