Offramp
New member
Greetings! I am a newb here and I am sure this has been answered before but I just didn't hit on the search.
I have a 3 car attached and insulated garage that is not usually heated. We can turn on the garage heater when needed but 99% of the time the garage heater is off. Present lighting is from three 8' foot High Output Cold Starting T-12 fixtures, 2 bulbs per fixture. Lighting is adaquate for our needs but one of these fixtures does not always turn on immediately. The light fixture furthest from the attachment to the house (closest to the outside wall) is the usual culprit, summer or winter. Sometimes the second from the switch is the culprit but only in the winter. They eventually start but there is a 10 second to 2 minute delay if the fixture does not light up initially.
I am out of spare bulbs and before throwing away cash in new bulbs and ballasts for these T-12 fixtures, I was thinking about switching out these fixtures for more reliable starts. Since LED doesn't seem to be here just yet, what are my options?
Is there cold starting T-5, T-8? If so, is there an advantage of one over the other?
Stay with T-12 and get new ballasts? What and where can I get the "good ballasts"?
I have a 3 car attached and insulated garage that is not usually heated. We can turn on the garage heater when needed but 99% of the time the garage heater is off. Present lighting is from three 8' foot High Output Cold Starting T-12 fixtures, 2 bulbs per fixture. Lighting is adaquate for our needs but one of these fixtures does not always turn on immediately. The light fixture furthest from the attachment to the house (closest to the outside wall) is the usual culprit, summer or winter. Sometimes the second from the switch is the culprit but only in the winter. They eventually start but there is a 10 second to 2 minute delay if the fixture does not light up initially.
I am out of spare bulbs and before throwing away cash in new bulbs and ballasts for these T-12 fixtures, I was thinking about switching out these fixtures for more reliable starts. Since LED doesn't seem to be here just yet, what are my options?
Is there cold starting T-5, T-8? If so, is there an advantage of one over the other?
Stay with T-12 and get new ballasts? What and where can I get the "good ballasts"?