Newly installed strip lights T-8 4 bulb strip lights from Menards. Do they need to be left on to burn in? When first powered up they are very dim for several minutes, but eventually go to full brightness. But this leads me to the question. Seems that I've read of certain types of lights that need burning in. But that was years ago, and unsure of the type.
Do I need to "Burn in" my lights?
- Thread starter RonRock
- Start date
purplezr2
Well-known member
Isn't that pretty standard operation for florescent light?
LS6 Tommy
Well-known member
Some fluorescents burn in a little. What's the temperature in the room? Cold fluorescents sometimes need warm up time, especially if the ballasts aren't rated for cold temps.
Tommy
Tommy
It was 70* F in the shop so probably warmer than that at ceiling level.
From previous installs I see similar happening. But after the first powering up of the strip they come on pretty fast. Still takes a few seconds to come up to full brightness, but that is expected.
I left them on overnight. Probably just wasted a couple bucks on electricity.
Just wondering if it is necessary or not needed with new florescent lights.
From previous installs I see similar happening. But after the first powering up of the strip they come on pretty fast. Still takes a few seconds to come up to full brightness, but that is expected.
I left them on overnight. Probably just wasted a couple bucks on electricity.
Just wondering if it is necessary or not needed with new florescent lights.
Falcon67
Well-known member
I see that on all my fixtures. Not sure if it's a ballast thing or a light thing but they are usually "less bright" until they have been on a while, even with instant start electronic ballasts. And its kinda random too - one time a fixture will come on bright, maybe 2-3-4-x times from now not so much. Not temperature related - see it at 55F and 95F, same way. Sometimes the fixture will bright up in a minute, sometimes takes several minutes.
Crazy68Dart
Well-known member
Burn in is related to the maximum output of the lamp -- at full brightness. In general, mfgs do specify a burn in time (at least on the research I have been doing lately). Otherwise, I think what you are seeing is likely due to the ballast/bulb type and/or quality.
CJ7VFR
Well-known member
I have this happen to me too!
The one place it seems to happen most is in my upstairs bathroom. When I bought my house 6 years ago I replaced the five 60 watt incandescent bulbs with five 13 watt CFL bulbs (not the swirly ones, but the ones that actually look like regular light bulbs with the swirly part inside) and they have been there ever since.
Some days, even if its warm in the house, the bulbs will start out dim and then take a minute or so to get brighter. And on some days when the house is cool (like now in the winter) the lights will sometimes come on full brightness even though no one has used the bathroom all day.
It's just weird. I told my wife that when these bulbs burn out, I am going to go with LED's.
Jim
Factoryrat
Member
I`ve been swapping out my CFLs for LEDs in my home too because I`m tired of the bulbs having to warm up. I just pick them up when they`re on sale 