Fluorscent light brand choices?

[BlackLead]

I've been reading thru the posts, and did a search, and looked for a sticky, but surprisingly, I'm coming up pretty empty. Are there any specific brand and price threads for fluorescent light fixtures, with links? Similar to the top sticky in the Flooring section. That particular thread was instrumental in my flooring choice; now I'm looking for similar guidance on lights. Thanks!

 

[Shocker]

I bought Lights of America 4ft T-8 lights from Walmart. Inexpensive and they seem to work well. No noise or flicker. 9 bucks each or so.

 

[U5512]

I bought Lights of America 4ft T-8 lights from Walmart. Inexpensive and they seem to work well. No noise or flicker. 9 bucks each or so.

Dito!!! Inexpensive and they work really well! I've one in my kitchen and just installed one in my garage yesterday. I am thinking of adding at least one more over my work bench in case I need to do some bench drilling or whatever at night.

 

[ddawg16]

I've heard less than steller things about Lights of America....especially the LED lamps that were being sold at Costco....

If you really want to know about lights....check out CandlePower Forums. Tons of info....and you will find out that people collect other things besides garages, cars and stamps.....you should see the section on flashlights.....

Go to the "Beyond Flashlights" section and look under General Lighting/Fixed.

That will keep you busy for a few days........

 

[BlackLead]

Any part numbers for the LOA fixtures? I only see three shop light choices on their website, and one of those is a 24", and the others are corded, with pull chains. Do these have the knockouts in the ends so that they can be wired inline, or are these point-of-use type fixtures?

I checked out the CandlePower forums. I didn't see too much love for the fluourescents in the searches I ran. Lots of love for the LED's, though.

 

[Bull]

Instead of starting a new thread, I'll revive this one.

Are there any brands in particular that pros like to use? I have had mixed experiences with the cheap fluoro shop fixtures from the local box stores. I need to buy a bunch for the upstairs of my barn, and thought I'd ask and see if there is any brand of good overall quality that I should consider instead?

 

[StaggeringGoat]

Personally I like to go with the cheapest fixtures I can find, and wait until the ballast goes bad or kills the bulbs. Then I get a $15 Sylvania "Quicktronic" ballast from home depot and put it in. Now I know I have a good ballast, and I didn't have to pay more than $25 or so....

 

[Stuart in MN]

I think it varies somewhat depending on what part of the country you're in, but here at least Lithonia is a well reguarded brand. Another is Columbia, there are a few others that don't come to mind at the moment. Last time I was in a Home Depot they had Lithonia fixtures on the shelf.

 

[Bull]

I will look for that brand in particular, then.

When the cheapies fail, is it usually a ballast issue? I installed maybe six or so 4ft fixtures in my basement. Some were the older style, larger bulbs...no idea what size that means. Others were the newer, thinner tubes...but not the super skinny ones. The fixtures with the larger bulbs never give me any trouble, but the units with smaller bulbs seem really to ****. Within a short time, two were such that one tube would not light up, except maybe, maybe with the right kind of jiggling. A third started doing that, and now just doesn't work at all.

I asked about it once in this forum before, but the best I got for a reply was someone basically saying "you bought cheap fixtures and wonder why they broke?" Well, yes, I want to know WHAT happened, not to hear the easy answer that they are just "cheap."

 

[StaggeringGoat]

When the cheapies fail, is it usually a ballast issue?

That's pretty much all there is in there to fail. I guess the sockets could be bad too depending on the light but usually cheap ballasts are worth what you paid.

Someone else pointed out in another thread that it's a good idea to get fixtures/ballasts that are rated for multiple voltages, especially 277 volts...that means they are for commercial use.

 

[John in OH]

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I think another important feature to consider in selecting fluorescent light fixtures is their ability to "start" at low temperatures. I'm considering installing the 8ft long strip fixtures that use four, 48 in., 32 watt T8 bulbs, but I've noticed that some of the cheaper fixtures ($40 typical cost) do not mention their temperature operating ranges. Can anyone shed some light (he, he) on what brand/model fixtures are both good fixtures (as asked by the OP) and also work at low temperatures?