Lithonia or Metalux

[bobscogin]

8 foot tandem T8 32 watt fixtures -- For about the same money, Lithonia from Home Depot or Metalux from Lowes? Both made in Mexico. Watts (pun intended) your experience?

Bob

 

[allinon72]

Lithonia. Originally bought Metalux from Lowes and returned them due to poor quality. Lowes sells a lot of junk these days.

 

[Angelfire]

Neither. Www.contractorlighting.com. Call them as you'll get a better price over the phone.

 

[pattenp]

Lithonia. Originally bought Metalux from Lowes and returned them due to poor quality. Lowes sells a lot of junk these days.

Where are you getting this info from? Metalux is owned by Cooper and was introduced in 1965. Cooper is now owned by Eaton.

 

[bobscogin]

Neither. Www.contractorlighting.com. Call them as you'll get a better price over the phone.

I looked at their fixtures and no brand is specified. Who makes them? Both Metalux and Lithonia at the local big boxes are ~$40. I need about 30.

Bob

 

[Stuart in MN]

In my experience both brands are good. On personal preference alone I like Lithonia but Metalux are fine too.

 

[Norcal]

I prefer Lithonia as they seem to be the more common of the 2, although my preferred make is Acme, their wraps, strip & industrial fixtures were well made, but they no longer exist as Lithonia bought them & made them "Lithonia Lighting West".

There are a number of regional lighting manufacturers out there, Acme of LA was one, Wellmade formerly of Oakland, & now Merced, CA is another to name a couple.

 

[Falcon67]

I used the Lithonia from HD, no complaints.

 

[Steevo]

I installed 17 of the Metalux units from Lowes.
No problems with products.
No DOA units.
No radio interferenece.
No problems in 2 years.
Very energy-efficient.

 

[itsAfram]

just read the review on the Metalux on lowes.com
any truth to this, or is this common among all manufacturers?

Keep your receipt in case ballast does dye, Sylvania (ballast manufacturer) has a 60 month warranty! Can't beat it!

 

[allinon72]

Where are you getting this info from? Metalux is owned by Cooper and was introduced in 1965. Cooper is now owned by Eaton.

Read my post again, I bought some Metalux lights from Lowes but returned them.

 

[NHBandit]

Read my post again, I bought some Metalux lights from Lowes but returned them.

I think he's asking what the problem was with the Metalux lights that caused you to refer to them as "junk". I'd like to know as well since I just bought $400 bucks worth based on multiple reccomendations I read HERE. Could you explain what you felt was junk about them ? I also bought some for my wifes sewing studio awhile back and installed them and had no issues with them.

 

[allinon72]

I bought some of the more basic fixtures and found them to be cheaply made especially the bulb sockets.

 

[NHBandit]

I bought some of the more basic fixtures and found them to be cheaply made especially the bulb sockets.

Thanks. I didn't notice that they were any more cheaply made than any other low priced brand. I just read some of the reviews on the Lowes website and had to chuckle... One guy said they were too hard to assemble and that the instructions sucked. LoL.. If he can't figure out how to put those lights together he's likely to blow his eyebrows off trying to change a lightbulb... I wonder which part was so difficult, the 2 screws or the two wires. Some people..

 

[frankush]

Both brands should be about the same quality. They are residential grade fixtures, meaning they are the lowest quality that either company produces. They are both well known brands. I'd look at the ballasts (the most expensive part of the fixture) and make my decision based on who makes them.

 

[bobscogin]

They are both well known brands. I'd look at the ballasts (the most expensive part of the fixture) and make my decision based on who makes them.

Good point. OK, let's shift the focus to the ballast. Any one in particular troublesome, any one more reliable than the others?

Bob

 

[retrobuilder]

Both Lithonia and Metalux - Cooper have plants in southeastern USA for many fixtures. Many of the components are sourced from numerous mfg's. For 30 sets- i;'d get a contractor quote from store managers. Lowe's and HD are not best source for volume commercial lighting.

 

[dimarcelli]

Lithonia fixtures come with all different ballasts. I've seen some with keystone, sylvania and philips. I remember reading about ballasts on another discussion board one time and the general consensus was that the multi-volt ballasts were better to have. Higher ballast factor, better parts, i really have no idea what makes them better but that's what i read. A T8 fixture at home depot w/ hbf, -20 starting temp and multivolt operation will run you about $60. A standard t8 is about $40. They actually market the $60 one as "high output T8" but it's not true HO. I guess the ballast operates differently to bump up the light output.

Someone with greater knowledge here could probably explain it better.

 

[Blk88GT]

I was able to get 10% off my order of 42 fixtures and 5 cases of lamps just by asking for it. This was at Lowes.

They seem to work just fine, although I've only had them up for a few months.

 

[frankush]

I prefer to stay with a name brand when possible. Advance, Magnatek, Sylvania or Phillips. There are other decent ones. The thing to remember is that they are electronic. The old magnetic ballasts might last 40 years. You will never get that kind of life out of an electronic ballast. I try to avoid anything with the name GE on it. Might want to check out the warranty as well.

 

[Angelfire]

I looked at their fixtures and no brand is specified. Who makes them? Both Metalux and Lithonia at the local big boxes are ~$40. I need about 30.

Bob

They don't carry a brand on them, or at least I didn't see one. They do have better ballasts than what the big box stores sell. I didn't do any measuring but the fixtures themselves do seem heavier and thicker gage steel than the ones at the borgs. They seem to be well built and again, I think I got better ballasts (IIRC, I got pretty good phillips ballasts with mine).

 

[DelmarvaJK]

Lithonia all the way, I've had mine for 4 years with no problem and this 6 - 48" T8 "Day light" bulbs really make your workshop/garage look like day light at night! LOL

 

[DelmarvaJK]

In the process of moving so as you can see it was in storage...

 

[DelmarvaJK]

Here is a link...

http://www.homedepot.com/Lighting-Fans-Indoor-Lighting-Industrial-Shop-Lighting/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbvnq/R-202193185/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051