quick light Q

[trailwart]

I have done a little searching on lights and get confused on whats best. I will start by saying i have a 30x40 pole barn and am happy with my current lighting, but am always looking to see what can be better. the lights i have now are 3 8' 110W T12 fixtures for cold weather that have 2 bulbs each and im using the sylvania 8k lumens bulbs. i see many people using the T8 fixtures and see very few using the T12's(it seems)
are the t8's better? just curious.

 

[Gary S]

T8's are slowly replacing T12's because they are more energy efficient. As long as you are happy with your existing lights and can buy tubes for them, it probably isn't cost effective to replace them.

 

[Number22]

Yes, T8s are "better", but T12s still work. I think the 8' bulbs are the worst, just hard to deal with those big frickin' tubes. In my shop I have a bunch of 8', 2 tube T12 fixtures that I'm going to retrofit with 6 T8 bulbs for every 2 T12s. This results in 192w per fixture, vs 220, and the new bulbs/ballasts start quicker, work better in the cold, and don't buzz.

The best part: The state of Oregon is paying me 35% of the cost to upgrade as a check up front. There's also a bunch of tax credits on top of that. They're paying to relight my entire building.