I have the opportunity to purchase 10 T12 fixtures for $80, which come with the bulbs and balasts. they are the 4 bulb 24" x 48" and are made to recess into a ceiling (they came out of a doctor's office). I'm assuming this is a good deal, is it worth it though if these are actually T12? also, will I be able to install these in my drywalled ceiling (since I believe they were probably for those paneled type of ceiling usually found in commercial set ups). If not, is it ok to mount them to the surface of the ceiling? Thanks, Mike
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T12 fluorescent
- Thread starter mikej805
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Gregishome
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- Dec 29, 2011
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If they have lens, $8.00 ea is a good price for 2x4 layin troffers. You can change them over to electronic ballasts with T-8 lamps later, as time and $ are available.
I'm pretty "in the dark" about lighting my garage. I have learned a lot here, I just want to make sure these will light my garage sufficiently. It is an attached 25X25. I figured I would probably use them all. I would like to flush mount them in the ceiling so they are not hanging down, since I only have 8' ceilings but I don't want to burn my garage down if it will not be safe. They do include the lenses, bulbs and balasts. I haven't looked at them yet, the guy selling them says he knows they are not T8's and believes they are T12s. Would I be better off just waiting for some T8 strips? I would prefer not to buy everything new since it would cost a lot more than I would like to spend but I do want my garage lit properly.
djjsr
Well-known member
Ballasts for T-12s are getting hard to find, none are available in my area. Somewhere down the road, I'm not sure of the date, the T-12 bulbs are no longer going to be available.
Gregishome
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2011
- Messages
- 811
I'm pretty "in the dark" about lighting my garage. I have learned a lot here, I just want to make sure these will light my garage sufficiently. It is an attached 25X25. I figured I would probably use them all. I would like to flush mount them in the ceiling so they are not hanging down, since I only have 8' ceilings but I don't want to burn my garage down if it will not be safe. They do include the lenses, bulbs and balasts. I haven't looked at them yet, the guy selling them says he knows they are not T8's and believes they are T12s. Would I be better off just waiting for some T8 strips? I would prefer not to buy everything new since it would cost a lot more than I would like to spend but I do want my garage lit properly.
Yes, t8's are better for energy savings but not any brighter than good t12's with good ballasts. Look at the ends of the T12 lamps, if they are blackened/blueish, they will be dim and shortlived..
New fixtures are good, if you want to spend the money. I just a installed bunch of the Home Depot 4 -T8- 48 " tubed 96" long surface mount fixtures with "hoods" in a project. AT $56.00 they are cheap built, but work nicely..
Wow, just noticed you said "flush" mount, thats a lot of work. So ignore my surface mount advice below..
As said above, a little at a time, convert them to t8/electronic ballast if you dont want to buy new ones. The only thing about about the old t12 electromagnetic ballasts is when they go bad, they get real hot and melt the dieelectric in them it seems....
But I have removed 30 year old MANY 96" T12 surface mounted fixtures even with the fried ballasts and they showed no signs of heating the drywall they are attached to. ...
To hinder that worry, you could uses short pieces of pipe and stand them off of your drywall some for airspace.
jmo
Last edited:
regguy1
Well-known member
I used T8's 48", I bought them at HD. $20.00 ea. They have a plastic diffusor over the tubes, I used 20 in the 26' x 30'. Long term T8's will be your best bet. Also they light up in cold temp, the T12's might not. You can see the lighting in the short video tour just click the link below
tfi racing
Well-known member
It will work IF they are 110VAC.
Some of the bigger installs would use one leg of 440VAC into one wire 220VAC ballasts.
That would mean you couldn't use them as is.
Yep,watch out for 277 or 347v ballasts,also if your shop temp won't be 60-70 degrees when you're in it,T12's are pretty much useless...
It will work IF they are 110VAC.
Some of the bigger installs would use one leg of 440VAC into one wire 220VAC ballasts.
That would mean you couldn't use them as is.
Not a one of those voltages exist today in the USA, & 240V does not derive from 480 w/o a transformer, again this only applies to the US, a common voltage in large commercial / industrial establishments is 480/277V where the phase to phase voltage is 480 & phase to neutral is 277V. Canukistan uses 600/347V in the same manner.