What's so hard about finding 8 foot lights?

[strelnik]

As I build the garage out, I am at the point of buying eight foot fluorescent lamps, standard type, two bulb, no frills.

Every time I go to the local HD or Lowe's I run into some buck-toothed kid in a red sweater who tells me I don't want that and what I want is what looks like a 2x4 with two 4 footers attached to it.

I know what I want, thank you and this is not a hard order.

If one more bucktooth kid tells me what i want and don't want, I will go to the plumbing section, find a good Ridgid 24" pipe wrench and solve his dental problem!

Why is it so hard to get a simple thing?

 

[Intel]

Because transporting and changing 8 foot lamps is a huge pain in the ****. I hated doing it at the grocery store I worked at in the back rooms.

 

[Lotek]

Yuo can't fight "progress", get lamps that have readily available bulbs, ie 4', and be done with it. If you can't find bulbs now, it isn't going to get any easier in the future. A friend had some odd U shaped flourescent bulbs in her kitchen, no one carried them, everyone had the other size though, so we changed the fixtures. Better to start out with what is available now.

 

[motoguy]

I've got (6) 8' T12 HO dual-bulb fixtures in my shop. No issue finding either bulbs or fixtures at my local Lowes.

 

[Grumpy365]

I have NEVER had any trouble finding them @ Home Depot

BUT they are a pain in the *** to carry & transport.

 

[Falcon67]

What they said - I'd rather buy and carry a case of 4' bulbs than try and handle T8 8 footers. I use a mix of 4' and 8' fixtures, and only have to keep one kind of bulb on hand for burnouts.

 

[buening]

Finding bulbs isn't a problem, but finding a quality new fixture using those 8' bulbs is a challenge. They supply the replacement bulbs, but the trend is to get away from the 2 rows of single 8' bulbs and use 2 rows of end to end 4' bulbs

 

[BlueH20Boss]

8 foot T-12 HO units are slowly being phased out of production nation wide due to going green. They will disappear off retail shelves in the next few years, so if you have 8 foot HO units, buy extra cases of bulbs! They are trying to replace the 8' HO units with more energy efficient T-8 units which include 4- 48'' tubes.

I work in Kennett Square PA in the Mushroom Industry and we use hundreds upon hundreds of these fixtures in our growing facilities and deal with the same issues in finding them....


We buy all T-8 fixtures now to conform with the upcoming changes.

Kevin-

 

[Norcal]

A lot of popular T12 electromagnetic ballasts ceased production in July 2010, per Federal law. If one needs a T12 HO ballast one option is a plastic sign ballast, expensive but doable.

 

[rwhite692]

Why deal with 8 foot bulbs?

I bought my fixtures (Lithonia 4-bulb, 8-foot T8) through my local electrical supply house. They gave me contractor pricing and delivered them free.

 

[MLK]

I was looking for a ballast for one of my 8 foot fixtures today, and I can replace the 8 footer I have with a new 8 footer with 4-4 foot bulbs cheaper than I can purchase the ballast for.

It's a PITA to change out the fixture, but that's what I decided to do.

Mike

 

[Falcon67]

I was looking for a ballast for one of my 8 foot fixtures today, and I can replace the 8 footer I have with a new 8 footer with 4-4 foot bulbs cheaper than I can purchase the ballast for.

It's a PITA to change out the fixture, but that's what I decided to do.

Mike

That's about right for all fixtures for some reason. I had 12 4' T-12s in the shop. Changing to T-8s cost $216 for replacement shop lights, would have been around $350 just buying ballasts and keeping the old fixtures.

 

[electrican]

8 ft florescent lights also make a lot of noise and when it's cold they don't put out a lot of light. they like 50 degrees or or more.

 

[PassnThru]

What they said - I'd rather buy and carry a case of 4' bulbs than try and handle T8 8 footers. I use a mix of 4' and 8' fixtures, and only have to keep one kind of bulb on hand for burnouts.

Do they even make an 8 foot T8?

 

[gatchel]

Do they even make an 8 foot T8?

https://www.lightsonrus.com/store/p...Fluorescent-lamp-4100K-%2d-F96T8{47}SP41.html

 

[ishiboo]

In most small shop spaces, it's probably better to distribute the light with 4' fixtures anyway.

 

[Travisnd]

I just purchased a pack of 8ft bulbs from Lowes this past weekend. As mentioned they are not fun to transport, but I've got 2 8ft light fixtures in my little one car garage and they do make it bright in there!

 

[trythis]

8 foot T-12 HO units are slowly being phased out of production nation wide due to going green.

Kevin-

As are some T8 8' bulbs.

 

[trythis]

8 ft florescent lights also make a lot of noise and when it's cold they don't put out a lot of light. they like 50 degrees or or more.

If you get T12 HO your good to -20 F

 

[Zick]

As I build the garage out, I am at the point of buying eight foot fluorescent lamps, standard type, two bulb, no frills.

Every time I go to the local HD or Lowe's I run into some buck-toothed kid in a red sweater who tells me I don't want that and what I want is what looks like a 2x4 with two 4 footers attached to it.

I know what I want, thank you and this is not a hard order.

If one more bucktooth kid tells me what i want and don't want, I will go to the plumbing section, find a good Ridgid 24" pipe wrench and solve his dental problem!

Why is it so hard to get a simple thing?

Why are you against the tandem two 4' setups?

 

[Vise Grip]

I buy my bulbs by the case. No problem transporting when they are in the case.

 

[ambenz]

I have 2, 8 foot florescents that are emamel coated, I got 10 years ago from a local Marathon gas station that was tossing them out!
There in the ceiling now and work great...a lot of light!
I had to change one bulb last week and the bulb "just fit" into the Mustang coupe.
If you want my 8 footers, I'll take $60 00 each...since they work...and use that money to go buy 4 four footers so I don't have to worry about haulin those big *** bulbs again...oh, BTW, the bulbs cost $11 for one!