Shop Lighting

[8iowa]

Most of our shops have flourescent lighting - indeed it's almost the only choice. In the past I have installed 4 foot long standard shop lights with two 40 watt bulbs. They flicker and hum - not only annoying but for some people these lights produce troublesome headaches. My daughter simply cannot stay in a flourescent lit room. Flourescent bulbs can also produce a strobe affect that interferes with our vision of rotating objects.

For years the standard was the magnetic balast which is simply a transformer that produces a high voltage to energize the gas in the tube. They operate at 60 cycles per second which is within our visible and audible range. It's this frequency that is the root of the problem.

Enter new flourescent lighting technology - the electronic ballast. It of course produces the necessary high voltage, but with solid state technology it raises the frequency to the 20,000 to 40,000 cycles per second range. We cannot see or hear frequencies this high, thus, no flicker or hum.

The choice of bulbs can also make a difference. I've selected "daylight" bulbs as they will provide the most normal light spectrum.

If you have a problem with your present lights give thought to replacing them with flourescent lights having the electronic ballasts.

[Bruce]

Thanks for the info.

[charlese]

You are right on there, 8iowa! I put one of these fixtures in my wife's sewing room for more light. I was a little sceptical at first, seeing the scrawny narrow little bulbs. But when we turned it on - it knocked our socks off! Almost have to wear sunglasses in that room. Only one problem. The light plays games with the little TV she has in that room. The TV changes stations all by itself.
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[redman]

Are these new lights the ones with the standard base that screw in like an incadescent?

Redman

[8iowa]

Redman:

The flourescent lights with eletronic balasts that I installed are 4 foot long two tube fixtures virtually identical in appearance to the old standard shop lights. The flourescent tubes (T8-32) are 1" diameter, 32 Watt, whereas the old style tubes are 1 1/2" and 40 Watt. The tubes are not interchangeable. Lowes and Home Depot have these new electronic ballast lights in stock but I doubt that you can find anyone there who can tell you much about them.

I've found three types of flourescent tubes, cool white, sunlight, and daylight. I selected the daylight bulbs in order to have the most normal visible light spectrum.

[Bruce]

There is one that Lowe's carries that will use both the 32 and 40 watt bulbs. Are the 40 watt bulbs brighter? I would assume that they would be.

[8iowa]

Batg4:

To the best of my knowledge the 40 watt tubes go with the old style 60 cycle magnetic ballast lighting fixtures. I haven't seen any electronic balast flourescent shop lights here at the Gainesville Lowes that take a 40 watt bulb.

From a practical standpoint you won't notice much if any difference between the 32 watt and the 40 watt fixtures. However you will visually notice a difference between the type of flourescent tube, ie: cool white, sunlight, and daylight. Cool white are the cheapest bulbs, sort of the old standard, with a light spectrum tending toward blue and somewhat distorting colors. Sunlight bulbs are often used for growing plants and probably have the highest UV rating, which is not good for our aging eyes. The daylight bulbs have the highest degrees Kelvin rating and probably have the closest to the normal light sprectum.

I believe my comments are accurate, however I'm not a lighting expert and I'm certainly receptive to any comments and corrections.

[charlese]

The most obvious difference between the two types of flourescent tubes is the diameter of the tubes. The tubes used with the new electronic ballast are only 1" in diameter. The older style tubes are an inch and a half. But, as 8iowa says they give better light. And boy! they seem a lot brighter! Sorry for using the term "bulbs" in my earlier post!