T8 flouresent bulbs

[Kenneth in Texas]

im confused. I switched to the newer t8 bulbs as opposed to the old t12 bulbs but these t8s just dont seem as bright and as white as the old t12's were. Educate me on what type t8 bulbs i should be buying. All the fixtures indicate they use a 32 watt bulb.

 

[mbohuntr]

Your ballast needs to be rated for t8's as well. I do not know the specific reason though.

 

[George2615]

Agree with Mbohunter that you have to replace the ballast. If you've changed the ballasts and tubes the check the lumens on the tube box.
I switched my garage over to all T8 fixtures and tubes. Also, at work I have been switching out old T12 fixtures to T8 when the ballasts go bad. Lights are much brighter.

 

[ultrarunner]

Ballast and light spectrum...

Bulbs come in many different spectrums and color rendering.

Most of the bulbs I buy are 3500 also have 4100 and 3000... the difference in light is very noticeable when side by side.

Color and Mood | Products | ENERGY STAR

 

[Rustyiron]

T-5's are are being put in many commercial space as a efficiency gain.
FWIW, the number behind the "T" is the size (diameter) of the bulb, in 1/8"ths. T-5 = 5/8, T-8 - 1", etc.
All I know is the older I get, the more light I need

 

[newbury]

And to lead this off the OP's original question - if you have to get new ballasts you can swap in new T12/T8 form factor LED's that don't need a ballast.
I've a bunch 8' T12's with failing ballasts that are wired through conduit and it seems easier for me to clip the ballast out and put in new LED tubes with minor rewiring than it is to replace everything.

 

[Oldtink]

Ballast and light spectrum...

Bulbs come in many different spectrums and color rendering.

Most of the bulbs I buy are 3500 also have 4100 and 3000... the difference in light is very noticeable when side by side.

Color and Mood | Products | ENERGY STAR

Amen to that! You get what you pay for when it comes to the different phosphorous coatings.
I replaced 4 twin bulb 8 foot fixtures with 4 quad bulb t8 fixtures and used Phillips Alto 841 bulbs and the light output is noticeably brighter than my old 8 footers

 

[LD1]

Agree with others. Make sure the ballasts are rated for T8. I like the 5000k. In my old shop with the old t-12's I had everything 6500k.

New shop now has all 5000k stuff because thats what we use at work. And we just changed every single bulb in the plant 1-1/2 years ago. So I have about 30 boxes with 30 bulbs each that were used, but still work. Gonna be awhile before im out.

All the cree and phillips LED's in the house are 5000k too. Wife had to run to dollar general to grab a few bulbs for one of the apartment units, she got 2700k CFL's. Had to use one in a pinch in the basement. MAN thats YELLOW. Especially with 5000k LED's everywhere else in the basement.

 

[Bird]

Had I known about the LED tubes at the time, that's what I'd have gone to. But since I didn't know about them, and my T-12s were getting pretty erratic, I had all eight, four foot, two tube fixtures in my shop changed to T-8 tubes and ballasts in Feb. 2014 (yep, almost 2 years ago), then in May, 2014, I had the 3 tube fixture in the kitchen changed from magnetic ballast and T-12 tubes to the electronic ballasts and T-8 tubes.

So far, I've been happy with them. Now if I could just get rid of the two 8' T-12 2 tube fixtures in the garage . . . . .

 

[Mendonsy]

I am slowly replacing all of my T12's with LEDs. Every time that one fails, I replace the fixture with a new LED fixture.