They supposedly stopped making the lower kelvin bulbs this past July. I know there are still a bazillion bulbs out there on store shelves. But you have to think that there are many many supermarkets, Wal-Marts, etc that are still using the T12 bulbs that will eventually need to switch over to T8 or T5 bulbs. I would think they would be hoarding all the bulbs they could get and use before switching over. I mean if you were a facilities planner/engineer, for a major super market chain, you would have to be getting nervous a bit.I know just in this room I am in, alone there are 13 fixtures that will need to be swapped over at some ($$$) cost. Just wondering if I should stock pile a few cases in the meantime.... I have enough for my house to last until the ballasts give out... And I realize the newer bulbs will cost less in the long run. Just wondering about now.
__________________ "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." Inigo Montoya
We did the changeover at work this summer. Our power company paid a rebate on every fixture we replaced that covered the price of the fixture. We ate the labor, but we were also slow from the wonderful economy so it gave a couple guys something to do instead of being laid off. The new T8 bulbs do give off better light and are supposed to cost us less.
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As I always tell my boss,\"I can do anything with enough time and money.\"
In one of my previous jobs I had our maintenance department change out all the high pressure sodium and T12 fixtures for 6 tube T5's. We also got a rebate from SoCal Edison. We saved money not only for running a more efficient light fixture that put out more and better light, we saved money on air conditioning costs. We even had people on the shop floor (QA folks) comment that they could see things they were not able to see before the change.
I had a bet with our CFO that our electric bill would go down; he said it would stay the same. That steak dinner at Ruth's Chris was awfully tasty.
BTW, you would be surprised at how many big box stores/super markets have already converted. Most are using T8's now.
I designed linear florescent lighting fixtures for 7 years. one of the reasons T12 lamps are not as efficient is because they are so fat, they block a lot of their own light bouncing off the reflector. T8 and T5 lamps are much slimmer.
Dan is right, a retrofit really will help commercial establishments. the electronic ballasts that power T5s and T8s are are a lot better than old-school magnetic, and the heat goes down too. T8 and T5 do much better in the cold. the cost differential between T5 and T5HO is negligible. many commercial establishments can retrofit one fixture and REMOVE another.
for my garage, I stocked up on T12 lamps last time I was in Arizona.
I have (4) new 48" T12 HO bulbs and cannot find the fixtures at HD or Lowes.
They recommended I just replace my existing 8 footers and ditch the 4 footer bulbs and just go all T8HO as my garage can go as low as zero in our winters.
__________________
Jonathan
Building 289 c.i.d. engines.
Nicola Tesla probably did more for the 20th century than anyone on earth. He was little understood.
Edison was an opportunistic charlatan.
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Build started 15 Dec. 2002
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T12's are going up in price. They are less efficient to run.
T8/5/5ho's are going down in price. They are more efficient to run.
I've only run in to one customer who insisted on keeping their company stocks old T12HO's, and they had literally hundreds of them. I don't really blame them, bought and paid for years ago, their maintenance man can just keep simply changing out bulbs for years/decades to come.
With the current price of T12/T12 HO's, what could you POSSIBLY be worried about? Banning them is stupid IMO, but it honestly makes no sense for manufacturers to continue making them.
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I have enough for my house to last until the ballasts give out...
And I realize the newer bulbs will cost less in the long run. Just wondering about now.
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