I was working in my shop the other day and noticed it was not as bright as it used to be. Of course there were some bulbs out. So I decided to install some new ones. This is where it gets interesting. I have the 2 bulb 4 ft fluorescent fixtures fastened end to end on the trusses. Over the years I have been converting some of them to l e D’S when the ballast’s fail. I have some old fluorescent bulbs with the silver ends and some newer ones with the green ends. Ok in 2014 I started putting dates on them when I change them. Well yesterday there was a silver tipped one dated 10-11-14 right next to a green tipped one that was dated 1-7-22. Both bulbs were out. I installed 2 new bulbs and it was fine. I found similar dates on others. Here is my thoughts. The green ones are supposed to be better on the environment. But the silver tipped one last 7 - 8 YEARS longer. How can that be better for the environment. And yes all of the lights are on one switch. Let the discussion begin. Thanks guys
Fluorescent lights
- Thread starter Turfturd
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North Idaho Wolfman
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Because when you break the silver tipped one's your breathing in mercury vapor, and not so with the green tipped ones.
Runs With Scissors
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I decided to stop using them altogether. Got tired of swapping ballasts and having them SLOWLY go dimmer and dimmer, and yellower and yellower, until I can't see sh!t anymore.
Been switching over to LED's
But to answer your original question of, "How can that be better for the environment?"
They are not.
It's simply a Government/Media driven lie continually told to the Sheeple of this country...........Just like EV cars are better for the environment and "windmills" are gonna "stop Global warming, or Global cooling, or Climate change".....or whatever the new "hysteria driving buzzword" is this year.
Just sayin.....
Been switching over to LED's
But to answer your original question of, "How can that be better for the environment?"
They are not.
It's simply a Government/Media driven lie continually told to the Sheeple of this country...........Just like EV cars are better for the environment and "windmills" are gonna "stop Global warming, or Global cooling, or Climate change".....or whatever the new "hysteria driving buzzword" is this year.
Just sayin.....
They ALL contain mercury. The "green" ones just have less.
So one regular tube every 10 years, or 3 'green' tubes is probably a wash. Except for the energy it takes to produce, distribute and dispose of 3x the tubes.
Time to bite the bullet and remove all the florescent units and replace with LED. That’s what I’ve done with my garage, the big shop and the chicken barn has been getting converted the way you’re doing yours now. LED is much better. It’s been 3 years and I think one fixture out of about 30 has died.
Yeah…..kinda what I thought. I do like the LED ones, they even work better in the cold. And messing with the ballasts gets annoying.
I do feel like I am at a greater risk of dying in a car crash on the way to the recycler’s place than dying from mercury vapor poisoning. LOL
Thanks guys
I do feel like I am at a greater risk of dying in a car crash on the way to the recycler’s place than dying from mercury vapor poisoning. LOL
Thanks guys
What LED’s are y’all using? I need to replace my 6 4’ fluorescents in my 2 car garage. Needing direct mount to ceiling if possible. I have already hung a LED over the work bench, but want more light in the bays.
Just above the press is the only light that will actually come on.
With bench light on… don’t mind the mess, I know where EVERYTHING is!
With bench light on… don’t mind the mess, I know where EVERYTHING is!
Runs With Scissors
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Glad to a see another shop that's as "organized" as mine usually is!
I put 8 of these in my 36 x 40 Metal building/ Pole barn last year and I almost have to wear sunglasses now.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Y5D8ZGB/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
Be forewarned, 8 of them maxed out that circuit, so the wall plugs are now useless. I should have/might just run a new circuit.
But before I learned of those I used the 4 footer LED ones from Home Depot that you can "Daisy chain" up to 4 or 5 in a row in my house shop. That was a few years ago so I highly doubt they sell the same brand today.
I had the 4 foot fixtures already so I just bought the 4 foot LED replacement bulbs. I like the ones that you can wire direct from one end. You just eliminate the ballast all together. I got them at Home Depot. You just use the old fixture and the “tombstones” to hold the bulb.
Ahh completely forgot about those. That may be my best bet. I’ll have to see what bulbs I have now, I think they are T5 ends. And thinking about it, I think I have 8’ bulbs.
fried1765
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If you use 8' LED bulbs, you will need little bulb support clips in the middle of the 8' length.
LED all the way. I hate florescent lighting. Its primary benefit was the amount of light vs energy usage and they all still sucked for brightness.
I went with 4' leds. Really the only determining factor on type choice is ceiling heights. 4ft fixtures work just fine at typical garage height. Finding good quality ones is a different story, but on the low side of my garage in a two and a half car bay I have 10 of them and its like surgery table bright. On the high side however the light doesn't "reach" from 15ft ceilings. The round lights is what I will be installing in the future.
I went with 4' leds. Really the only determining factor on type choice is ceiling heights. 4ft fixtures work just fine at typical garage height. Finding good quality ones is a different story, but on the low side of my garage in a two and a half car bay I have 10 of them and its like surgery table bright. On the high side however the light doesn't "reach" from 15ft ceilings. The round lights is what I will be installing in the future.
About 4 or 5 years ago the local utility did an energy survey at my wife's store, and they replaced about 150 old-style fluorescent light bulbs and their ballasts with new "energy saving" ballasts and new LED 4' light tubes. The store lighting was much improved, and the cost to us was about $1500. It took 2 electricians 4 days to complete the work. The plus was more and better lighting, but there wasn't 1 cent of energy savings. Just a smoke and mirror job to comply with some energy regulation. I was told that if the new bulbs saved 50 KW of energy, that it was like the utility added 50 KW of generation to the overall system. They are now proposing to remove the ballasts from these fixtures and install new LED tubes that work on 120 volts without any ballasts at all. Once again they claim that it will lower the energy bills, however, this time they want $4000 to do the changeover. They can't give me an accurate dollar amount of the savings, and will not guarantee that there will be any savings at all.
fried1765
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Kubota L48 TLB, Ford 1920 FEL, Ford 8N, SCAG Liberty Z, Gravely Pro.
"Electrical tape"? ,......... to substitute for a little (metal) bulb support clip....... for an 8' LED bulb?
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I converted ALL my 8' fluorescent fixtures in the barn and basement just removing the ballast and direct wiring, no support clips and works just fine. There are many different types of LED bulbs and I wish I got the brighter ones but now I know and can easily change them out when needed.
Bmyers
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Ok, ok, you’re right. I may have to dig around and really church it up with some duct tape!"Electrical tape"? ,......... to substitute for a little (metal) bulb support clip....... for an 8' LED bulb?
Joking aside, why would a little metal trinket be needed with LED’s when they aren’t for fluorescent?