What’s New In Linear Fluorescent Lamps And Ballasts?
Significant innovation in linear fluorescent lighting is being spurred on by commercial building energy codes, sustainability initiatives, new legislation and regulations, customer demands and competition from other light sources, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In short, fluorescent lighting is generally become more efficient, more controllable and longer life.
Check out this article I wrote for ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR that provides an in-depth look at what’s new in linear fluorescent lamps and ballasts over the past 12-18 months, which describes general market trends, specific product trends, and resulting innovations, including a large number of examples of products. The article is based on a presentation Howard Wolfman and I gave at LIGHTFAIR this past year looking at what’s new in lamps and ballasts across all of the light source families.
Read it here.
Fantastic article Craig
Craig has been one of my favorite sources of lighting information. Too bad the reps don’t tell us stuff before he does. Reps need to do a better job so that Craig’s articles support what we know.
Article has a lot of information that is common knowledge for anyone in the industry. I already knew most of what was in the article. If you design lighting for a living and don’t know the majority of information in this article, you need to spend more time asking your lighting rep questions. Please remember that lighting reps don’t sell lamps or ballasts and it is less likely they will offer this information unless asked.
The article states that T12 lamps are being sold mainly to maintain existing T12 installations. Last time I checked the cheap fixtures you purchase at the hardware store are still T12. Most the T8 lamps sold are to maintain existing T8 installations.
Steven, the facts are that most T12 lamps are sold into existing T12 installations, and T8 lamps dominate fluorescent lighting in new construction. You may be thinking of fluorescent lighting sold into residential applications.