Fluorescent Ballast Upgrade

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are quickly replacing older incandescent bulbs around the world.

Fluorescent lights have come a long way since their inception. No longer are they whining, sickly light sources used to light offices cheaply. Today they're used in homes around the world, either in their compact form as light bulb replacements or in traditional tubes. Upgrading your ballast will give you more efficient and powerful lighting.

Old Ballasts

Most tube-style fluorescent lights are powered by T12 ballasts, which use technology unchanged since World War II. It is these ballasts, not the bulbs, that are responsible for the power-sucking hum that most people associate with fluorescent lighting. Swapping it for a newer ballast will reduce noise and improve efficiency.

Newer Ballasts

The easiest way to replace a T12 ballast is with a T8 ballast. The two units are roughly the same size and use the same pin configuration for connecting bulbs. Designed as a replacement for the outdated T12 units, T8 ballasts provide more light per watt and use bulbs with significant improvements over T12 bulbs.

Differences

Though the size and shape of the ballasts are roughly the same and both employ the same connector for their bulbs, the similarities between T12 and T8 ballasts stop there. The newer T8 units offer great efficiency, reduced noise and lower operating costs. They can also use the newer, thinner T8 bulbs which are designed for better performance, giving more lumens per watt of power drawn and better color rendition as measured on the Color Rendering Intention (CRI) scale. T8 bulbs also have a longer working life than their predecessors and are cheaper to replace when the time comes, reducing the frequency and cost of maintenance.

Other Choices

If you're willing to put in some more work, you can also install T5 ballasts in place of your older units. This requires modification of the lamp itself, however, as T5 lights are not available in the same lengths as T8 and T12 bulbs. T5 systems are more efficient and are the recommended norm for high-end construction, but the difference noticed by the average home-owner is not normally significant enough to warrant the work required. It's more efficient to purchase new lamps with T5 ballasts rather than modify your existing units.

References

• Fluorescent Lamps and Ballasts by Ian Philips
• Lighting Research Center: What are T5 Lamps? - National Lighting Product Information Program