Florescent Lighting Bans?

[ultrarunner]

I think the issue is cheap chinesium ballasts.

Personally I like the LED's better than T8's or any fluorescent bulbs. LED's tend to be quiet, no flicker, instant on, lower power consumption.

I switched all my high bay T8's to LED and haven't had any issues for years now. All the cheap T8 fixtures I have had issues eating T8 bulbs and ballast failures. You get what you pay for.

The ballast failing overnight with the new LED bulbs are made in USA

The made in China are newer and I have a few and those have been the only ones that have not died.

 

[ultrarunner]

Here is yesterday’s failed ballast 12 hours after LED installed…

 

[dodge man]

I never liked the cfl’s. I do like the LED’s though, bright and don’t use a lot of electricity. In my shop I also have a bunch of the 4 foot fluorescent lights that I’ve got a bunch of, maybe 16 total. I’ve gradually replaced them with LED 4 footers as they’ve burned out. The LED ones are a little pricey but to replace dozens and dozens would run into a lot of money. Another example of people over thinking our environment.

 

[MossRoad]

.... Another example of people over thinking our environment.

Think of it as cost savings. LEDs are a LOT less expensive to run.

So to be fair, someone has to run the numbers and do an ROI to see how long it will take to recoup your costs VS the electricity you save.

My employer has a program where they pick a building or several buildings every year that have the same type of fluorescent lighting fixtures, run the numbers, then do a capital project to replace some or all of them. Doing them as they fail is an awful way to go in a commercial setting. More expensive in the long run, too, regarding labor and materials.

 

[MossRoad]

The sale of Florescent lamps is banned in California for all intent.

I have a hospital full of 4’ T8 overhead lamps which can no longer be sold in California and a few other states.

Instead of paying $2 for GE Florescent Bulbs I’m now paying a little over $6 for replacement GE LED bulbs.

The LEDs marketed as direct replacement but I quickly learned they kill my older ballasts overnight.

Call to GE direct as we have a National GE lighting contract and learned GE has a list of several pages of compatible and non compatible ballasts which is constantly being updated…

The kicker is there appears to be a nationwide ballast shortage now…

The old standard T8 have been industry standard for 30 years… even got a lighting award in 1995 when I installed them new here…

So instead of a $2 lightbulb I am looking a $6 LED bulbs plus ballast replacement for each LED installed.

I have several buildings that have multiple types and wattages of fluorescent bulbs. 4', 2' T8 and T5, T8 U-tubes, 2 and 4-pin bulbs in 9, 13, 18, 26W, circline bulbs in T8 and T5... you name it. Plus a bunch of narrow bent tubes in various lengths and wattages. Some of the ballasts for the 2 and 4 pin in the can lights are no longer made. When those fail, we have the entire fixture changed to an LED fixture. This year, they finally asked for a count of all the can lights to do a capital project to replace all of them at once. We also have some dual power ballasts for emergency lighting that are no longer made.

Good luck. I'd suggest developing a capital project to replace them all at once, be it with new ballasts and bulbs or entire fixtures and be done with it. Or.... retire and let someone else deal with it.

 

[caver]

We had T-12 mostly and metal halide on the boiler side of the plant. We still had to deal with PCB ballast disposal in the old stuff. 10-15 years ago they contracted to have most of the plant side unit fixtures replaced. Some of our LED flying saucer looking high bay lights could not handle the boiler heat.

 

[cj7]

I would suggest looking for your local energy esco. These energy conservation companies are able to develope projects that save energy all across the a building such as a hospital. They know how to source rebate programs, tax incentives, special finance rates and more to assist companies upgrade equipment not only the lighting but other building mechanicals.

 

[MossRoad]

We had T-12 mostly and metal halide on the boiler side of the plant. We still had to deal with PCB ballast disposal in the old stuff. 10-15 years ago they contracted to have most of the plant side unit fixtures replaced. Some of our LED flying saucer looking high bay lights could not handle the boiler heat.

At my last job, back in the late 80's they gave me a standing order that if I had free time, there's the ladder, there's the skid of ballasts, here's a map and a marker, go change out the old ballasts with the PCBs in them. Man, it was a rickety old 16' aluminum step ladder, the fixtures were filthy, and it was HOT up there at the ceiling..... the good old days!

 

[caver]

That's what it was for us. If you worked the back shift and no emergencies, work on lighting.

 

[Panik]

The sale of Florescent lamps is banned in California for all intent.

I have a hospital full of 4’ T8 overhead lamps which can no longer be sold in California and a few other states.

Instead of paying $2 for GE Florescent Bulbs I’m now paying a little over $6 for replacement GE LED bulbs.

The LEDs marketed as direct replacement but I quickly learned they kill my older ballasts overnight.

Call to GE direct as we have a National GE lighting contract and learned GE has a list of several pages of compatible and non compatible ballasts which is constantly being updated…

The kicker is there appears to be a nationwide ballast shortage now…

The old standard T8 have been industry standard for 30 years… even got a lighting award in 1995 when I installed them new here…

So instead of a $2 lightbulb I am looking a $6 LED bulbs plus ballast replacement for each LED installed.

Been going through this, thankfully on a much smaller scale at work. I manage an animal collection for a municipal environmental education center that is primarily comprised of native reptiles. With our natural climate and the HVAC controls for the building heating and lighting the enclosures has been largely covered by the use of 100w incandescent/halogen A-19 bulbs, with a couple exceptions for LED aquarium lights and BR style "cafeteria" heat lamps.

When the national phaseout happened I waited until Home Depot put their remaining stock of A-19 halogens on sale and negotiated a deal with the store manager to buy all of their remaining stock in one go at an even deeper discount. I suspect I still have enough stock to last the remainder of the year... after which point I'll probably be forced to switch to LED's in 3700K spectrum and 50w or 75w ceramic heat emitters for basking.

Point being I share a very infinitesimal amount of your frustration. I can't imagine switching over an entire hospital AND dealing with ballast issues. I tried ballast compatible LED's in my house a couple of times and finally switched over to removing all of the ballasts in my T8 fixtures. Seems simple, but when you're talking about an entire hospital (switching to ballast less, or replacing ballasts) that's sounds like an intractable issue unless you've got a surplus of both time and money.