Advice from knowledgeable electrician requested

John_Gray

Our office has a number of 6' fluorescent light fittings, and the local wholesaler is telling us that the fluorescent tubes (General Electric "Standard T12 F75W T12/35 White, 6000 lumens") are no longer being sold or even made because the EU says they are too inefficient, or something like that. However, I can find these tubes from a variety of retailers on the internet, even though they don't seem to be available in local outlets where such things are usually sold.

If you are an electrician, please could you confirm or deny what this wholesaler is saying? We would prefer not to have to replace a whole number of light fittings when the tubes eventually die, because these sort of things cost £gasp !

tomthered

I would imagine its to do with the new directive that has seen standard light bulbs replaced. Just like them they are now classed as inefficient, so if I were you I would obtain a stock of tubes to keep you going

fwor

I'm not a knowledgeable electrician, but I did have to look into this for my dad, who has T12 fittings in his kitchen.

I found this:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/DataSheets/Lamps/Phase_Out.pdf

which seems to come from a reputable source (Phillips lighting). If correct, it suggests that electricians are jumping the gun (not in the interests of making money, of course) and that the ban will not start until 2012.

My dad also said that he found a supplier of T12 to T8 adaptors, but by his reckoning it was as expensive to buy these plus T8 tubes as it was to replace the whole fitting and tube...

Richie-from-the-Boro

- halophosphate tubes here, [ already banned ] buy plenty spares now, if this is the type you want !

- if they are T12 specific as fwor says its not an imperative till 2012 April fools day and your sparky is a bit ahead of himself

- I too am not a sparky, but at two quid a pop I'd buy a half dozen per fitting for stock, that way you will be dead~and~gone before the £gasp ! price

1st April 2010
The first tubes to be affected are standard halophosphate tubes which can no longer be manufactured or imported into the EU after 1st April 2010. In the vast majority of cases these will be replaced by the equivalent triphosphor tube. The triphosphor tubes are longer life, higher efficiency and improved colour rendering compared to their halophosphate versions.

1st April 2012
The old-style T12 (38mm diameter) tubes will be withdrawn in 2012. These are inefficient compared with their T8 (25mm) or T5 (16mm) counterparts. Most T12 tubes can simply be replaced by their equivalent length T8 tub

John_Gray

Thanks to you all, especially fwor for the PDF link!

Richie - there is no indication on the packaging what type of tube they are. Your link says:
Standard Fluorescent Tubes Banned
The ban came into effect on Tuesday, 13th April 2010
but their examples did not include the T12 6-foot variety.

I suspect the best bet, as you all say, is to buy a quantity of the T12 6' tubes "while stocks last"!

zax47

Shouldn't be an issue as you can just drop the same length T8 tube in instead, connection is the same just the tube is a bit thinner. I'm already doing this as most of my wholesalers aren't stocking T12's now (whether the ban is in force yet or not).

Richie-from-the-Boro

John_Gray wrote: »

Thanks to you all, especially fwor for the PDF link!

Richie - there is no indication on the packaging what type of tube they are. Your link says:
Standard Fluorescent Tubes Banned
The ban came into effect on Tuesday, 13th April 2010
but their examples did not include the T12 6-foot variety.

I suspect the best bet, as you all say, is to buy a quantity of the T12 6' tubes "while stocks last"!

I did a similar thing a year or so ago, you will remember the Euro system banned 100W & 150W bog standard incandescent bulbs. My eyes do not like the new type of bulbs [ yes they are now improving ] so I went to the wholesaler and bought a gross of each and shared the cost with my number one brother. I have sufficient to last me till .. .. .. and they were, at the time cheap~as~chips. Unsurprisingly after about six months when supply dried up and demand was still strong they went up in price.


O0000ps .. .. .. the original kink is here