Good evening,
I suppose, amongst other things, you could call me a 'fluorophile'
. I've had a love affair with fluorescent tubes since I was a kid and it was probably a significant reason I became an electrician!!
One particular factory I have been responsible for for the last 25 years still has a good mix of discharge lighting which I have tended over the years. One building has 250W Mercury vapour fittings which I installed 15 years ago and have only re-lamped once. There are still plenty of 8' fittings (sadly 100W rather then 125W) and one area that is lit by a bank of early '70's 6' Thorn SRS twin fittings. These will only work with T12 tubes and I have almost run out of spares.
Due to the dreadful mains supply and low voltage (often 210V, dipping when big machines started), T8 'thin' tubes in switch start fittings would not work.
In 2003, I installed about 30 6' twin 'electronic' fittings. These were quite new technology at the time and expensive. They have been amazingly reliable and the lamp life has been incredible. Some, in non critical locations, are still on their original tubes, although they are now pretty dim. I estimate 10 hrs per day, 5 days per week, 250 days per year for 14 years- that's 35000 hours!! I have only replaced about 5 ballasts in that time all due to burnt pcb's caused by dry joints.
So far, I've been very un- impressed with LED. Granted, they have been external floodlights or GU10 replacements, but well over 50% have failed in the first year- I always seem to be taking failed fittings back to the wholesaler!!
So for me, fluorescent still rule in terms of cost versus reliability.
In the same way that the advent of widescreen marked my exit from the TV trade, the demise of fluorescent and discharge vapour lighting will mark my exit from the electrical trade
I'm just not interested in installing LED stuff.
I'm sure no-one wanted to know any of that, but you can't start a thread about fluorescent tubes without me getting involved!!
;
All the best
Nick