Florescent Bulbs

Got a replacement for a 5' (1500mm) tube for my kitchen the other day. Measured the old one to check before I went to the shop. 25-26mm (near to 1" as makes no difference).

T8 works, tho' it beats me why they don't append the length when marking the tube, as in "T8-5" (if they're staying in bastard Imperial units).

All those lamp names are really confusing and to some degree in constant flux with respect to what to call it. For instance an F40T12 used to mean a 40 Watt T12 lamp that was 48" long. But then when it was made with a single pin base (as in instant start configuration) it was referred to as a F48T12 rated at 39 Watts. Same bulb, different base. Fortunately, a lot of that is going away. Over the years there have been all kinds of variations including a huge fluorescent lamp, a T17 lamp that was 1/8 inch more than 2 inches in diameter. And the newest T5 lamps are the current big deal in fluorescents, but the T-thing actually bled over into LED's.

A very popular LED size is T1-3/4 meaning 0.125" times 1.75. Seems like a pain in the neck. And the fact that Imperial units are still used just proves that some people can't handle change. But then, I see evidence of that every day so I don't know why we need a proof.

Even with the LEDs there's no consistency. For instance, the Aligent HLMP-D150 is described in the datasheet as a T1 3/4 (5mm) device, but the dimension drawing:

... shows the max. tolerance on body diameter is 0.200", whereas 0.125" x 1.75 = 0.21875"

The T-12 is being replaced by the T-8 and soon the T-12 will no longer be available, both bulbs put out the same amount of light...So too are incandescent bulbs being discontinued in 2014 I believe...Soon it will be LED's nothing but LED's...

Just an FYI (from wikipedia):

"
United Kingdom

The UK government announced in 2007 that incandescent bulbs would be phased out by 2011.^[21] The UK followed the EU-wide ban on 60w incandescent bulbs that came into effect on 1 September 2011;^[22] 40w and lower ratings will be phased out in 2012^{[citation needed]}. In the UK a program is run by the Energy Saving Trust to identify lighting products that meet energy conservation and performance guidelines.;^[23] the intent of the program is to reduce consumer concerns due to variable quality of products."

Hard to find an incandescent around here these days. Haven't seen many T8's around either, tho'.

I bought 4 shoplight fixtures just before xmas, to try and get my pepper plants through the winter - these are the new, 32 watt fixtures with electronic ballast - 4 footers that take 2 T8's apiece, which I hung in the windows for the pleasure of the plants.

I am simply amazed at the amount of light these things put out. I don't even bother with the overhead lights any more. I also think they are not as prone to failure as the curly CFL's (at least I hope not!). So I'm less bothered about the impending phase-out than I was.... at least, I won't be groping around cursing in the dark.

Confess I haven't checked out the shorter tubes (which I guess are more likely to be T8's) - I don't have any short-type fixtures at present.

Everything here seems to be 4 feet - at least, everything affordable. For some reason the two footers are twice as expensive. And a three-footer - which would fit in a standard metal shelving unit - can't be had. Unless you buy a "grow" setup at ten times the price of putting it together yourself. Humph.