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Beachcomber Beachcomber is offline
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Default Fluorescent amperage


How much current is drained by a 2x 40 watt T12 magnetic ballasted
shop light trough at peak current draw? I assume this is at startup,
while trying to saturate the transformer and ignite the tubes. How
much
is drawn once the lights are running?

Short version: How many such fixtures (too cheap to replace
the old ones) can be run on a 15 amp circuit?


I have an old textbook that says to allow 20% of the total lamp
wattage rating for power to the ballast. That would mean 1.20 x 2 x
40 watts = 96 watts total power consumed (not appartent power) for a
simple dual-40 fixture.

Maybe the new electronic ballasts are more efficient than this?

Beachcomber