On 6/9/2017 8:46 AM, TimR wrote:
I have a four foot two tube fluorescent in a finished basement room with a failed ballast. At least, I think so. I put new tubes in, they glowed orange at the end for a second but never lit.

It's an old T12 fixture with a very old ballast.

I could:

1. replace the T12 ballast with a modern electronic one

2. replace the fixture with T8 or T5

3. replace the tubes or the fixture with LED tubes. They would have to be the kind that don't use the existing ballast.

4. something else I haven't thought of

My goals are lots of light (this is my music and DIY projects room), and long life (I'm old enough to think about jobs I won't have to do again.) I don't care much about energy efficiency as all the solutions are reasonable.

Any suggestions?

These are tube fluorescents, not CFLs, but the short life of CFLs has me a little worried about LEDs. It's always the electronic driver that fails, not the light source itself. We've found at work that with some energy savings projects, when they do fail you rip them out and start over, because after a couple of years the company is out of business and you can't get parts.


Guess it depends on replacing fixture.

I had to replace one over kitchen sink but it was only 2 feet long but I
wanted similar length fixture to replace as I would have to patch
textured ceiling which is difficult. So I replaced with similar
incandescent bulb fixture. When bulbs go I have LED replacements.

I find short life of CFL's due to switching on and off frequently. They
are no good in a bathroom where you are in and out for short periods as
thermal shock apparently wears them out. Not sure this would be as bad
in LED's but if lights left on for long periods you will get optimum
lifetime for them.