Lighting Up the Kitchen

[kayla_allen]

The overhead light fixture in our kitchen is a four-tube fluorescent fixture that uses 48-inch T12 bulbs. These bulbs last for a very long time. We moved here in 2011, and had never had to replace one of them. This week we finally had a pair of them burn out. This presented a challenge.



Removing the cover from this fixture is a lot of work, but Lisa (with me helping hold things) managed to get it out. Ideally, we would have replaced all four bulbs and kept the two partially-working ones as spares. However, we only had two bulbs in stock.

I went to Lowe's and tried to buy bulbs. They did not have any T12 bulbs in this size. They had the smaller T8 bulbs, which most of our fixtures use. We later tried Home Depot and the Lowe's in Reno, with no luck. It was not until later that we learned that T12 bulbs are no longer permitted to be manufactured in or imported to the USA, although existing stock may still be sold. This ban happened years ago, but because the tubes last so long, we hadn't known about it.



The cover was in a dreadful state. I should have take a picture before I started cleaning it. There was over 15 years of accumulated dust and bugs in it. We took it outside, wet it on the small wood box, and set to cleaning it. It looks much better now.



After learning that we can't buy the replacement bulbs in stores, we went ahead and put the two spare bulbs into the existing fixture. They are not the same color (K value), because we originally got them as spares for the fixture in the garage; however, we'll live with this for now. Lisa (again, with me holding part of it; it's heavy) reinstalled the cover, and the kitchen is far more brightly lit than it had been.

I found someone selling a box of 30 T12 bulbs on eBay and ordered them. They were not even very expensive. When it arrives, we expect to go ahead and change all four existing bulbs so they are the same K value. At the rate we go through them, I expect this will be a lifetime supply of bulbs, which is good because once they are gone, there are no more.

Had we not been able to source replacements, Lisa was probably going to undertake replacing the ballast and fittings to change the fixture to use T8 bulbs, which you can still buy. It's a lot of work, but she was willing to take a crack at it.

Before you say, "Just replace it with LEDs," note that Lisa can perceive the flicker in LED lights, and it hurts her eyes. Yes, you probably can't see it. She can. It's her house too, and she's the one doing the work, so I do not complain; I just buy the parts and hold the tools.

Comments

[radar]

Good idea to change them all- I discovered over the course of several jobs that due to the fact they were all put in around the same time, they all go the same way.

[calimac]

Good luck. My experience with unusual light bulbs is that replacements, though ostensibly the same bulb, often don't fit.

[belak]

Good job collaborating together to get the job done!

I feel Lisa's pain, I can hear them too and it is annoying and painful at times.

A friend had that exact fixture. She was older and topping out at about 5' tall, so she needed some assistance replacing bulbs, back when you could buy those bulbs easily. I had some very special words that day, but eventually replaced all of her bulbs for her while standing on a combination of a ladder and countertop to reach all the screws etc necessary. A handyman had jerry-rigged part of the fixture, so it was way more difficult than it should have been. She has long moved out of that house and I heard they remodeled, so I gather the fixture is long gone to the landfill.

[cmcmck]

Now you mention it, I'm not sure if such neon tubes are still available here as they've made such a push to LED.

[blogcutter]

Planned obsolescence like this drives me crazy! We've had similar issues with our fluorescents in the basement, and one in the kitchen (fortunately not the main overhead light, but one over the sink). And as for incandescent bulbs, while it might not make sense any more to use them in most fixtures, sometimes you actually want the heat they produce along with the light.

I'm puzzled about one thing, though: don't fluorescents tend to flicker even worse than LEDs?

[kayla_allen]

I don't see a flicker in either type, except when the fluorescent bulbs are about to fail, so I leave it to Lisa.

You have reminded me to check: the lights over the kitchen sink are also T12, but the 24-inch size, which are still in the store. I think that's the only T12/24 fixture (everything else is T8/48 other than the main kitchen light and the one in the garage, both of which are T12/48), so I'd better go buy a lifetime supply while I still can.

[solarbird]

Also from memory, so take with caveats: I think a lot of modern ballasts can handle both T8 and T12. I think when I replaced a set of ballasts like... ten years ago? the ones I got could do both.

Which is to say that even if Lisa has to replace the ballasts later, I think you could still use up your T12 supply.

[solarbird]

They do! Or, can. (I've certainly seen them do it myself, but not in a long time.) I think the longer phosphor decay in tubes at very least softens it.

But don't quote me on that, I could be remembering it wrong and it could have something to do with the function of the ballast instead.

Honestly I should just go look it up. [does so]

HA! Okay! Electromagnetic ballasts produce 60hz AC, like the line voltage, so you can get 120Hz AC flicker. You're relying on phosphor decay to cover that up.

BUT!

Electronic ballasts are still AC, but they output their AC at a much higher frequency, specifically to reduce visible flicker.

Now I'm wondering what their operating output frequency is.

I also verified that there are a wide selection of electronic ballasts that support both T8 and T12, so I definitely was not making that up. ^_^

[solarbird]

also sorry if I'm flooding replies, I just think lighting is neat ^_^