Ok lighting gurus, I know some of you are probably squared away on this one! I have 4' flouresent quick start lights throughout my pole barn 30X48, Im constantly fighting changing bulbs or ballast not lasting over a year or two. I hate them and ready for something more reliable that wont spin the meter off the axle or break the bank on cost for something different. what are you using that keeps her bright and last at least 5 years? Do they make something in LED for this application that wont blind you or burn the bald spot on the back of my head?
LED are pricey to put in but will last much longer than flouresent's. Do you no if you are having any line spikes? I had the same issue with some of mine in the garage and it turned out that we had been getting some spikes in our line. All of our electronics are on surge protectors so never noticed it with the electronics just the light bulbs/ballests. Beefie
It was kind of a round about way. We had the power company come to replace the transformer after a storm that had gotten zapped. I had asked the line man about the lights and he said they had a meter or something like that. Once they replaced the transformer we had no more issues. So I guess call the power company and go from there. Beefie
Curious to know as well...have some outside flood lights that we can't get to last long either....makes me wonder if same issue.
My garage has the florescent lights, and I hate them the buzzing drives me nuts. I am down to about 4 lights still working. Thing is I hope to make it till summer when it is light for more than hours so I can get new lights up. I would go to regular bulbs but you can't buy anything bright enough to actually works.
Thanks guys! Now that I think about it, My kitchen goes through can light- bulbs way more than when we built the house! Might contact the elec company and see if they can check that!
We have solar powered leds in our poor excuse of a garage now. Back in illinois we had a combination of incandescent and florescent lights. Didn't have to change bulbs very often. Sounds like you have issues.
Check if the insulation has settled around the outside of the can. Had that same issue as well. Turned out that the light was getting to hot even with cfl's in them. Basicly they were slowly over cooking them. I Pulled the can and moved the insulation back and back to normal now. Beefie
Brother in law uses the curley Q bulbs. They are 85 watt but are the same as a normal 300 watt bulb. Holy crap do they light up his shop. Almost too much.
Phillips makes LED replacements for flourescents that require no wiring changes, or you can get the original retrofits that require a little wiring and eliminating the ballast. They're not cheap, but prices are always dropping, and are definitely worth it. They'll last for many years, no more buying lamps and ballasts. Same for the kitchen, get yourself either some LED retrofits that include new trims for about $25 each or just get some LED bulbs. They pay for themselves, you won't regret it
Bloodcrick, my department at work is currently changing out all of our lighting to LED. High bays, parking lot and office lights. They make an LED for all occasions. The 4' florescent type throw off a lot of light and don't seem to get too hot. You may even get bye with less fixtures. They're cheaper to run, not affected by cold and last longer than other lights. We get most of our lights from Kree Lighting here in Racine, Wisconsin.
