FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

looking for cheap 2 bulb 4ft t8 lights that wont break down after a few months, preferably from lowes, home depot, walmart or some other big store. OR somewhere online that has free shipping on larger orders.
I was going to buy these http://www.lowes.com/pd_245546-58659-NX ... facetInfo= because the price and reviews are great. apparently they dont make them anymore, these caught my eye though for around the same price and same brand name. http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?par ... &cId=PDIO1
unlike the first link posted, the reviews claim it breaks down pretty fast although those could just be unlucky cases..
any brand or model suggestions help.

I've bought a huge box of them from Lowe's and have been happy with them. The bulbs last quite a long time...longer than the fixtures for sure.

I found that the reviews for all fluorescent light fixtures complain about them breaking down fast. So that seems to be a problem with the ballast technology used in affordably priced fixtures. It seems to be hit and miss from unit to unit.

I was looking for those cheap Utilitech fixtures too when I was shopping a few years ago. I don't know why they keep them on their site. After trying a few rounds of cheapie Lights of America brand fixtures from Walmart, where one just didn't work, one stopped working after about a year and its replacement almost caught on fire, I decided it was worth trying a more expensive unit if it lasts longer and doesn't spontaneously combust. I settled on this Utilitech one. I actually have two now. In one of them I only run two bulbs. I've had the first one about a year and a half and no problems so far. As far as bulbs go, I've been really happy with GE 6500 K daylight bulbs. They make a few different kinds, not sure which ones I have exactly, but they're around 2500-2700 lumens each.

Just in passing, changing the ballast on one of these fixtures is pretty simple. It's at the level of being able to handle a screwdriver and a wire cutter. So if you're at all handy, you can go with the cheap ones and replace the ballast ($10-$15) when you have to.

What x280xr is recommending looks good. I believe that that is the fixture Bobby Smith uses to start his hydro plants.

evenwind wrote:Just in passing, changing the ballast on one of these fixtures is pretty simple.

Good to know. It's easy enough to get to on the ones I recommended above too. The Walmart cheapies weren't even able to be opened ... well technically, I should say they weren't able to be closed again once opened. I would imagine finding the correct ballast and for less than the price of the entire fixture might be the hard part?

xr280xr wrote: I would imagine finding the correct ballast and for less than the price of the entire fixture might be the hard part?

I did a fast look at Lowes and Home Depot. A decent 4-lamp, instant start, residential T8 ballast goes for around $15. (If you get to that point, the ballasts are physically the same size and the wires are color coded. So, unscrew the old ballast, clip the old wires, screw on the new ballast, attach yellow wire to yellow wire, red to red, etc. As I said, easy if you're the least bit handy.)

edit: Again, just in passing, you can convert a T12 fixture to T8 by changing the ballast (and the lamps).

Good, then! If the ballast is less than the entire fixture to replace, you may as well spendmore money now and just replace the ballast once it gets old... However long that takes.

how hot does that 4 lamp get compared to a 2 lamp t5?
that is why I am replacing my t5's, I have had them forever with almost 0 problems they just get too hot for where I live. the room they are in doesnt get shaded by trees in the summer. so my plan was to get 3x 2 lamp t8s to replace my 2x 2lamp t5s while still having around the same lumens\watts but less heat...I feel like you could literally cook an egg on t5s

T5 bulbs hurt when you accidentally touch it while adjusting plants.... too hot I agree

Sent from my SM-N9005

Ras wrote:how hot does that 4 lamp get compared to a 2 lamp t5?

It's hard to say. With 2 bulbs in it, it gets just a little warm. With 4, it seems to generate quite a bit of heat. Enough that I wouldn't want my plants up right next to the bulbs, but cool enough to touch. I only have single bulb T5 fixtures and I feel like the unit gets about the same temp to the touch, but radiates less heat than the 4 bulb fixture overall.

I figured as much, I'm hoping 3x 2lamp t8's would be a cooler option