Should I replace my florissant light fixture….
I have 48″ florissant light fixture in my closet that is acting up (swapped the bulbs; still not working. I have heard that it is better to upgrade the fixture with something other than florissant fixture.
Any suggestions appreciated……..
Replies
This is a snake pit.
Somewhere after 10-40 years use the ballast in a standard fluorescent fixture goes bad. You can probably still find replacement ballasts for most styles, but replacing the ballast is a little tricky, and you're likely better off replacing the entire fixture in many cases.
But the question is what type. Probably an LED fixture is the best choice, for efficiency and durability, but these have not yet "matured", and, among other things, the "color" of the available fixtures is mostly on the "cold" (blue) side (which, oddly means a high "color temperature"). When looking to replace our kitchen fixtures I could not find an LED fixture replacement that wasn't like 5000 degrees (when you want below 3000 for good color rendition for something like a clothes closet).
In the end we found, at Menards, some 48" LED replacements for fluorescent tubes which (A) did not require removing/shorting out the ballast in the existing fluorescent fixtures (most LED replacements do) and (B) were around 2800 degrees color temp (almost perfect). And, somewhat surprisingly, these lamps were not bothered by the long-in-the-tooth ballasts.
In another 10 years or so (if we survive that long) this will all be settled. But for now you have to really dig to find the best solution.
If this is an old time F40T12 (fat tubes) chuck it. I am moving my shop lights to LED as they fail but I still like the regular natural light tubes in the closet and kitchen. That will go back as T8 or better when it goes.