Lighting advice for unfinished basement – Rex Cauldwell
esayre
| Posted in General Discussion on
I am in the process of rewiring my 100+ year old house and have been using Rex Cauldwell’s Wiring a House book as a guide. In it he says not to use 4′ strip fluorescent lighting anywhere in the house.
I heat with wood so spend a lot of time in the basement and wanted to get a fair amount of light down there. What are your opinions on this?
Also, I wanted to use fluorescents fixtures in closets.
Thanks!
Evan
Replies
Question:
Why does he say not to use 4' flourescent lights anywhere in the house? I use them everywhere in my house.
Here's what he says:
"Personally, I perfer 8-ft units no matter what the room size, because there are too many problems assocaiated with 4-ft. fixures"
"Some typical problems with fluorescent fixtures include flickering and buzzing, In both cases, the only solutions are to change the ballast, which sometimes doesn't work, or to install an expensive electronic ballast."
"Corrosion is a problem in damp areas such as a garage or basement. Both the male pins on the bulb and the socket will corrode over time and produce intermittent problems."
Then under his "above-code" section he says:
"Avoid putting 4-ft fluorescent lights anywhere. Avoid any fluorescent in the garage, as they do not work well in cold temperatures"
It sounds like he is against 4' flourescent lights, but does not want to say why. I can't imagine what problems exist with the 4' lights, but not with the 8' lights. I have the 4' fixtures along the tops of my walls behind metal valences. So they spread light out onto the walls below, and out onto the ceiling, which then makes indirect lighting for the room.
The only problem I have with them is the continually changing laws about what we can use for lighting. One thing I noticed lately is that the newest tubes do not light right away in high humidity. They take at least ten minutes to come on. I have 24 lamps on the upper floor, and if it is highly humid and I flip the switch, all 24 of them fail to light up. I mean they stay completely dark.
In deference to Rex
Can you haul and 8' bulb?
Expensive electronic ballast fixtures?-instant on-no warm up-in garage you won't get that dim light till the temp goes up.
All closets-Covered fixtures! No bare bulb.
Yeah, that sounds like BS to me. No way would I put an 8-foot fixture in a moderately-sized home -- just the problem of getting lamps in and out is enough to dissuade me of that, plus an 8-foot simply won't fit in many areas.
Do be aware that some 2-foot units may still be of the starter variety and a bit flaky as a result. (I don't think any new 4-footers use starters.) Try to get uints with electronic ballasts, maybe units that take the newer thin lamps.
So Dan
Did Gina Piffin get your profile to work for you?
Why not?
It seems to me that it's an efficient way to light large open areas - especially shop areas. New color choices, electronic ballasts, and T8 lamps seem like great options for a basement.
I would use 4 foot t8 fixtures in your basement. But beware, many low cost fixtures use short lived economy ballasts. T8 bulbs (5/8" diameter) are great for lighting! Also, electronic ballasts do not have 60 hertz flicker, and some are rated for cold temperatures. I recommend getting the fixtures from a commercial electrical supplier because the home store versions are generally low quality.
Look at the replacement ballasts at a home store, they sometimes cost more than a new fixture. Why? Look at the ballast in the fixture, it's probably a little cheap made off shore device.
That said, I bought a 2 light t8 shop light at Lowes for $20 that works awesome. The metalwork was awful, and a spot weld broke off the end, also the steel was only somewhat thicker than razor blades. You get what you pay for.
T8 is 1-inch diameter
The number after the T, (which I think stands for tube), is the diameter in eighths of an inch.
T12 = 1-1/2-inch diameter
T8 = 1-inch diameter
T5 = 5/8-inch diameter.
or to install an expensive electronic ballast
Looks like 'good ol' Rex is about 15 or so years behind the times. Maybe he is trying to be in step with 100 YO technology - is your house in an historic district<G>?
Electronic ballasts for 4 x 4 ft T8s are about $10 in quantity. Even less on ebay. Rated to start at -50F are a few bucks more, most electronic ballasts good for 0F starts. About $20 for 8 ft ballasts.
Hmm. Just doing a quick head count, have 38 8 ft (mostly T12) fluorescent tube installed in the house and 12 4ft t12 and t8 tubes. About the same number again in the garage, brn and sheds. NO CFLs. About 10 incandescent bulbs, mostly in the dimmable decorative fixtures and table lamps.
The fluorescent were used when I built the house in early 1970s, and have replaced nearly all the original magnetic ballast with electronic (hence well aware of the price history) duing the last 3-4 years. Prior to that they were progressivly 'expensive'.
Since this is the fourth edition of the book, maybe the information on fluorescents wasn't updated.
Other than this issue the book is outstanding. His other "off the wall" ideas are explained in depth as to his logic behind them, the fluorescent phobia just wasn't
Probably there is a book coming out now that will recomend against LED lights, as they are too tim and don't have a long life for their price... I be that looks silly in it's 4rth edition too.
Go with 4-footers
The information in the book is out of date.
Install 4-foot, T8 or T5 units, with electronic balasts.
If you want to install them in unconditioned spaces and are worried about them starting in the cold. Get the units with the balasts rated for low temperature, and bulbs that are rated to start at low temperature. I have 8-ft T12s in my garage, and with the cold rated electronic balasts, and cold rated bulbs they fire off at 20-below.
I have 8-footers in my kitchen and they are a pain to deal with. When the balasts go on them I intend to install 4-ft fixtures to replace them. The 8-footers are lots harder to store, and long enough to be cumbersome to move around and install.