One of the biggest problems with Fluorescent Lighting and light fixtures is and has always been a lack of public awareness as to the products being used. Typically a consumer or facility maintenance department knows what kind of bulbs they need for a fixture, and when it comes time for ballast, they seek electronic ballast that would appropriately run the number and type of lamps being used.
Manufacturers such as Sylvania, Advance, GE and Presume, all make fluorescent T8 ballasts. What most people do not know is they make many different kinds all for the same lamp combination. These include: Residential Grade Ballasts, Standard General Ballast, and CEE Rated High Efficiency Ballasts. Each of these varying grades of fluorescent electronic ballasts is available in 120 Volt, 277 Volt and Universal Voltage. Not only are they available in varying voltages, but they as well have a great variance as to the characteristics, energy consumption, light output and bottom line price.
Electronic Fluorescent Ballasts made for residential use are very common and typically found pre-installed in fluorescent fixtures available at stores like Home Depot and Lowes. The fixtures from these sources often carry a lower price than those available from commercial electric or lighting companies with the only difference being the ballast installed. The Residential or Generic Electronic Ballast, are made with lower usage requirements such as 3 hours use per day. They have a smaller and less expensive electrolytic capacitor that when used for extended periods of time, crystallizes internally and fails. These ballasts when used in a commercial application rather than as a 'Garage Light' usually fail with a year or two. Ballast cost @ $12.00 each.
Standard ballasts are designed for use in retail and offices with run times averaging 8-10 hours per use daily. Typically this is the 'Normal' ballast you will receive when asking a supplier for ballast. These are readily available, and often come with very competitive pricing from distributors @ $15.50 to $21.oo per ballast. The quality of these ballasts are average, however they last @ 3 -5 years maximum life and only carry a warranty longer than 3 years if installed with the same brand lamps as the ballast manufacturer. There is no energy benefits when using standard general ballasts, other than understanding that they operate with a ballast factor of 88%, which means the lamps are putting out 12% less light.
High electronic ballast is considered to be the 'Best Quality, Most efficient' ballasts available in today's market. These ballasts which meet the efficiency standards of Energy Star and Consortium for Energy Efficiency provide maximum light output of 95% of the design lumen output and producing up to 99.8 lumens per watt. These are excellent choices for office, warehouse such as Fluorescent High Bay fixtures as well as retail store lighting.
Ningbo Zhengjia Electric Appliance Co., Ltd is a professional R&D manufacturer and exporter of electronic ballast for fluorescent lamps(FL) and Compact Fluorescent Lamps(PL).
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