I'd like to add some to the garage. Only requirement is that they can start up easily in temperatures down to about 32f. I am not looking to spend a ton. I'd prefer 4ft fixtures. I'm not sure what size bulb wattage would be best. I have seen the cheapos at the bix box stores, not sure if they'd cut it in the cold weather.

I've used all type of fluorescent lights in nebraska I like the 4ft bulbs but use the little screw in 200 watt at work in the winter a dark to start with but thay do warm up and it dose get cold in nebraska like 60 below
Larry

I just recently went down this path. I ended up buying three Sylvania Super Saver compact flourescent light (CFL) bulbs that were 200W replacements that use 65W each. The light output of each CFL is 4200 lumens compared to the 700 lumens output from the bulb they replaced. My garage is 21' x 31' and painted a light tan (walls & ceiling), but when I turn on the lights it is like I drug the sun into my garage. Each bulb cost me $18, which was much cheaper than buying shop lights fixtures and bulbs, plus it took less than ten minutes to install the new bulbs.

I have the zero start four foot from the big orange box, they do OK here in the Chicago winters. The garage is not insulated and they do sometimes seem a little dim for a short bit.

Jeff

I have 4 eight footers that I bought from Menards. They are Sylvania rated for low temps. I keep the shop at 38 degrees all winter and they come on right away and are full brightness.

There are low temp or zero temp ballasts out there on the market for T-8's... Stay away from T-12's they are being phased out... just give an electrical parts house a call and they should be able to hook you up....good luck...:)

I have found that the cold start units also tend to be a little noisy.

Usually the new electronic ballasts do not generate much if any noise at all, the old magnetic type sometimes had a problem with that...

i put up some 4ft ones in my shop, western nebraska, with the electronic cold start ballasts...worked fine last winter even on the coldest days. They did take a bit to "warm" up to full brightness.

Scott

There are low temp or zero temp ballasts out there on the market for T-8's... :)

I'll second the "T-8" with transistorized ballast recommendation :thumbsup:
I have a place in the mountains and they will start at well below freezing every time.
Replaced a bunch of older incandecent fixtures with the newer CFL and t-8's over the last few years with no problems what-so-ever.

Most folks don't know that the standard incandecent bulbs we have are being phased out over the next 10~12 years - through some legislation that passed a year or so ago.
The newest bulbs on the market are LED's for standard home fixtures. I recently installed a couple LED Flood Light bulbs at our mountain place. They draw a WHOPPING 3.5-watts and put out 175-watts of light in the 3000k-deg. range (a nice warm white light). Their life expectancy is in the 15~20 year range, if you use them all the time ;)
The cost is way up there - the Floods were @$65 each - but they will save me that much on my bills in a few years ...
The standard 100/150-watt (draw @2~3-watts) bulbs like this one
8024
run in the $50 range right now - but the prices are dropping fast and they power companies have all announced plans to furnish them through local outlets at much reduced pricing in the near future, like they do the CFL's now.

Our grandkids probably will never know who Thomas Edison was ...