Task lighting is a great way to get a lot of light output for a specific area. This has been true for many decades and the industry standard for task lighting in those years was the F30T12 fluorescent light bulb. F30T12 bulbs were the original fluorescent task light tubes, which are known as T12 bulbs. You can tell the difference between a T12 and a T8 by measuring the diameter of the bulb. The F30T12 bulb will be 1 1/2 inch in diameter and 36 inches long, compared to 1 inch for the F25T8 bulb.  The T12 is the standard cool white or warm white lamp that's been used in offices throughout the world.  As with all fluorescent bulbs, they rely on ballasts inside of the fixtures in order to make them work. Ballasts are available from Universal, Magnetek, Advance, Osram Sylvania, among others. Almost all fixtures for these bulbs come with ballasts already mounted and wired. The ballast is important because it is specific for each type of lamp.  You can't change from one type of fluorescent to another without changing the ballast in most cases.  On a rare occasion there may be a ballast that is made for several different types such as in the case of T8 lamps. Most of the time the ballast in the lamp are matched electrically and so it's good to make sure the ballast you have is the right one for the lamp you choose. The F30T12 fluorescent typically operates on a magnetic ballast which is less efficient than it's electronic counterpart.  Look for this lamp commonly used in an office task lighting situation.

You can get these in almost any color you want including the more desirable full spectrum light.  The full spectrum has special phosphors that give it a similar color to daylight or natural sunshine.  These are also available in F30T12 fluorescent light bulbs.  It produces light the way our eyes naturally use it, giving better visual acuity and reducing problems like eyestrain.  But fluorescents can come in many other colors as well and are identified by their Kelvin temperature. By definition, virtually all are full spectrum in that they contain some of all colors in their spectral range. However, the term full spectrum is primarily used when referring to those lamps that fall into the white to blue/white color temperature range. Color temperature is measured by a term called Kelvin. 3000 Kelvin would be a warm tone color, 5000 Kelvin would be a white color and 6500 Kelvin would be a blue/white color. The standard T12 types of fluorescents don't always use these terms but sometimes are called by a certain color such as "cool white" or warm white" or "daylight".  So the number you may see is something like F30T12CW or F30T12WW.

With the advent of higher electrical costs, many businesses are looking for ways to save energy with lighting.  There are many choices in this area right now and one of the most popular type of lamps are the F25T8 fluorescent light bulbs with matching electronic ballasts. This combination has been a standard for saving energy and many times has electric utility rebates associated with it.  Many times the ballast used for the F25T8 are interchangeable with the longer 4 foot version, the F32T8.  What makes him such a natural is that the sockets used for less efficient F30T12 lamps are exactly the same making it an easy retrofit. The very latest enhancement to Sylvania T8 bulbs is the eco-friendly design. According to Sylvania, "Ecologic is a comprehensive program focused on addressing environmental issues at all stages of lamp life." They go on to say that bulbs in this category "are designed to meet the Federal Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) criteria for classification as non-hazardous waste in most states." If you are sensitive to the impact of hazardous material in the environment we live in, then energy saving T8 bulbs from the Ecologic line are for you. If saving energy while delivering minimum impact on our environment is your choice, then these fluorescent bulbs are the right choice for you.  There are some lighting needs that still require the F30T12 such as color matching if they haven't been retrofitted to T8's already.

Because it's still very pervasive in many office environments across the country, we make the F30T12 fluorescent light bulbs a substantial part of our offering. There will probably never be a time when these will not be in use. Remember that there are many types of fluorescent lighting, we describe some of the most common used in commercial lighting here.  The F30T12 fluorescent light bulb is the old standard for task fluorescent lighting. Whatever type of fluorescent you choose or have, you will be saving energy while getting the most light you can for your money.  We have a large inventory of fluorescent bulbs for nearly every type of light fixture in the field.  If you need help identifying the bulb you have, our customer service representatives can help you determine what you have.