Many years ago, Sylvania engineers ventured into a new area of fluorescent lighting technology which has today become the office lighting standard.  The development took quite some time and was a synergy with electronic ballasts as well.  What was born was the Octron fluorescent light bulbs, the energy efficient standard for almost all lighting today.  From basic beginnings and through programs like utility rebates, the Octron lamps are a default for many engineers, contractors and commercial buildings.  T8 bulbs save even more energy and produce a higher level of light output than original fluorescent bulbs, which are known as T12 bulbs. You can tell the difference between a T8 and a T12 by measuring the diameter of the bulb. A T8 bulb will be 1 inch in diameter, compared to 1 1/2 inch for the T12 bulb.  The T8 are far more energy efficient and operate on an electronic ballast usually configured to run several variances of T8 lamps.

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 Octron fluorescent light 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.  These days, with T8 lamps, there are ballasts that are made for several different types such as in the case of 32, 25 or 17 watt 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.

You can get Octron fluorescent light bulbs 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 sunlight.  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.  Along with the color it emits, the color rendering index (CRI) is better than older T12 bulbs. CRI is the technical term for the way a bulb makes colors look to the human eye. The higher the CRI, the more subtle variations of the shade of color are seen. T12 bulbs were typically in the 60-65 range. The T8 bulb range from 75 all the way to 95. (100 is the highest).

Remember that there are many types of fluorescents, we describe the Octron fluorescent light bulbs used in commercial lighting here.  There are also the compact fluorescent type which screw into regular light bulb sockets and there are the plug-in type which are used in many original architectural fixtures.  Whatever type you choose, 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 a bulb, our customer service representatives can help you determine what you have.