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Home Electrical Tips Select the Right Ballast For Your Atlanta Fluorescent Lighting

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Select the Right Ballast For Your Atlanta Fluorescent Lighting

Select the right ballast for your atlanta fluorescent lighting

The rising energy prices and environmental crisis are making many people switch over to energy efficient fluorescent lighting from incandescent bulbs as the former is more energy efficient and lasts longer. However, whenever you walk into a dark room and switch on a fluorescent light, it generally takes few seconds for the light to turn on. You may feel that this is because of some problem with the light bulb, but as your Atlanta electrical contractor will tell you, this delay is probably because of the fluorescent ballast. A ballast is a small device that controls the current flowing through a bulb to ensure that it works perfectly.

A fluorescent ballast offers high initial voltage to the bulb to start the electron discharge and then swiftly control the current flowing through the lamp to maintain the discharge. You need to take into account lamp characteristics like voltage, wattage, and current crest factor before purchasing a ballast for a light bulb. Selecting the right ballast is important to improve the lamp performance, as the wrong ballast can decrease the bulb output and reduce its operating life.

Professional Atlanta electrical contractors suggest that there are three different types of fluorescent ballasts available in the market, namely: rapid start, preheat, and instant start ballasts. Preheating ballasts need some heating up before they start with the electron discharge, while rapid start ballasts need heating both prior to and during the operation. An instant start ballast needs high starting voltage and is often considered to be the most efficient ballast. Rapid start ballasts are commonly used with high output lamps, while preheat ballasts are used for operating lamps having a wattage of less than 30.

Fluorescent ballasts can also be categorized as standard general ballasts, residential grade ballasts, and CEE rated high efficiency ballasts. These ballasts are available in different voltages and differ in their energy consumption, characteristics, light output, price, etc.

If you are a business owner and are looking for the best quality ballast that gives you maximum energy efficiency, then an Atlanta electrician would recommend that you use a CEE high efficiency ballast. These ballasts give you 95% light output and produce illumination of 99.8 lumens /watt. These fluorescent ballasts are ideal to be used in warehouses, retail store lighting, and offices.

Selecting the right fluorescent ballast results in more energy savings, brighter light, and increases the life of your bulb, so seek the advice of a professional Atlanta electrician to purchase a good ballast.

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