Frigid

the salesperson don't know what he talking about. Many salespeople are like that, they don't know anything about the products they are selling. for this type of light, the ballast is already included inside the casing... it's a small thin one with no brand name.

don't get EEI=A3, get the HF-performer which is EEI=A2. A2 is the most energy savings. and also i say again, i don't recommend the EB-Economy (black color) model as shown in the picture, that one is EEI=A3, and it's rapid start. On the manual it says that they don't recommend you to turn on-off the light more than 3 times a day in order to save the lamp life! Get the HF-performer series, and it's EEI=A2, and it's programmed start, which means you can on-off the light up to 50 times a day without affecting the lamp life. As to where to get, hard to get from shops, coz not many home owners ask for them, so you'll need to get from distributor. It really makes me wonder why... .this kind of ballast is very suited for home use where on-off frequency is high and also people want much more energy saving, and yet they don't sell in shops to home owners.

I do not recommend the EB-Economy electronic ballast as shown in the picture. the energy Rating is EEI=A3, it is rapid-start, and made in china. but it's cheap, about $9. I recommend the newer Phillips HF-Performer series, these are energy rating EEI=A2, programmed-start, and made in poland. EEI A2 vs A3 EEI=A2 standard is high performance and saves much more energy than EEI=A3. Note: EEI=A1 is not the most energy saving, rather EEI=A1 is dimmable, but energy saving is the same as EEI=A3. the class EEI=A2 is the most energy saving. Programmed-start vs Rapid-Start Programmed start is much less stressful on the lamp when turning it on than rapid-start, which translates into much longer lamp life than rapid-start. This URL below talk briefly about rapid-start, programmed start and instant-start. http://www.unvlt.com/literature/programmed.html Made in China vs Made in Poland This one I have no comment, since I'm not familiar with the quality of Poland, but I generally avoid made in china products.

I want to add 1 more tip to enenrgy saving. If you are already using flourscent lights - those long tube ones or circular ones, you can save more energy by changing the mangetic ballast to using electronic ones. here are the pros and cons in my opinion. (1) Magnetic ballast waste an extra 10w on average above your lamp usage, while electornic ballast only waste about extra 3w. For example, if your lamp is 36w, you are actually using up 46w of energy when using magnetic ballast. Using electorbnic ballast, you'll be using about 39w, which is lesser. (2) If you use the program-start type of electronic ballast, this will increase your lamp life also, so you no need to change it as often. The reason is the way it starts up the lamp is less stressful to the tube, and thus the tube won't die as fast. (3) There is no more flickering of the light when using electronic ballast. Magnetic ballast frequency is the same as the mains - 50Hz, some people can see the flickering at this frequency, but even if you don't notice the flickering it may still affect the light quality. Electronic up convert the frequency to work at above 20,000Hz, so there is no more flickering. (4) There is no more humming noise from the light - humming noise is due to magnetic ballast. (5) There is no more flickering on-off-on-off when turning on the light. For electronic ballast, when you turn on the switch, the light very quickly turns on in one step, no more on-off-on-off flickering a few times before turning completely on. Cons: (1) electronic ballast is more expensive than mangetic ones. Magnetic ones cost about $6. Good quality branded electronic ballast with latest program-start type technology cost about $20. (2) Need to pair the ballast with the right florescent tube - I replaced my magnetic ones with electronic ballast. Some lamps I need to switch on and off twice before the lamp will start. I think that it is because if the electronic ballast detect that the lamp did not light up, it will cut the power to the tube, and need to off and on again. The reason the lamp did not start the first time i think is because the electornic ballast is programed to start the lamp at a fixed temperature, but so happen, the lamp was made to start at a different temperature, so the first time did not start, after on and off again, the lamp is still fairly warm from the first time, so it started the second time. So need to find a lamp that matches the ballast i think, which is easy. So just pair up the florescent tube model number with the model of the electronic ballast can already. - if you check online, branded manufacturers will post their electornic ballast manual online, and will state this electronic ballast is compatible for use with what model of their tubes, so simply buy the correct tube model can already, no more problem.

mace, you bought your philips electronic ballast for only $9, that's very cheap - from photo it's the EB-Economy model. i bought philips electronic ballast for $23 i think the economy model no more right? i go philips sg website cannot find. in the end i bought the HF-Performer model which is $23, it uses programmed start instead of instant or rapid start - supposed to be much longer lamp life it claim 50% longer than using even normal magnetic ballast, and also 25% more energy savings. but translated to much more upfront cost of the price of the ballast itself.

electronic ballast waste about 3 watts of power as compared to magnetic ballasts which wastes about 10 watts. this power is wasted coz it is not used to convert into light. so you're reducing the power wastage by quite significant when you use electronic ballast. (edit: sorry for thread digging, i did not realize this last post was 1 year ago!)

I recently bought electronic ballasts to replace my old magnetic ones. in total i got 12 florescent lamps at home, i bought 5 electronic ballasts to replace the magnetic ones of the lamps that I use the most often in the home. With electronic ballasts, my 40w florescent doesn't feel so hot when i turn it on (i suspect the heat comes from the magnetic ballast), and now the lamp is also brighter. the magnetic ballast one was wasting about 10w of power (printed on the ballast itself) on top of the 40w lamp. so in total the usage was 50w. now with the electronic ballast, it only waste 3w (printed on the specs of the electronic ballast), so in total the operating of my 40w lamp in total uses 43w. also with the electronic ballasts, now the lamp just turns on very fast, no flickering before on, no humming, overall very happy with it. but you'll need to get a good and reliable brand.