A_lights is right, it's not an across-the-board ban. You should be able to buy the GE SPX41's at Lowe's to replace cool whites (they have high lumens and 80 CRI) and an interesting solution to warm whites is to use a GE wide-spectrum plant & aquarium. Specialty lamps like that won't be banned. SPX50/D50 (5000K) are over 90 CRI so they also won't get banned. I'm not sure what will be left in the 6500K range, but again, you should be able to buy aquarium lamps. The downside is all these T12's are more expensive than their halophosphate counterparts.

If you want to save energy, sure, convert to T8, but that's only really economical for larger installations. Since F40T12's last over 10 years in residential use typically, just buy a few pairs of lamps now & you're good for 30 more years.

BTW, if you use instant-start T8 ballasts, you will have to rewire your fixtures. Using T10's in a T12 fixture may be problematic on a rapid-start ballast as they don't sit as close to the grounded reflector = possible starting problems.

Yeah vaporeyes did a great explanation

T10 lamps work fine on the full power older RS ballasts , not sure about the .76A ones or less as they don't work as well if conditions aren't right

I wonder if Canada is banning them too, since we still have incandescents and mercury vapour yardlights for sale here but other stuff like magnetic T12 ballasts is also banned up here.

I guess most newer ballasts should run the T10s since most of mine list them on the label.

Summary from NEMA:
Effective Date of new DOE standards: July 14 , 2012
Current exemptions continue [For example, lamps with CRI >= 87, cold temp. (CT), UV, etc.]
Impact for Lamps <= 4500K and > 4,500K and <= 7,000K
* T12 4-ft. & 2-ft U-lamps with medium bi-pin bases
- Majority of F40 and F34T12 lamps and all FB40 and FB34T12 U-lamps fail.
- 4-ft. requires 3560 lumens @ 40W and 3030 lumens @ 34W to pass @ 89 LPW.
- 2-ft. U-lamps require 3360 @ 40W and 2856 @ 34W to pass @ 84 LPW.
- CWX/DX/DSGN50/C50 are exempt due to CRI.
* T12 8-ft. Slimline with single pin bases
- All 75W F96T12 lamps fail.
- All 60W F96T12/ES fail except for the 800/SPX Series & some 700/SP long life Series.
- CWX/DX/DSGN50/C50 are exempt due to CRI.
* T12 8-ft. 800mA HO with RDC bases
- All 110W F96T12 HO lamps fail. Requires enhanced coatings with 10,120 lumens to pass.
- All 95W F96T12/ES/HO fail except for enhanced 800 Series. Requires 8740 lumens to pass.
- CWX/DX/DSGN50/C50 are exempt due to CRI; CW/CT & D/CT are exempt.
* T8 4-ft. & 2-ft. U-lamps with medium bi-pin bases
- All 4-ft. T8 basic 700/SP Series lamps @ 2800 lumens fail. Requires 2850 lumens to pass.
- All other 4-ft. pass.
- All 2-ft. 800/SPX Series U-lamps pass. Some 700/SP Series pass.
* T8 8-ft. Slimline with single pin bases
- All pass except some 700/SP Series. Requires 5723 lumens @ 59W to pass.
* T8 8-ft. HO with RDC bases
- All pass except some 700/SP Series. Requires 7912 lumens @ 86W to pass.
* T5 4-ft with miniature bi-pin bases
- All (...) 2012 Standards for General Service Flr Lps NEMA v2 _2_.96439846-e6b0-4188-b823-5a93df679bde.pdf]New 2012 Standards for General Service Fluorescent Lamps (GSFL)[/url]

Ended up changing these out with Advance programmed-start ballasts because the IS ballasts were burning up the lamps too quickly. The delay of the PS ballasts is kind of annoying though. Oh well.

Yeah since these are low ballast factor they will burn through lamps quicker than a normal ballast factor ballast. PS ballasts won't be much better if you used low ballast factor ballasts. the best for lamp life is NBF. in the cold LBF instant start is exile on the lamps though especially when frequently switched. IS isn't a very good method for electronic ballasts but PS ballasts are typically twice the price of IS ballasts.

The new ones are NBF I believe....

yeah that will help with lamp life. with HBF you get more light but the tubes are slightly overdriven so there's a shorter life. with NBF the lamps are underdriven slightly and with LBF the tubes are really underdriven and will sputter when it's cold, which really shortens life when the tubes are frequently switched on and off in the cold. did you keep these ballasts? did you cut the wires on these or are they full length?

I think high-CRI lamps like triphosphor and deluxe halophosphate are still made...can someone confirm this?

They are...

Personally I prefer magnetic ballasts for T8 as they drive the lamps at around 90-95%. NBF drives at around 80-88%, and HBF at 110-120%. I believe LBF is around 50-60%.

I have not ever understood why NPF isn't 1.0 meaning lamp powered at 100% the only true NPF ballasts are dimmable fluorescent and HID ballasts

Why, are those 100% power factor? I thought only resistive loads had perfect power factor...

i've never understood why either. @ Joe; what would a 1.07 ballast factor ballast be? HPF? If i were to upgrade my grandpa's shop troffers to T8 before he sells it I'd probably use Howard 1.07 BF two lamp ballasts with 32W lamps instead of 4 F40T12 lamps at 0.77 BF there's a 54.72W savings per fixture (three fixtures, so 164.16W saved) with 245 less lumens per fixture. 245 lumens isn't significant right? there's rumors my grandpa might be selling his shop if he's still achey after easter. i hope he doesn't, but it's probably better for him if he does since the shop is taking a toll on him finacially and physically. He wants to do so much but he has to know where his limits are. he's in florida now though so i haven't heard it from him. i'll definelty swap out the preheater though so don't worry. i'll be begging him for that one on easter lol. I'll ask him about converting the troffers too so i can have 6 more f40 RS ballasts, albeit 0.77 BF ones. If he ends up selling the shop i might ask to convert the troffers to two lamp F40 so i can snag 3 ballasts. plus it'll cost nothing. i don't see the issue if he's selling it, as it'll be the next guys problem lol.

In theory an inductor coupled with a capacitor of exactly the same reactance (a special sort of resistance) will give a resistive-type load. But on the field inductive charges are only PF-corrected to 90-92% to make sure the whole grid won't fall on the capacitive side. I don't exactly remember why it is so, but I think a current lag (inductive load) is easier to manage than a voltage lag (capacitive load).

I have seen ballasts with over 100% power factor,my guess is they are used in areas with heavy motor use in order to correct the power factor

Out of interest i have recently purchased a low BF sylvania 4 lamp programmed start ballast,it always heats the cathodes,their newer model does not though...meaning shorter lAmp life

Over 100% power factor? That isn't possible. Maybe you mean BALLAST factor, which is not the same thing xD A power factor over 100% actually starts to drop again, but this time the charge is capacitive and not inductive LOL.

how come there aren't 1.0 BF ballasts?

There are ! Only dimmable fluorescent and standard HID ballasts

Vince : yeah i meant ballast factor lol

How are they 100% PF if they aren't resistive? Wow!

@Andy; power factor and ballast factor are two different things. power factor can only be 100% if it is a resistive load and power factor cannot be >100%. ballast factor is the % that the ballast drives the lamp at. A .8amp ballast will run the lamp 80% of what the lamp is capable at running. In other words, a F32T8 lamp that gets 2800 lumens will consume 25.6 watts and give 2240 lumens on a 0.8 (or normal ballast factor) ballast. So even the 0.8 BF full-power bonusline ballasts don't run F40T12s at their full potential. if a 40W T12 is rated for 2025 mean lumens, it will use 32 watts and yield 1620 lumens on a 0.8 BF ballast and use 30.8 watts and yield 1559.25 lumens on a energy-saver cheapo 0.77 BF ballast. I've always wondered, how come there are no HBF T12 ballasts? there are only LBF and NBF.