The fluorescent light fixtures in this 18 year old house are flickering and have been problematic over the years. The owner would change bulbs and they would last a few months and start the flickering again.
A GC came and recommended removal of fluorescent fixtures and replacing them with can lights.
I was thinking that T8 fluorescent fixtures with the solid state ballasts may be an answer. Are the T8s affected by the moisture, too?
Any info is appreciated.
Change the ballast or fixture.
Here is a handy troubleshooting guide.
Make sure you identify the correct type of system.
http://nemesis.lonestar.org/reference/electricity/fluorescent/trouble.html
Thanks, Michael, that (ballast) has been done over the years.
I was wondering if the T8s, with their solid state ballasts, have an issue with moisture like the T12s.
I also just realized that there are LED bulbs available:
http://www.earthled.com/application.html
This high humidity issue in Florida is new to me.
Larry, I just realized you were in MI.
Unless you have the correct ballast they do not work well in cold temps.
Thanks, I’ll check it out.
This is for a Florida home.
I have changed thousands of ballasts and have found that old lampholders can create problems as well.
Can’t speak as to the humidity… I live in a desert.
Thanks, Chad.
This is coming from the Philips site…
[FONT=HelveticaNeue-Light][size=3][size=2]If, under high humidity conditions, Rapid Start lamps
start slowly or do not start at all although the cathodes
are properly heated, this may be due to dirt on
the lamps which is offsetting the silicon coating on
the lamps, or it may be due entirely to a poor silicon
coating. If it is a new installation (in operation only a
few months) which experiences random starting
under high humidity conditions, in most cases it will
be due to low supply voltage or poor silicon coating
on the lamps.
When random starting is experienced under high
humidity conditions in an installation in operation for a
longer period of time this is usually due to dirt on the
lamps. Wash the lamps in water to remove the dirt.
Sometimes with two lamp Rapid Start series ballasts
only one lamp will light to full brilliance and the other
will not light. Refer to the figure below. If the lamp
between the Red leads and Yellow leads is lit and the
other lamp is out, look for a pinched Yellow lead. If the
lamp between the Red and Yellow leads does not light
and the other does, it is probably due to a short within
the ballast.
**
Jeff
[/size][/size][/FONT]
Good info, Jeff…I’ll check that out.
Thanks.
Just a NEWS FLASH…it gets damn cold in Florida too. For our friends who think all of FL looks like Miami…it does not. The citrus growers sweat bullets every year for their crops freezing in the fields and losing all their mature trees, and that is mostly in Central part of the State, not even the most northern part. I see folks all the time saying things about FL that just are not factual (no crawl spaces in FL…bs). Fact is, most of FL is just like GA, AL, MS. Those postcards from FL with the palm trees…those trees were transplanted from someplace else. They do all that for the snowbirds who migrate down here from the great frozen North. They are easy to spot…black knee socks, sandals (with socks!!!) pants hitched up to their armpits with belt AND suspenders, Hawaiian shirts, giant sun shields over their regular glasses, driving the biggest damn Cadillac they make and they always, always, always wanting a damn discount.
Good point, Doug.
This is for a south Florida home. 
You’re right about that Doug. Just got back from Baton Rogue, LA and drove through the Panhandle on I10. And man was it cold!
Bert
Yep, and what those northerners don’t know is that if you get enough people to plant palm trees - it’ll change the climate to tropical - you just have to convince enough people…