[AT] Talking about shops/sheds + (OT) Building Code Changes

[john hall]

I have a friend who is an electrician. He went into a commercial building a 
while back that was 3 years old. All the lighting is T-12, the owner is just 
going to stock up on bulbs now and worry about the fixtures in 20 years. My 
boss is in the same boat but his building is 15 years old, so he'll have to 
start addressing changing the fixtures out sooner. Supposedly you can buy 
some replacement ballasts, but I can't see it being worth it,  since you'll 
have to change the bulbs and probably the pin connectors as well.

It was by a fortunate accident I found this out. We had the ballast to go 
out (as in a lot of smoke, hissing, and gooey black stuff pouring out of it) 
at the farm shop. I figured all I needed to do was to swing by Lowes and get 
another 8 ft fixture. While I was at it I was going to pick up some bulbs 
for some 4 ft fixtures we have. The 4 ft bulbs were no longer available from 
Lowes. Another store wanted about $8 each for them. This is going to make a 
nice dent in my old tractor fund before it is over!

John