EDIT: thread has mutated a bit into LED COB projects, as these are much cheaper than trying to work out a ballast solution for CFLs, starts a few posts down.
So...Lowe's has a good deal on these 65w "4500 lumen" 6500k (bright blue-white) CFLs, at less than $3 each:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Utilitech-65-Watt-65W-T4-Mogul-Base-Daylight-6500K-CFL-Bulb/3465452
But they require a ballastd that is *not* a regular tube-style ballast, because of a "bypass capacitor" that's already built into the CFL base. Perhaps if this is removed, I could then use the CFL with a regular ballast...but I haven't tested this yet (because this capacitor, from what I've found so far, is chosen to be tuned with the CFL tube, and the one already built into a typical ballast is not the right value for the CFL.
I don't know that these are true, but they probably are. I havent' yet done the experiment to verify, but I probably will if there arent' any cheap solutions otherwise.
So far, the only ones I've found that I'm certain will work with them are the entire $40 (and up) "barn light" fixtures (which include the bulb...so I wouldn't need the separate ones). I can't locate them again now, but I found a few that supposedly work with them, but are basically the same price as the whole fixture (more with shipping), and I can't be certain that they work.
Is there anyone here that has specific knowledge of these, or enough knowledge of ballast operation/etc., to help determine if I might be able to make a regular ballast run these things. I have a few ballasts to experiment with, one modern "dead" unit that I can open up and de-pot, a modern working one, another modern probably-working one (though it doens't light the fluorescent bulbs as brightly as one of the two really old kind do, but it does work with a pair of LED replacments), and a couple of really old ones in an ancient fixture that lights one of the sheds, not counting the modern ones in the five modern fixtures I have lights in that I'm using.
The reason is that they're bright, small(ish), and cheap, and I need a lot of light(s), both for the yard itself, and for work areas, as it's getting harder for my eyes to focus on things I'm working on.
I have one of those greenish-light metal halide barn lights for a yard light now, but something is failing in it. Could be the ballast or the bulb, it shuts off and turns back on every so often. If I can make one of these CFLs work, very cheaply, I can replace the guts of the fixture with the CFL for whiter and possibly brighter light (that uses less electricity, as a bonus).
Then I can use others to light sheds, other yard areas (the trees limit how much of the yard the barn light can illuminate), and rooms in the house if I can do enough of them.
Cheap shop lights with equivalent lighting in fluorescent takes two shop light fixtures and four bulbs, which costs around $50. These are better for some use cases, but it's a lot of money. So a cheaper solution that's just as effective is better.
I expect it's either not possible or more trouble than it's worth, too much time (of which I have too little already), but thought it might be worth at least investigating.
So...Lowe's has a good deal on these 65w "4500 lumen" 6500k (bright blue-white) CFLs, at less than $3 each:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Utilitech-65-Watt-65W-T4-Mogul-Base-Daylight-6500K-CFL-Bulb/3465452
But they require a ballastd that is *not* a regular tube-style ballast, because of a "bypass capacitor" that's already built into the CFL base. Perhaps if this is removed, I could then use the CFL with a regular ballast...but I haven't tested this yet (because this capacitor, from what I've found so far, is chosen to be tuned with the CFL tube, and the one already built into a typical ballast is not the right value for the CFL.
I don't know that these are true, but they probably are. I havent' yet done the experiment to verify, but I probably will if there arent' any cheap solutions otherwise.
So far, the only ones I've found that I'm certain will work with them are the entire $40 (and up) "barn light" fixtures (which include the bulb...so I wouldn't need the separate ones). I can't locate them again now, but I found a few that supposedly work with them, but are basically the same price as the whole fixture (more with shipping), and I can't be certain that they work.
Is there anyone here that has specific knowledge of these, or enough knowledge of ballast operation/etc., to help determine if I might be able to make a regular ballast run these things. I have a few ballasts to experiment with, one modern "dead" unit that I can open up and de-pot, a modern working one, another modern probably-working one (though it doens't light the fluorescent bulbs as brightly as one of the two really old kind do, but it does work with a pair of LED replacments), and a couple of really old ones in an ancient fixture that lights one of the sheds, not counting the modern ones in the five modern fixtures I have lights in that I'm using.
The reason is that they're bright, small(ish), and cheap, and I need a lot of light(s), both for the yard itself, and for work areas, as it's getting harder for my eyes to focus on things I'm working on.
I have one of those greenish-light metal halide barn lights for a yard light now, but something is failing in it. Could be the ballast or the bulb, it shuts off and turns back on every so often. If I can make one of these CFLs work, very cheaply, I can replace the guts of the fixture with the CFL for whiter and possibly brighter light (that uses less electricity, as a bonus).
Then I can use others to light sheds, other yard areas (the trees limit how much of the yard the barn light can illuminate), and rooms in the house if I can do enough of them.
Cheap shop lights with equivalent lighting in fluorescent takes two shop light fixtures and four bulbs, which costs around $50. These are better for some use cases, but it's a lot of money. So a cheaper solution that's just as effective is better.
I expect it's either not possible or more trouble than it's worth, too much time (of which I have too little already), but thought it might be worth at least investigating.