slimline strip light

[visionset]

I'm after a fluorescent strip light for under my kitchen cupboard to replace the one I've got. Max depth must be

[meow2222]

If you want 4-5ft you're looking at T8. The only way to get this within 45mm is to use clips to hold the tube with a separate control gear box. These are standard equipment for building into displays etc.

NT

[meow2222]

and for kitchen worktop use, you'll need a dimmable ballast, running it full power would be excessive.

more

NT

[visionset]

Well looking at the specs for T8 from your ref, 4ft is 36W which will be fine undimmed.

T8 is 1 inch which is what I've just removed from a 45mm fitting - so it is possible, unless you know every model I'll remain hopeful.

Thanks for link!

(Sorry meow, PM'd you by mistake!)

[visionset]

How do I know the colour temp of the one I've got that I need to match? Only markings are: Sylvania standard white F30W/135

[Dave Plowman (News)]

By that you'll mean it's far brighter than direct sunlight? Somehow I doubt it...

[Andrew Gabriel]

I fitted a T5HE 35W 1449mm (4'9") tube for this purpose. Tube is 5/8" diameter and clipped onto the back of the under-cupboard pelmet, which is the position which gives best lighting but minimum reflections off the worktop. The electronic control gear is remote from the tube. (It usually has to be within a metre of one end of the tube or the cabling might generate too much RF noise).

The electronic control gear came from RS, and the tubes come from an electrical wholesaler (they are used in commercial premises, but you don't yet see them in retail outlets).

Also available in this range is a 28W 1149mm tube, a

21W 849mm tube, and a 14W 549mm tube. Since they all run at the same tube current, the same ballast will usually drive them all. (These are effectively just longer versions of the traditional 13W 21" T5 tube).

Note this range is call T5HE (Tubular, 5/82 diameter, High Efficiency). There's another almost identical range called T5HO (.... High Output) which are over twice the power rating. You don't want these under a cupboard or you'll need sunglasses. Make sure the tube and ballast you get are from the correct range.

[Andrew Gabriel]

The F is Fluorecent. The 30W is the power (in the US, it's sometimes the tube length in inches). I don't know what the '1' means in Sylvania part numbers. The '35' part means 3500K, which is the standard 'white' colour.

Philips /3-digit numbers are interpreted in two parts; the first digit gives the CRI range: 7 = 70-79%, 8 = 80-89%,

9 = 90-100%, and the last two digits are the colour temp divided by 100. e.g. 827 is 2700K (warm white) with 80-89% CRI, 735 is 3500K (white) with 70-79% CRI.

[meow2222]

no

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Then what do you mean? I've got full length 1" tubes under the wall cupboards driven off high efficiency electronic ballasts and the light level they produce certainly isn't excessive. I'd describe it as comfortable. They are dimmable, but that's for 'artistic' reasons - they're always full up when working.

[visionset]

I suppose I could cut and shut the original fitting to accept a longer tube. Would the ballast still be appropriate (going 3' to 4' T8)?

[Andrew Gabriel]

It would be out of spec. It might still work. If it does, the tube will be underrun, which will shorten it's life, but possibly not too much. A 4' fitting really doesn't cost much, and you don't really want a fitting which is hacksawed in half in the kitchen.