Flourescent Question

[sween1911]

Guys,

I have (4) fixtures in my basement, two 4-foot 40W tubes to a fixture.

I just put up the fourth one the other day, and I stopped at Home Depot for 2 tubes. I mistakenly bought "soft" white. The other tubes are... whatever the opposite of soft white... I dunno, "regular" white? I figure if I swap in a "soft" in the fixture next to it and use one of each in each fixture, it wouldn't be as noticable.

Is it okay to run one softwhite and one "regular" tube in the same fixture?

 

[purduephotog]

Guys,

I have (4) fixtures in my basement, two 4-foot 40W tubes to a fixture.

I just put up the fourth one the other day, and I stopped at Home Depot for 2 tubes. I mistakenly bought "soft" white. The other tubes are... whatever the opposite of soft white... I dunno, "regular" white? I figure if I swap in a "soft" in the fixture next to it and use one of each in each fixture, it wouldn't be as noticable.

Is it okay to run one softwhite and one "regular" tube in the same fixture?

Yes, it won't hurt the fixture, but it will probably tick your eyes off ;)

 

[sween1911]

Actually, the fact that I have two fixtures next to each other (end-to-end), with 2 soft-whites in the one and 2 "plain" whites in the other, THAT really messed with me. Swapping the tubes so that there was a soft and a plain in each balances it out. I don't notice the difference nearly as much now.

I appreciate the info! Just want to make sure it doesn't mess with the ballast or the life of the tubes. Thanks!

 

[Phil828]

I believe it is common practice to mix cool white and warm white bulbs when growing plants if you don't want to buy the expensive grow-lights. It gives a more complete spectrum and it won't harm your fixtures.