T5 lamps and electronic ballasts are heavily promoted by manufacturers as the “green energy efficient” solution for companies looking to future-proof their business against rising electricity costs. Although these products do have some benefits its important to assess their true value and subsequent suitability for your business. All of the data listed below is in the public domain and as far as we are aware not in dispute.
- T5 lamps differ in length and socket size and will always require an electrician for installation as rewiring or a new fitting will be required.
- Can result in reduced light levels as T5 not as efficient in lumen output as T8 at certain temperatures (reverse is true at higher temperatures)
- Electronic Ballast losses show only minor (3% power) improvement over T8 lamp-ballast system efficacy (although they do run silent and flicker free, common complaints with electromagnetic ballast)
- The quoted max. 20,000 hour T5 lamp life is no improvement over standard T8s (some newer T8s have a longer quoted lamp life)
- T5 performance is negatively impacted in open luminaires in well ventilated areas and will be outperformed by T8 in these environments
- Although T5 are 40% smaller and therefore use less material, they still contain around 5mg of mercury so do have the same environmental concerns as T8
- T5 lamps take longer to warm-up as the optimal temperature is 10˚C higher than T8
- T5 offer a brighter light and are therefore more suited to applications above 20ft, below 20ft they can subject users to excessive glare
- Quality of light measured for T5 in CRI (Colour Rendering Index) is not improved at 85CRI
In conclusion T5 tubes can be 2-3 times more expensive than T8s with no improvement on expected lamp life. They should save you roughly 22% on electricity but this is highly unlikely to be sufficient to cover the extra purchase and installation costs.
Also its important to note that if your T8s have electromagnetic (traditional) ballasts, the ballast has an expected life of up to 30yrs and are recyclable, the new electronic ballast that you will have to have installed to run T5 only has an expected life of 4yrs (poor quality ones 2yrs), can cost around £25 each (excluding installation) and are not recyclable. If you factor this into the business case it fails on environmental standards and financially you are simply not going to see a return on investment even if you do get the quoted 20,000 hours from the T5.
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