02 February 2006

The future of T12 Fluorescent Lamps

There is currently some confusion in the market place of the position of the production of T12 fluorescent Lamps. Philips Lighting has recently announced that it will cease manufacture and the supply of the lamps in January 2006 with existing stocks from Philips being exhausted over the coming months.

GE has taken the opportunity to confirm that they will continue to produce the 8ft and 6ft T12 lamp from their manufacturing facility in Budapest whilst introducing longer life and energy efficient alternatives.

For a number of retailers T12 tubes represent a significant percentage of the lamps installed across the estate. This rationalisation of supply leaves many businesses with the conundrum of how to manage their assets – re-lamp or refit?

The Government has introduced a number of Directives and schemes to promote the transition between old inefficient installations and upgrading to new fixtures. These include:

Building Regulations – sets targets for energy saving measures;
The European Directive 2000/55/EC – banning the least efficient ballasts for fluorescent lighting;
Lightswitch 2000-02 – scheme which reduced the proportion of T12 lamps sold in 1994 from 50% to 10% in 2004; and
Enhanced Capital Allowance Scheme – administered by the Carbon Trust and offers tax allowances for efficient lighting installations.

It must therefore be acknowledged that the T12 tube has a limited future for the medium term and new energy efficient solutions must be sought.

Weblight are continuing to supply customer T12 lamps from existing stocks and on-going manufacture whilst looking longer term at more energy efficient alternatives that can be phased in over the next 2 to 4 years, spreading the refurbishment costs to suit the client. This affords retailers the time to asses the potential impact of the withdrawal of lamps and investigate capital works to upgrade lighting.

Read the letters from the manufacturers by clicking on the links below

Philips Announcement          GE Announcement

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