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NorthLux 95 CRI T8 LED Tube for Painting Studio
I'm setting up my painting studio where I create realistic works, and I am looking at using your NorthLux™ 95 CRI T8 LED Tube for Art & Studio. What do I use to hook them up to? Do I purchase one for fluorescents and remove the ballast? A wraparound will look nicer than bulbs, but does it affect the CRI? Also, I have to purchase 4 from you, but I believe 2 will be enough for my space; the room is approx 13' x 15', with a double Easterly window and a single Southerly one.
Our NorthLux T8 LED lamps sound like a great option for your art studio! As you mention correctly, these T8 lamps require a 4-ft fixture housing. Most fixtures that are available today do indeed have fluorescent ballast, so we would recommend removing the ballast and rewiring the fixture to ensure compatibility. Once the ballast is removed, the T8 lamps can be installed directly.
As long as the diffuser cover in the fixture is transparent or semi-transparent (as opposed to having a colored tint), there should be no effect on the light quality and will not pose any problems from a color accuracy perspective.
Finally, I've plugged the dimensions of your space into the lumen estimation calculator which you can find at the link below:
https://www.waveformlighting.com/lumen-calculator
The suggested brightness level to achieve 80 footcandles (recommended for art studios) is 15,722 lumens. Based on this lumen output target, we would recommend up to nine of our T8 lamps. (Your initial estimate for just two lamps may have been based on lower brightness needs in line with a residential space).
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T8 LED tube lightsArt studio lightingCeiling FixturesFluorescent replacements