Choosing a fixture or lamp

So, you have decided to buy a Circline fluorescent light fixture or Circline lamp, In order to have the best possible experience with your new Circline fluorescent light fixture or lamp you need to make sure the one you get is of high quality. Here are a few items you should take note of when buying your new Circline fluorescent light fixture or lamp.

First check the general construction of the fixture or lamp. Does it look "cheesy?" Does it "bend?" Is it made of cheesy plastic?

Quality tube clip

Are the clips that hold in the lamp(s) easy to bend? Are they crimped in? If it has a lens make sure that it is made of acrylic or better yet glass.

Do not buy a fixture or lamp that has an ordinary lamp socket that has a Circline adapter unit (a round plastic thing that screws into a standard light bulb socket and has a place to snap a Circline lamp in around the outside) or one that looks about the same as a Circline adapter but it has wires coming out of it.. The fixture or lamp you choose should have wires coming out of a ballast that plug into the lamp(s).

If you want to dim the fixture be sure to buy a fixture with a rapid start ballast or better yet a dimmable electronic ballast. In either case make sure that you buy a dimmer specially made for that kind of ballast AN ORDINARY LIGHT DIMMER COULD DESTROY YOUR NEW FIXTURE OR EVEN START A FIRE.

A word about Circline fluorescent tubes: most tubes that come with Circline fluorescent fixtures are of low quality. I recommend buying new tubes for your new Circline fluorescent fixture or lamp.

Quality tube

A quality tube will almost always have a small screw in the middle of the four connection pins. You should also make sure to get tubes of the correct color for your application. Worm white tubes are best for a living space like a kitchen or bathroom. Cool white tubes are for a utility space like the garage or workshop. There are many colors of tubes besides warm and cool white but this document will not go into detail about them. I recommend Philips (http://www.philipslighting.com) for all kinds of fluorescent tubes including Circline.

I recommend Lithonia Lighting (http://www.lithonia.com) or Hampton Bay for Circline fluorescent fixtures.