Starters and Ballasts

Fluorescent ballasts, starters and lampholders for keeping existing fixtures in service: Philips Advance electronic ballasts for T5, T8 and T12 lamps, Satco preheat starters and Leviton pedestal-base lampholders. A ballast has to match lamp type, lamp count and wattage — a 32 W T8 two-lamp ballast is not interchangeable with a four-lamp unit — and its input voltage has to match the circuit. Starters apply only to older preheat fixtures; instant-start and rapid-start fixtures do not use them. Lampholders are the part that cracks and drops a lamp, and they are sold separately from the fixture.