Which 4' T12 lamps will meet the new U.S. DOE's standards for general service 4' lamps that take effect in 2012?  The requirements are

89 lm/W with a CCT of <=4500K OR
88 lm/w with a CCT of 4500K-7000K OR
CRI of >=87

F34T12/CW is out, as are the 700 series phosphors.  The 800 series lamps also appear to fall short at only 80 CRI and 74-83 lm/W.  Cool White Deluxe has a CRI of 87, so it should make the grade, as will Daylight Deluxe.  900 series and anything else with a CRI of 87 or over should also pass, but these lamps appear to be all less efficient and more expensive than the other options.  Is everyone who sticks with 4' T12 after 2012 really going to need to relamp with CWX or DX or am I reading this wrong?  34W CWX/DX is another option, but probably too dim for many applications.  Their intent appears to push people toward T8 and T5, but it may have the unintended consequence of pushing people back toward less efficient full wattage lamps.  Any guesses as to what percentage of 4' fixtures are still T12 in the United States?  There have been a lot of conversions over the last decade, but T12s are not exactly rare.  The ban may impact homeowners more than businesses considering that residential 4' fixtures remained almost exclusively T12 years after businesses began switching, and few homeowners ever change ballasts.

Wow, I completely missed hearing about this legislation! Do you know the public law number or bill number for this legislation?

Thanks,
Nelson

I just found a great summary of the various legislation on Sylvania's website.

Federal Legislation & DOE Rule Making Update

It confirmed my suspicion that only CWX, DX, and a very few other high CRI or high efficiency 4' T12s will pass the new standards.  See pages 21-23.  What type of reference ballast would they be using for the efficiency calculation?  Would 800 series T12s pass if electronic ballasts were employed?

To put it simply, this SUCKS!  It will limit our choices drastically.  I wish the government would stay the hell out of the lighting industry.  The "greenies" are the ones pushing this stuff, but how "green" is it to replace otherwise good working equipment?

Which 4' T12 lamps will meet the new U.S. DOE's standards for general service 4' lamps that take effect in 2012?  The requirements are

89 lm/W with a CCT of <=4500K OR
88 lm/w with a CCT of 4500K-7000K OR
CRI of >=87

Philips Advantage series, both 34 and 40W, just barely. CRIs are in mid 80s
34s are 3,100(5000K is 3000), 40s are 3,600 lumen for every type.  These use premium grade RE80 phosphors.

Philips DX is not exempt as the CRI is only 84, Sylvania one is, because its 89.  
The 5000K "wide spectrum" lamps usually having 90+ CRI are also exempt.

I heard something about this. I hope it doesn't go through, but even if it does, here is the catch: F40T10 lamps will still surpass the efficacy requirements as far as I know. Also, I think that special application and special color lamps in the 40 watt size are here to stay. Perhaps this means all our preheaters will become dedicated blacklights now, or maybe we'll fill them with red, green and blue lamps to make white. We have to be creative.

Thanks for the link to the Sylvania summary. I will have to check that out!

@daveman, interesting on the T10s, but not surprising either.  I actually prefer them.  They sure seem bright to me and seem to last a long time.

That list is OUTRAGOUS! of all the lights that will "FAIL"
unfortunately when lamps get banned a lot more people who do not know about lighting will run T8 lamps and such on T12 ballasts and mis-match lamps and ballasts a lot more.

Again, someone should write up a petition against that in the same way I ahve done for MV lamps. Maybe we can curb this. However, it is also possible that there may be a way to get around this. We should all start hunting down used lamps.

Again, someone should write up a petition against that in the same way I ahve done for MV lamps. Maybe we can curb this. However, it is also possible that there may be a way to get around this. We should all start hunting down used lamps.

There's still the GE F48"/25W, which behaves exactly like full wattage F40CW. The only catch is the rated life is 6,000 hours if it is operated on a full output ballast (12,000 on residential shop light ballast).  I think that's more than plenty lifetime for hobbyist use.

http://genet.gelighting.com/LightProducts/Dispatcher?BreadCrumbValues=Lamps_Linear%20Fluorescent^Shoplight%20_,%20Worklight&PRODUCTCODE=14456&REQUEST=COMMERCIALSPECPAGE&SearchFieldCode=null

They even DARE to say these bans are technology neutral, pfah!  Hey we're not THAT dumb.

I just ordered a box(25 lamp) of 40W T12s. Unfortunately only avaiable color was standart coolwhite. there was no any mention about the manufacturer but hope those wont be chinese. last time I odered F20T12 I got Claudes from 80's. when T12 ban was supposed to start in europe? or has it already stated?

I think production and import of all T12 lamps in the EU will be banned in 2012. I am about to order some myself.

I think production and import of all T12 lamps in the EU will be banned in 2012. I am about to order some myself.

Are T12s generally avaiable in Sweden or do you have to order them. In Finland, only avaiable color for T12 is CW. even wholesale companys have only CW T12 lamps left. and some electric hardware store dont have T12 at stock at all. so its pretty rare in here.