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John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

John Galt6 to alkizmo

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to alkizmo

Re: Recessed fluorescent ballast strips (not troffer)

All ballasts are Class P, meaning they have integral thermal protection. As long as the ambient temp is under 104F, you should be good.

Virtually all new ballasts are electronic switchers, so they do get warm, but not too bad. Just give them some room to "breathe".

alkizmo
join:2007-06-25
Pierrefonds, QC

alkizmo

Member

said by John Galt6:

Just give them some room to "breathe".

Cool
They'll have the full joist space minus drywall thickness, so a good 13" width and probably 50" lenght with 6" depth ( gotta put some sound insulation under the floor above )

shdesigns
Powered By Infinite Improbabilty Drive
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join:2000-12-01
Stone Mountain, GA
(Software) pfSense
ARRIS SB6121

shdesigns to John Galt6

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to John Galt6
My lights are the old inductive type ballasts. They do get warm but in an area 12x12" the heat gets dissipated. Newer ballasts would run cooler.

Yours would be 14.5 by 9.5 to 11.5, so I would not expect a problem. If they were in a small area like 6x6 I would worry about heat.

Just paint the joists and subfloor gloss white and you should be fine.

Mine has been there for 15 years. The paint has yellowed due to the UV from the bulbs. It was cheap latex, I think a glossy oil-based white would do better.

alkizmo
join:2007-06-25
Pierrefonds, QC

alkizmo

Member

said by shdesigns:

Just paint the joists and subfloor gloss white and you should be fine.

Mine has been there for 15 years. The paint has yellowed due to the UV from the bulbs. It was cheap latex, I think a glossy oil-based white would do better.

Good idea, if I use a diffuser lens, you wouldn't see the painted joists, just washed white.

Though I'd still put a back board over the subfloor, not just because I want to bring the bulb closer to the bottom of the joist, but because the subfloor has a ton of nails sticking out from it and I'd like some sound insulation

As for your yellowing paint, why not buy a can of spray paint and refresh it a little bit?

John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

John Galt6 to alkizmo

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to alkizmo
said by alkizmo:

gotta put some sound insulation under the floor above

Use some fender washers (3-4) to move the entire strip off of the sheetrock so it is not acting like a 'sounding board'.

Make sure the ballasts are rated 'sound level 'A'...virtually all electronic ballasts are quieter than this, though.