freezer room light fitting

[ians]

This is a clear indication of how the electrical industry is so confused, and we wonder why there is never any policing or procecution.

I decide to put it out there and get a quote for a 5 ft freezer room light fitting.

Prices and type of fitting range from a R300 for a standard dust proof fitting, to R1300 for a so called freezer room fitting, here the joke if you ask one person a tthe counter for the light you get a dust proof fitting, you ask another person in the same wholesaler, they tell you you cannot use a standard dust proof fitting. You can use a standard wire would transfomer with special starters and tubes, but you cannot use electronic ballasts.

If you are not sure, i would think you would contact the supplier of the fitting, who at the end of the day must have a SANS approval, and should know where thier fitting can and cant be used for specific locations.

[ians]

So i contacted a person who seems to know more than most because this is what he does, and got some advice.

According to this person, You can get away with using an electronic ballast down to about -10, you can use them in lower temps, but it is not advisable even though the ballast indicates that it is rated for -15...-17 etc.

It is advisable to use a wire would ballast with a special starter designed for the application, with standard lamps.

It is also advisable to use a fitting with an external clip to support and not drill thru the fitting to mount it, unless you seal it properly, which is not the case in the fittings which i am busy replacing. It doesnt help to put an ip 65 or 66 rated fitting them drill a hole for the cable and not bother even fitting a gland.

So next step is to make sure that i check with the customer, and find out what temp. the cold rooms and freezer set points are, then purchas eand install fittings accordingly.

[AndyD]

Yeah it's kind of a gray area because different manufacturers have different allowable temperatures on their components. You can also mount the switchgear remote, maybe on the roof of the coldroom or freezer or even in an enclosure on the front. That way you could use starterless electronic ballasts which give better energy consumption and longer tube life.

There is also a 'very low temp' fitting available, we've used them in cascade freezers before where the temperatures go below -40 C. They have an internal trace heater and insulated bodies with double glazed low-e glass covers and HF ballasts. They're Ex rated as well but they're not cheap, I think we paid over 2K plus import duties per fitting so they'd be a hard sell for a standard restaurant type coldroom.