Dumb T5 question
 

A newbie question:

Are all T5's high output and if I have a T5 HO fixture can I run non HO T5's ?

Thnx

Seems there are NO (normal output) T5 (seen a whole lot once dumpster diving at work), but are there NO T5 marine bulbs?

Great Mark ...a question with a question. I am assuming any bulbs you buy from a LFS is going to be HO. I have a fixture from Current USA and they spec out HO for that fixture.

Probably find some nice 2700k or 4100K NO bulbs out there, just saying don't think I've ever come across non-HO marine bulbs. Not trying to be a smart as$.

So do you think that HO is more related to the temp of the bulb?

no, just for our application (marine) the manufacturers have focused more on HO rather than NO.

Coralife makes a bunch of NO T5 bulbs in 10K, Actinic spectrums. The boxes that the bulbs are in will specify if they are HO and will also give you the wattage which will tell you that they are HO or not. So yes, you need to read the package.

It's so confusing. I was told last month that ALL t5's are HO by the electrical parts store in town. How much wattage is it that makes it HO? Or are they right??

Personally, Ive never seen a T5 NO, or HO designation. Just T5. Also, never seen a T5 period outside of marine. All Home stuff is T8. Any fixtures I instal industry wise, are all T8 or T12. When your dealing with T12, theres NO, HO, and VHO. they alll are the same length bulbs, but the wattages are different. Only ever see one wattage rating for length of T5's

If you look at Big Al's web site under T5 bulbs you will find that NO is only 28 watts for 48" bulbs and HO is 54 watts for 48" bulbs. Just using Big Al's as a reference not recommending them! Coralife T5 fixtures are also NO not HO. Maybe it's just Coralife that has NO bulbs and fixtures? Home Depot also has a few fixtures on their web site. A 39" fixture (36" bulb) is only 21 watts compared to 39 watts for an HO fixture.