D lamps interchangeable

[Albumen]

I'm about to have 2 new ceiling lights put in my home office. An electrician will be fitting them.

I'm thinking of changing the ones I've bought to something more powerful. They have to be low profile, it's a very low ceiling. Chap in lighting shop tells me that D lamps aren't' interchangeable. So if I get one that's rated at 38W 4 pin 2 D, then I can't put a low wattage 4 pin 2D in it. Is he right?

Cheers,

 

[Robin0577]

Generally speaking, no, they are not interchangeable, the ballast being specific to the type of lamp, especially if it's a standard wirewound type ballast. I think the lamp socket is also a different size?

However SOME of the more expensive modern electronic ballasts will work with a range of lamp sizes BUT ONLY if the manufacturers* data explicity says so. For example some of the Osram Quicktronic intelligent series can do this.

*The ballast manufacturer that is, which may well not be the same as the fitting manufacturer.

In short it would most likely be far too much ****ing about to fit a lower wattage lamp later on, probably cheaper to change fittings again.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

They have to be low profile, it's a very low ceiling.