T8 & T12 fluorescent tubes interchangable or not?

[petek]

I goofed and bought a box of T8 48" tubes for the shop lighting, they're much thinner than the standard old fluorescent tubes but the pins on each end are the same and they fit the fixtures but don't seem to light. Well one lit when there was a standard T12 bulb in the other side but when I put two together they just flickered trying to start..
Do they require a special fixture base or something?

 

[peterh770]

My understanding is that the T12 uses a magnetic ballast and the T8 uses an electronic ballast, runs cooler, gives off more light and uses less energy. Or something like that. They are NOT interchangable.

 

[passatdoc]

I have a saltwater aquarium at home and the hood uses T8 rather than T12 bulbs. The bulbs are 48" long and normally that would mean 40 Watts. However, the 48" T8 bulbs are only 32 Watts. They seem to emit as much light as a 40W T12 but they burn less energy. I would assume that the bulbs are not interchangeable, given that the wattage is different.

 

[supersurgilator]

Yes that is correct, they use a different ballast so therefore they are not interchangable.

 

[petek]

Back they've gone and I got some T12's