The Lamp Room

Stopped in at my local Siansbury's filling station the other day to fill up van. The forecourt is lit with either 250w or 400w mercury vapour lamps, which for ages have been getting dimmer and dimmer and every time I go there, another one seems to have failed. Stopped in there the other day and noticed that all the fittings that were out have been re-lamped, not with mercs tho, some muppet has installed tubular metal halide lamps, none of which light. Given the mercury fittings contain no ignitors, they're unlikely ever to light either unless someone fits some. Probably go back nest time and find it's all been ripped out for LED - everything else in the store and carpark is, just the canopy thats never had new fittings......

Were they even probe start lamps? I know the Thorn & GE's that I have starts off the choke nice enough.

Sigh. You just know the contractor has still been paid, has condemned the fittings as "faulty" and provided a quote for LED replacements.

Those Philips canopy fittings in the Shell garage`s are having diodes drop out like flies now!

Yes, somehow I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them all ripped out and replaced with LED fittings now

My local Esso garage had the 9 forecourt lights replaced for LED about 18 months ago. 3 have failed completely and one has half failed, all have the paint falling off the plenty rust.
Meanwhile two BP garages have gone for Induction and a Texaco has gone for a random mix, some have been converted the corn lamps, some to spiral CFLs, and others stil MH
As for Shell they've got LEDs each on their own PIR.