Oh, I didn't mean to sound hostile to the new lamps. I'd read a long time
ago about new energy-efficient ballasts and had been looking forward to them.
But I beg to differ on one point. At our local mega-hardware store they
have some big posters and displays indicating that if you have
"ballasts for residential or home use" you must switch to 25W 4' bulbs.
Yes, that's 25Watt. I think by ballasts for residential use they are
describing your standard old fashioned ballast meant for 40W CW.
Indeed, I almost bought some fixtures until i noticed they had imprinted
on the side, "not for use with 34W bulbs."
Only the new E-types were allowed to be used with 34W bulbs. Was your
use of "32W" an error on your part? Or maybe there are some strange
differences in terminology here... I'm looking at my new bulbs now and
they say 34W instead of 32W.....
B