I think this has been talked about on here

[Rob Littleton]

but I aint too sure.

I am looking at getting 8 foot lights for my shop.

I talked to a guy last week at the borg and he told me about these bright shop lights people get. He told me big $$ but worth it.

Any ideas of what he was talking about and any ideas or suggestions where to get good shop lights other than the borg.

Cheers

[Jim Ketron]

I hope you get some answers !
I was going to ask the same Q for the new shop I'm building!
Jim

[G.C. Wagner]

I've got high output 8 foot flourescents with 110 watt tubes. They provide a lot of light. The only problem I see is that I can't find any of the hight output fixtures with reflectors. I have a steel truss building and there is no ceiling for the light to reflect off of. I got mine at Lowes but I've seen them at Home Depot also.

Hope this is a little help.
Gerry

[Matt Meiser]

I used 8' fixtures with HO bulbs. I didn't go with a super high color rendition bulb due to cost and I do not regret doing so. I had planned to add a couple of halogen fixtures over my main bench, but never got around to it.

My fixtures do have reflectors. They are made by Lithonia and I purchased them through a local lighting supplier. They did the calculations to figure out how many fixtures I needed which came out a little high, but it worked out as I had two "extra" fixtures when I was done that I mounted in the back part of my shop.

Another benefit you won't see of the 8' HO fixtures is that they start at low temperatures. I was able to go out in the winter and flip on the switch and get almost instant light.

[Carole Valentine]

When I had my shop rewired a month ago, I had six 8' double bulb high output fixtures installed (3 banks of two fixtures each so I could control which ones I turned on.) There is definitely a difference in the amount of light output. The other reason I used them was my shop is not insulated and in lower temps regular flourescents just didn't cut it. The HOs are expensive....$60/fixture from my electrician....but I am happy with them. Don't know how much they are at the box stores and probably don't want to know cause I am sure they are less there.

[Jack Wood]

I lucked out and was able to obtain 6 HO T-8 4' fixture with reflectors for free, and I have added two more 8' T-8 HO instant on lights. You need to have the instant on and low temp that Carole talks about. If you use flourescent lighting this is a must unless you heat your shop 24-7. A regular fixture won't light properly below a certain temp, 50F and below I think, even in warm temps they take a while to get up to speed. One of the biggest thing to look at is the "color tempeture" of the bulb. The higher the # the more normal the colors will look. The normal "cool White" type bulbs tend to give things a bluish tinge, but that's my opinion:rolleyes: The other big factor is the palcement of your fixtures, you want to place them so there is little if any shadow cast by things. So the guy was giving you some good advice, you won't regret spending the bucks later on. Also, a side note about Halogen lighting. While it is very bright and does a great job it is also very HOT. And there is now some concern about the damgage it can do to your eyes in the long run. So I would keep Halogen to a few spot types.

[Bob Aquino]

A while back I posted about converting my garage/shop from standard 4' tubes to a new compact flourescent floodlamp type. The original post is here: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=8955. So far I'm very happy with the improvement in task lighting, though for a larger shop or one with high ceilings, they may not be as effective.

[Dave Dionne]

The problem with fluorescent lamps has been hit apon already, low temps = low light and some will not even start. The HO is one way to go the other option is to go to a Pentron type fixture/ballast combo. I am not sure of the cost, the light output is great and the are rated for very cold enviroments. They have replaced normal Fluorescents in a lot of out door soda machines and the 8 footers are being retofitted into out door signs in Minnisota that I know of they will operate int he cold.
Compact Flourescents suffer the same poor output in cold enviroments. It is the nature of the beast, mercury has to be in vapor form to really get the most and efficient light output. When it is cold that does not happen easily. I am looking at redoing my garage/shop next year and have already planned for a mixture of fluorescents and halogen fixtures to get a even supply of light.

Just my thoughts and experiences (I test lights for living)

Dave Dionne

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Rob, I am in the process of finishing my new shop. Jerry Todd recommended an article from Fine Woodworking concerning shop lighting. I bought and download it. IIRC it cost $3.50. It was invaluable. I ended up deciding on using 4' bulbs. At the Borg the fixture I was looking at a flourescent fixture with 2 4' bulbs with the ballast I wanted was $39..........then a little later I noticed I could different fixtures, same ballasts, same manufacturer but holding 4 - 4' bulbs for $42.......IOW it reduced the number of fixtures by 50% and costs by nearly 50%.......I'd recommend purchasing the article .......when you decide what lighting you want to use.....go to your supplier......get the manufactures model number of the fixture.....you can go online and actually look at the specs on ballasts, etc. Below is the link to my thread where Jerry's reply lists the link at Taunton.


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=9113

[Mike Mortenson]

I would use 8' High output lights. I put 6 in my 28 x32 shop and its great. The electrical supplier had a program that would tell you how many lights you need based upon your sq ft and ceiling height. He told me what i had was the same amount of light used on a basketball court. High output lights work even in cold weather.

[Chris Padilla]

Thanks, Ken and Todd, for the link...just ordered the mag...can never go wrong with FWW....

[Jim Becker]

Whatever format of lighting chosen, be absolutely sure to pick units that accomodate lower tempuratures. They cost more, but will pay back big-time under "reality". The bulbs/tubes should also be carefully choosen for color temp to provide a more accurate color rendition when finishing. We used to have to combine flourescent and incandescent fixtures to do that...now you can get tubes that render higher color tempuratures that are more like natural light.

[Dave Dionne]

Jim is right on the color temp issue. Look for lamps that have C.R.I. (color rendering index between 91-95 the higher the better and a K (Kelvin) of 5000° that will give you close to the effect of natural sunlight.

http://www.sylvania.com/ProductCatalogs/

http://www.gelighting.com/na/business/products.html

http://www.lighting.philips.com/nam/product_database/

Here are the links to the big three they are different in the way that they set up thier searches but are easy to use by plugging in different parameters.

Dave