HO lighting question

[Greg Urwiller]

Is it worth it? I had thought about HO T8 lighting fixtures and the electrician that's doing my wiring thinks that's the only way to go too. More money for the fixtures, but I don't know how much more the bulbs are compared to standards. Greg

[Dave MacArthur]

Not sure what "HO" means, at least in your context...
However, I would say that based on several lighting articles and threads (two shop lighting full up threads on T8 here on SMC this month, if you want to search for them), T8 is the way to go. More efficient. NOT much more expensive, and the analysis I've seen several times now says T8 is currently the way to go for $ vs. lighting. The fixtures/bulbs USED to be more expensive, now it is the "mainstream" and priced accordingly.

There is another even more efficient light bulb, forgot the #, but the analysis I've seen within 4 months or so say the gain when stepping up from T8 is NOT worth the cost.

Also, the lighting fixtures for "troughers" are not very expensive and work good for a shop, you can get a 4-bulb 4ft shop fixture called a "trougher", that is meant to fit up in the troughs on a drop-down hung ceiling, for like $20 from Lowes and HD, with electronic ballast so immediate on and no ballast wear-outs.

Try doing a search for "shop lighting" and search on the "workshops" forum and also general woodworking, you'll get some fully responded threads with links to a great technical article written for FWW by one of the SMCers, who usually chimes in himself also. Just saw a thread on this like 3 days ago, same questions.

Hope that helps, and that "HO" is not some fixture that totally makes my answer useless ! ;)

Ah, here's the link to that thread, it's sitting on page 2 of "new posts" tonight:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=151623

[David Wong]

You can compare bulbs by the amount of lumens the bulb is rated for. Higher number means more light output. High output bulbs are not always the right solution. Depending on your ceiling height and what distribution of light fixtures you want, you may not need HO bulbs. If you are going to have a lot of fixtures to create even lighting, and do not have a very high ceiling, then you may be better off with using standard bulbs with their lower cost advantage.

I use a couple of fixtures in my house with 54W T5HO bulbs, but that is because they are isolated fixtures and I wanted to get more light out of them. If you are using 9 fixtures in a garage with a 9 or 10 ft ceiling, standard T8 bulbs may cost less.

Don't forget to think about color temperature for the bulbs. 2700 degrees K is a warm color similar to an incandescent bulb. Higher temperatures are "cooler", up to daylight bulbs.

[Mike Murphy]

Greg,
Just did the lighting for my new shop and strugled with the same question.

My shop is aprox 550 sq ft. I went with 20 4' T8 fixtures (not HO) on a dedicated 15amp breaker. What really paid off for me were the bulbs. I used Philips Alto II Daylight deluxe bulbs. They are 2750 lumens with a color temp of 6500. I could not be happier with the result.

40 Bulbs X 32 watts = 1,280 watts
1,280 watts / 550 sq ft. = 2.3 watts per sq foot

It is truly like daytime light in my shop!!

Hope this helps.
Mike

[Bill Brady]

The best way to go is with a higher balast factor, the higher the factor the more light output. The most efficient is a higher factor and a lower wattage lamp, like 24 watt.

[Greg Urwiller]

I've got 10' walls on top of a 12" concrete wall so the lights will be pretty high. Sheetrock w/semi gloss white paint. This is a 24'x28' shop and I know everyone says "lots of lights", but standing out there and looking, I really felt that 2 banks of 3 4' lights should be plenty. I'll probably regret it, but when you've been working in 1/2 of a two car garage, with only 2 100w bulbs for light, it's really hard to think I'd need that much more light. The electrician thought that would be plenty, and said if I thought I needed more, then I could always go with the High Output type. I just thought maybe I'd go with them right off the bat if everyone thought they were a good product. Never been around them before. Thanks. Greg

[David Helm]

I have 20 2 bulb (4 ft) fixtures in my 825 square foot shop and wouldn't consider fewer. Not having enough light in a WW shop is a real pain. The electrician likely does not really know the requirements for this kind of work. . . . and as you get older, you will really appreciate the added light. Eyes have a habit of dimming with age.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

IIRC....according to Jack Lindsey's artcle about shop lighting, over age 40 you need twice the lumens as you do under 40.

I have a 720 sq. ft. shop and I have 11 8' 4bulb T-8 fixtures. My shop is well lighted without shadows. I get a lot of compliments for the lighting from my friends.

[Matt Edwards]

Greg,

HO for the most part has to do with the fixtures ability to light and function properly in cold weather. If you are going to maintain a temp above 50* in the shop all the time then HO's are not a necessity.

For a 24 x 28 shop 2 banks of 3 will be a little shy of the mark in my opinion. I'd go with 3 banks of 4 and leave myself the flexability to add task lighting at various work stations as needed. My shop is 16 x 12 with four 4' 3lamp t8's down the center and 10 6" can lights on the perimeter that wash the walls and light up the bench.

Keep in mind too bright is easly corrected by turning some off, not bright enuff cant be fixed the same way if all the lights are already on.;)

Good luck.

Matt

[Greg Urwiller]

The electrical's all done as of last night. I have a hard time understanding florescent lighting web explanations. I thought HO was a higher output with brighter lighting. Greg

[Jarrett Vibert]

HO for the most part has to do with the fixtures ability to light and function properly in cold weather. If you are going to maintain a temp above 50* in the shop all the time then HO's are not a necessity.

Thank you...

Reading through this thread had me thinking us Canuck sparkies use the term HO differently than our US counterparts.

As Matt has stated, HO fixtures are meant to be used in enviroments where the temp falls below 50. It isn't a matter of bulb type. HO fixtures will not accept a standard bulb.

I'm not 100% certain, but I don't believe the lumen output is any greater in a standard fixture with comparible wattage.

[Peter Lopez]

For those who don't know HO means High Output. An HO fixture will start down to 0 degrees and the others at about freezing without fluttering. HO fixture are also a bit brighter.

As for the color temp I use tubes that are about 5000 degrees K. That's pretty close to the color of sunlight so your colors won't be distorted and that's what our eyes are intended for. The lower color temps lean more towards the red side like common incandescent lighting. The higher color temps tend to be bluer. Many people see better with lighting in the 5000 degree range, especially older folks like me. It also helps with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) syndrome

Personally I like 4 footers because the tubes are cheaper and are easier to transport and store. I have 8 fixtures in a 24 x 24 foot shop. aka garage. I'm considering installing another directly over my bench.

All the lighting is on a dedicated 15 Amp circuit and controlled from one switch except for two. These are controlled individually with pull chains. One is over my grinding bench and the other over a desk.

[Don Alexander]

condensed to its simplest form ............... you only need better light if you want to see better :D