Shop Lighting

[Kevin Brown]

I'm trying to plan a new shop, which will hopefully end up being about 50 X 40 with a 10ft ceiling :) :)

But I'm not sure how to figure the amount of lights or type/style I need. Home Depot has the cheap 4ft T8 fixtures on clearance for $4 which is a great price, but I don't know if I should use them or not, and if I should, how many do I need?

Any suggestions???

[John Gregory]

Having purchased cheap fixtures in the past. It is best not to do that. Things to check for.
Electronic balast. Cold start if you live in a cold climate. I used 8' lights with two tubes.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Kevin....I am finishing a new shop. There was an article in the Feb 2002 FWW that was written by a retired lighting eng. The article provides good information on how to calculate and design lighting for a shop. As John says, you get what you pay for. I bought 8' fixtures that use 4 - 4' T-8 bulbs at HD. The ballasts are electronic and have the quietest sound rating. What was funny ....the 4' - 2 T-8 fixtures were $39 and the 8' - 4 bulb T-8 fixtures were $42. I would recommend downloading the article for $3.50 from FWW.

[Mark Duksta]

Kevin,

I have 7 - 8' fixtures in my 20' by 20' garage shop. They use T8 type tubes. When I was planing the lighting I thought I may have overdone it a bit. In fact I probably could use two more. If your going to run ductwork for a dust collector, plan that first. I'm faced with moving a light right now because of ductwork.

Mark D.

[Kevin Brown]

The fixtures Home Depot have on clearance ARE T8 with electronic ballast is there a difference?

I mean I can buy 6 of these clearance models for the price of 1 of their "best" :rolleyes:

[Mark Duksta]

Kevin,

You're going to want electronic ballasts. They start up instantly in the cold and don't hum.

Mark

[Ed Lang]

I am using the cheap 4' two tube lights in my shop and will replace them with the 8' better ones if I ever get around to putting something up in the ceiling. I have insulated between the trusses but nothing else. I have a 28' X 42' shop with 10' ceiling and I have 4 rows of 4 lights and one extra over the lathe and my bench. I keep the shop at 60* via LP gas heater and turn up the heat when the shop is in use so the lights do come on when I flick the switch.

Go with the better fixtures long term.

My $0.02.

[Corvin Alstot]

The fixtures Home Depot have on clearance are T8 with electronic ballast is there a difference? I mean I can buy 6 of these clearance models for the price of 1 of their "best"
I have heard that the ballasts in the cheap fixtures can make a terrific
"mmmmmm". I do not know about their longevity, but you might buy one and try
it out, its only $4. I would assume the metal light fixture frame, ballasts and
electrical terminations are of inferior quality. Although I have not seen this
fixture, I can't image that you would get much for so little
(even $24 dollars does not seen like a lot for a quality light fixture).

Lighting is just like woodworking tools, you get what you pay for.

[Tim Leo]

there are different kinds of electronic ballasts. the ones in the $4 light will last a couple-three years, then they wont work were well any more. I had a couple of those in my laundry room. After two and 1/2 years, it seems like I was changing the bulbs every month.


I replaced the fixure with the $40 model and I never regreted the upgrade.

You get what you pay for.

[lou sansone]

I agree with tim...(.you get what you pay for) and the other posts IRT the electronic ballast and hum.. they will be much quieter.

Although they are expensive I would opt for color corrected lights with a CRI at least in the 90's ( at least put them in the finishing area where you are trying to match color ) . I used a rough formula of about 2 watts / sq feet and that seemed decent. you will have 2000 sq feet or need about 4000 watts ( fluorescent bulbs ) - you will end up with a sizable lighting load. I utalized both industrial fluorescent fixtures and I believe "low bay" metal halide color corrected lights. My shop has 10' and 20' ceilings and the metal halide fixtures throw out a ton of light, but you need at least 15' of head room.


I would also recommend aperatured lights that have a reflector which allows some of the light to radiate upward and thereby give a more even light. I took advantage of the utility company lighting program and they provided a professional lighting engineer to design the system for free, plus they paid for most of the lighting. Interestingly the professional lighting engineer came up with the same lighting load that I did ( I happen to also be an engineer ).

[John Scarpa]

Kevin,
I'm with the rest here. T8s are great, but get the ones with quality ballasts. Depending on your age...the older we are the more light our tired eyes need, I would wire for a maximum number of fixtures. The cost to do that is nominal and it will make it easier to add more fixtures even if you don't use all of the mounting points now. Just a thought.
John

[Bill Lewis]

There was an article in the Feb 2002 FWW that was written by a retired lighting eng. The article provides good information on how to calculate and design lighting for a shop. I too followed the FWW article to guide my installation of lights for my shop. For a space that measures 33' x 17' I used nine 4' 4 bulb T8 fixtures (suspended ceiling type, aka "troffers"). The lighting is great!

I got lucky, HD had them in one local store that included bulbs and a 6' pre-wire in flexible metallic conduit. That saved me a bunch of time and money. I bought their "Best" rated fixtures, and they are totally quiet.

I now have a bunch of clamp-on and magnetic base lights that I really don't have a use for :)

[Mark J Bachler]

28 x 40 shop. 9 fixtures (3 x 3 rows) of 8', two bulb, high output, cold weather balast, on two circuits. Lots of light.

[Bob Winkler]

Interestingly enough, I have some of both types of fixtures from HD that are being discussed. I have several of the T8, electronic specials from HD-they were $7 at my HD. Although I can't attest to their longevity, they are bright and quiet. They start quick with no flicker-even in my cold garage.

I also have the 4-bulb troffers, which are a bargain at $40. They come with bulbs and bx cable. Throw a ton of light.

IMPORTANT: I mixed T8 lamp colors to get a warmer light that is in my opinion easier on my eyes, and more realistic for finishing. The warmer color T8s cost a bit more, so I populate 1/2 of the 4-bulb troffers.

I can't believe how adequate lighting makes such a difference. Now, when I come up from my basement shop, the rest of my house seems dark and dingy:D

Bob

[Bill Lewis]

It just so happens that I have the 2002 FWW article in front of me.

Reading from the chart on page 58, a 30' x 50' shop requires (23) 8' fixtures with a rated 75 watt output. High output lights (110W) use fewer (19) and low output use more (29).

This is to light the whole space to 100 fc (foot candles) which is recomended for those of us over 40 years old. Obviously you'd need more fixtures to fully light a 40' x 50' shop. If using 4' fixtures double the number, unless they are 4 tube fixtures, then it's the same.

Come up with your shop plan first, you may end up with areas that don't need full lighting. My experience from using this the article the chart provides a very good guide for general lighting without much need for additional task lighting.

[David Dixson]

As an engineer, I've learned over time that to keep within budget and meet deadlines, companies and engineering staffs have to compromise between performance and price. When one is building one's shop, unless one has an enormous budget, one has to make compromises as well, to get the thing done, as it were.

I am making the assumption, because you mentioned the BORG's lights that are on sale, that budget is a consideration for you. Because of this, you are looking at those lights.

I recently purchased 8 shop lights for my 24 X 24 basement/garage shop. I purchased the very lights you are considering. Sadly, they did not work out. But not for the considerations the folks above mentioned. What I found was the mounting mechanisms for the bulbs were very thin, very lightweight and did not hold the bulbs in very well at all. In fact, on one light I broke the plastic tab trying to latch the bulb. This is an important consideration, because I'm very light handed and don't tend to hamfist things. Having said that, it may be that particular light had a defective tab. and you may not have problems at all.

I took mine back and purchased the lowe's brand "cheapies." They had plastic end caps, but I found them to latch quite well. I've had them a couple weeks and have been very pleased with them. They seem to light the bulbs quite well and I haven't noticed any buzz or humm. I should note I live in the southeast, so temperature considerations may or may not be an issue. These lights had no problems a couple weeks ago when the temperature here dropped to 25 degrees F.

I did install the "daylight" bulbs sold by Home Depot and found them to be excellent shop lighting bulbs. Lowe's sells them, but HD sells them two ($6.50 a pair) for the same price Lowe's sells for one.

Hope this helps,

Dave

[Bill Lewis]

With regard to the durability of fixtures, e.g. you get what you pay for. I can only reference my own example.

After purchasing the 9 troffer fixtures (as mentioned previously) I completely expected that I would need to go around and tweak the pre-installed bulbs to get them to all work. Well I was surprised when they ALL worked the first time. I would have to say that I was a bit impressed, after all the handling they went through to get to that point.

[Kevin Brown]

A big thanks for all the info/advice, I think I'll pass on the clearance fixtures.

Going to check into the "troffers"

[Butch Collins]

Here is a different twist on this. I live in Arizona and to save money I bought the cheap fixtures. :o The problem I experienced was thermal cutout. The cheaper ones cut on and off at will leaving you with no control over the situation. I have been replacing them one at a time with the more expensive fixtures and they do not cut out on me. They seem to handle the heat better.

[Jack Lindsey]

Ken and Bill,

Thanks for your comments on my FWW article on shop lighting. It's really nice to know that the info is actually being used and you are satisfied with the results.

[Ted Calver]

Stimulated by this great thread and the need to select fixtures for a new gara...shop, I checked out the flourescents at both nearby borgs. The only fixtures I found with the kind of traditional cheap shop light type gull wing reflectors that I'm used to were the t-12's, which are apparently being phased out. My new shop has 12' ceilings, and I was planning on suspending some or maybe all of the fixtures on chains to get the light down closer over work areas. Since few of the ordinary t-8 fixtures had reflectors that would lend themselves to this task, I was wondering if troffers (designed to be installed in suspended ceilings) would work. Any thoughts on using them in this way?
Thanks,
Ted

[lou sansone]

Stimulated by this great thread and the need to select fixtures for a new gara...shop, I checked out the flourescents at both nearby borgs. The only fixtures I found with the kind of traditional cheap shop light type gull wing reflectors that I'm used to were the t-12's, which are apparently being phased out. My new shop has 12' ceilings, and I was planning on suspending some or maybe all of the fixtures on chains to get the light down closer over work areas. Since few of the ordinary t-8 fixtures had reflectors that would lend themselves to this task, I was wondering if troffers (designed to be installed in suspended ceilings) would work. Any thoughts on using them in this way?
Thanks,
Ted
Hi ted
Take a look at my earlier post in this thread. I guess you could use troffers, they do have a diffuser in them for even light. My preference is industrial grade fixtures that have an aperatured reflector and hung at a decent hight.
well that is my .02 worth
good luck
lou

[Bob Winkler]

I've seen troffers used in this way. In fact, it was in a local grocery store. I'm really surprised that your Home Depot doesn't have the T-8 shop lights. The ones with electronic ballasts (no lamps) are less than $8 here.

Bob

[RichMagnone]

I purchased two of the el cheapo HD $4 lights. They're nothing special, but in my dark garage, they're a major improvement. They are plug in, not hard wired and there is no "on off" pull chain (neet to plug in to turn on). Noticed a bit of buzz tonight, but I'll take the light over no buzz. Here's a view. Definitely worth $4.