Shop lights?

[Neville Stewart]

I searched through quite a few threads on shop lighing and didn't find what I needed - so here goes ; I have ceilings of apx 17 to 23 feet so I'm thinking of those warehouse vapor lights or the like. Changing bulbs is an issue at that height so I need something that lasts and lights very well. I though of putting halogen spotlights on the wall but would they create a lot of heat too? I don't thing flourescents would work. Any thoughts? tia Neville

[glenn bradley]

Good general info: http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/LightingForHome/Rooms/WorkshopAndGarage/

[Carlo Petrilli]

You should look at T5 High Bay Lights. They are very efficient & give you the best light. Any electrical supply house would be able to come out and give you a lighting study for free. You should be looking for, at a minimum, 80 ft candle lighting levels. For another lighting option you could look at 400W metal halide fixtures with a clear acrylic lense.

T5 fixture suggestion:

http://www.lithonia.com/products/groups/Fluorescent/I-Beam/default.asp

[Bob Aquino]

With ceilings that high, you might want to figure out a way of dropping the fixtures down to around 8-9 feet so that you could change them with a stepstool. The thing about those high ceilings is that if the fixtures are mounted very high, the light wont be as strong where it needs to be. Also, how much power do you want to use lighting the shop? Halogens can get very pricey in how much juice they use. Just for economy's sake, I think I would stick with some high efficiency flourescents and keep them low.

[Don Bullock]

With ceilings that high, you might want to figure out a way of dropping the fixtures down to around 8-9 feet so that you could change them with a stepstool. The thing about those high ceilings is that if the fixtures are mounted very high, the light wont be as strong where it needs to be. Also, how much power do you want to use lighting the shop? Halogens can get very pricey in how much juice they use. Just for economy's sake, I think I would stick with some high efficiency flourescents and keep them low.

I fully agree. My biggest concern would be the cost of the energy wasted by lights mounted so high, besides my wife would never let me climb a ladder high enough to change the bulbs if they were mounted so high.:eek:


Any electrical supply house would be able to come out and give you a lighting study for free.

That sounds like a good idea.

[Brian Elfert]

I don't know that I would drop them all the way to 8 or 9 feet. A long board or a sheet of plywood might hit them.

Since you have the height, I would go with 10 to 12 feet instead. Obviously, some folks only have 8 or 9 foot ceilings and just have to be careful.

Brian Elfert

[Merrill Herring]

Neville;

I have been dealing with the same problem. My shop has a 15 foot ceiling, when I built it I put double florescent shop lights built into the ceiling, 2 are at 15' and 5 are at 10'. I have 2-4x4 skylights in the roof. The problem is that at my assembly workbench the light is less than acceptable. I do not want to use a lot of electricity. Metal halide and halogin use way to much juice. I just experimented with hanging 2 more florescent fixture over my workbench and installed 4- 4' 40w daylight tubes. It is a big improvement. It also did not cost an arm and a leg.

[Ken Garlock]

Neviile, The first thing you need to consider is the color rendition index of the lamps/fixtures you have in mind. A lot of lamps/bulbs give off lots of light but have a crummy CRI. You need to shoot for a CRI of over 80 where sunlight on a clear day is 100. I have a 40W Metal Halide lantern lamp post in the front yard that you can read the paper with at 50 ft. Yet, when I look up the CRI on it, it is well below 50. You need/want something that will give you a light that is close to sunlight.

Second, I would go with multiple fluorescent fixtures. The T8 fixtures a most popular, and that is what I used. The T5 is a relatively new bulb, but also a good choice.

Third, dropping the fixture from the ceiling is a personal choice, but if you do stay at least higher than the diagonal distance of a sheet of plywood. Ten feet is a good number. Also consider that the closer the fixture is to your work surface the better the light will be.

[Jerry Todd]

Neville,
FYI, check out "Lighting for the Workshop" By Jack L. Lindsey. Published in Fine Woodworking Feb 2002. He provides formulas for lighting the workshop.
Jerry Todd

[Bernhard Lampert]

Just finished my shop lights not too long ago. There was an excellent article in FWW comparing different light sources, listing minimum intensities and suggesting placing of lights.
I ruled out all metal halide lamps and used fluorescent lights to get as close as possible to a color rendering of natural sun light. Also, fluorescent light fixtures are less expensive, unobtrusive and give more distributed light. If mounted on the ceiling, there are no shadows to content with.
My shop (52x28) has 12' ceilings, I placed 4 rows of 4 double 8' fixtures (16 fixtures total) directly on the ceiling. The lights are switched 3 fixtures/switch. If all of them are turned on, you'll have to wear sun glasses.
On other important point: Ceiling, wall and floor color. My ceiling and the upper half of the walls are painted flat white. The lower 1/2 of the walls and the floor is painted a light gray. The white ceiling and upper par of the walls reflect any light without producing a glare. The light grey for the floor and lower walls give enough contrast to 'see' clearly, but are dark enough to hide the inevitable dirt and dust. All in all the shop is evenly bright with no dark spots.
A couple of things I shopuld have done differently: Use 4' instead of 8' tubes. Four foot tubes are less expensive and easier to handle. Make sure you use electronic balasts,; the magnetic ballast have a annoying 'hum' when the shop is cold. I used 2 part epoxy for the floor, I should have used epoxy on the walls, too; it is so easy to keep clean.

..just my 2 cents

Cheers,
Bernhard

PS if interested, I probably can dig up the FWW article.

[Roger Myers]

Carlo's suggestion for T-5 for high bay flourescent lighting is a good suggestion. Used in selective applications where color is important (more choices and better CRI than alternatives for high-bay)... His reference for fixtures is a good one, and for bulbs, check Sylvania's website...
More questions, feel free to PM me..I won't get into long discussions of lighting on-line because I am biased... ;)
disclaimer... Sylvania pays for my tool addiction..:)
Roger

You should look at T5 High Bay Lights. They are very efficient & give you the best light. Any electrical supply house would be able to come out and give you a lighting study for free. You should be looking for, at a minimum, 80 ft candle lighting levels. For another lighting option you could look at 400W metal halide fixtures with a clear acrylic lense.

T5 fixture suggestion:

http://www.lithonia.com/products/groups/Fluorescent/I-Beam/default.asp

[lou sansone]

I vote for a combination of fluorescent with good CRI bulbs and metal halide low bay fixtures with high CRI. Some believe the metal halide have poor CRI, but in fact they can be had in 90+ CRI values. they put out a ton of light per watt and last pretty long. I have both in my shop with a variety of ceiling heights from 20 feet to 10 feet

Lou

[Rob Will]

Carlo's suggestion for T-5 for high bay flourescent lighting is a good suggestion. Used in selective applications where color is important (more choices and better CRI than alternatives for high-bay)... His reference for fixtures is a good one, and for bulbs, check Sylvania's website...
More questions, feel free to PM me..I won't get into long discussions of lighting on-line because I am biased... ;)
disclaimer... Sylvania pays for my tool addiction..:)
Roger

Roger,
I am in the process of lighting my shop with T8 fixtures. The ceiling height is 16' and I want to keep the lights up against the white metal ceiling. So far, I have sixty (60) - 32watt bulbs in a 23' x 47' x 16' high room. That works out to 1.77 watts / sq ft. Any suggestions as to whether or not this is enough light? Should I have used T5 instead of T8?

Thanks,
Rob

[Roger Myers]

Rob - sent you a PM with some thoughts... Not that I don't want to respond on general lighting topics in the forum, but as I've said, I do have some strong biases (and not just to brand)... Everybodys opinions, experience, and knowledge regarding the subject will be different... I will respond in the forum if I note somebody doing/saying something that might pose a safety concern...otherwise I'd prefer to deal with lighting topics via pm's...
Roger