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Thread: Shop ceiling height and lighting

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Southwest Virginia
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    277
    My shop is 24x32. One side has 10' ceilings with attic trusses for storage and the other side is vaulted up to about 16' high. I did a high lift door on that side that follows the angle of the trusses. Here's how I ended up doing my lighting:

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    These are all standard output T8 fixtures. It worked out to the equivalent of 8 4' fixtures on each side. Painting the walls white also really helped. The shop is very bright and I rarely find myself even using task lighting of any kind.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Houston, Texas area
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    1,308
    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Lindsey View Post
    Have you read my Article on shop lighting? It answers your question.
    I did Jack, but it was 6 months ago and so many things have leaked since then. I'll reread it tomorrow .
    Mark McFarlane

  3. #18
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Boston
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    1,740
    I have the rows along the roof going to the peak then 2 more across the top where it flattens. The lights going up the peak go north to south. In total I have 10 sets of 4 ft T8s.
    Don

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    Houston, Texas area
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Lindsey View Post
    Have you read my Article on shop lighting? It answers your question.
    Jack, I reread your article (quickly) and I don't think it exactly answered my fundamental question, i.e. will a single row of HO lights have a shadow problem using machines along the walls.

    I found some 6 bulb HO fixtures for ~$180/fixture loaded with daylight bulbs, and 28,800 lumens/fixture, so I'd only need 4 fixtures to get my target of 120,000 lumens, at a cost of around $700. But only having lights down the peak of the ceiling may present shadows issues everywhere in the shop. Shadows at the perimeter tools may not be much worse than T8s on a 10' ceiling, for example, given a 3' high work surface to light, a light ~4 feet out from the wall on a 10 foot ceiling casts ~ the same angle as a light 10' out on a 20 foot ceiling, which would be my case, but with the single row of HOs I would have shadows 'everywhere', not just at the edges of the building.

    What I was looking for in my original post was more experimental evidence, i.e. what others are doing in their shops.

    Assuming I either go with a 10' flat ceiling or hang T8 fixtures from the cathedral down to 10' off the floor, and given my ~600 sq feet to cover, that's 60,000 lumens or a 120,000 lumen target considering a 50% loss, so 43 T8 bulbs at 2800 lumens/bulb, or 21 4' 2-bulb fixtures as a target.

    The room is 30' long, and needs hanging cabinet/jig space at the walls, so assume ~24 feet of continuous strip lights, that's 6 strips per row. 3 rows would give me 18 strips, which is close to the 21 strip target.

    So with 3 rows running across my 20' room width, I'm thinking I'd space them 3.5' from each long wall with one row down the center (i.e. a 6.5' gap between rows).

    Given 18 fixtures and a ~$50/fixture loaded cost, that's $900, slightly (inconsequentially) more expensive than the HO option.


    • How does that logic sound?



    • Also, does anyone have specific recommendations for a good quality 2-bulb fluorescent strip fixture with a good quality rapid start electronic ballast? I've seen a few fixtures ranging from $30-$80 and none of the reviews were outstanding.


    If I do go with 10' above-ground lights, I might also consider LEDs. Their price is pretty competitive today, and theoretically the operating cost will be less due to the extended bulb life. However, the LED's I have seen so far are all directional, giving the 'cave' effect that you mention common from reflector fixtures and replacing a dead fixture with visually matching fixtures 10 years down the road is probably impossible. I suspect that having the light from fluorescent bulbs in strip fixtures reflect off the ceiling will also provide a better quality of diffuse light everywhere in the shop, so maybe I just talked myself out of LEDs...
    Last edited by mark mcfarlane; 04-04-2016 at 11:55 AM.
    Mark McFarlane

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Southwest Virginia
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    277
    I put in 8 of the 4' and 4 of the 8' Lithonia fixtures from Home Depot. They've been up 5 years with no problems and start fine down to cold temperatures. I used Phillips Daylight bulbs.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Houston, Texas area
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    1,308
    Quote Originally Posted by Jason Lester View Post
    I put in 8 of the 4' and 4 of the 8' Lithonia fixtures from Home Depot. They've been up 5 years with no problems and start fine down to cold temperatures. I used Phillips Daylight bulbs.
    Thanks Jason. How do you like the Phillips daylight bulbs? Are you able to gauge your dye/stain colors well?
    Mark McFarlane

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Southwest Virginia
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    I like them. I don't get the typical yellowish colors associated with florescents. I also do paint correction and sealing occasionally on cars. I use a handheld Xenon light for paint swirls, but nothing else other than the overheads. The white walls and ceilings help too.

  8. #23
    I think you've answered your question, Mark. Three rows of six two lamp T-8 fixtures per row, spaced as you have indicated sounds about right based on the parameters you have described. Be sure to paint the walls and ceiling a flat white to provide a uniform light distribution.
    Last edited by Jack Lindsey; 04-05-2016 at 3:24 AM.

  9. #24
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    Apr 2010
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    Houston, Texas area
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Lindsey View Post
    I think you've answered your question, Mark. Three rows of six two lamp T-8 fixtures per row, spaced as you have indicated sounds about right based on the parameters you have described. Be sure to paint the walls and ceiling a flat white to provide a uniform light distribution.
    Thanks Jack.

    Not even semi-gloss white? I'm not a fan of flat paint, even before considering the dust-attraction properties.
    Mark McFarlane

  10. #25
    The flat paint will provide a more uniform light distribution. That said, the choice of paint is yours.

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