Hanging lights in a high-ceiling workshop

[Carlos Alvarez]

Would someone really build a tall building and run cables across it at 8' or 10' because they are too cheap to do lighting correctly? I sure would not.

No, he did that because it was the right way to do it, and because it would be very wasteful of energy to light unused space. Maybe he wanted to save on the wasted electricity too, I guess? Either way, he did it right, regardless of motivation. Also, he didn't build the building, just acquired it.

[Mike Heidrick]

Also, he didn't build the building, just acquired it.

Answers a lot right there.

[Rollie Meyers]

Hi Evan!

What you want is high bay lights. If it is not rated high-bay--do not consider it. These should be installed around 14' or higher from the floor.

I use a 4-light T5 with dual level lighting from Metalux(Cooper Lighting). These are available locally for me from Menards. The regular price is $119, but they can be found on sale for significantly less. I believe I paid about $80/ea for mine. Also, this price includes bulbs, so some cost savings there.

I would hardwire them in. I am a commercial shop--so I have to deal with inspectors. The lights include a disconnect inside, so the fixture can be easily removed if needed within a few seconds.

My electrician said no outlets on the ceiling unless they are twist locks. Instead, lights are wired with conduit and MC cable whips. Code says the whip length can only be a maximum of 6'. We used Snap 2 It push in connectors to connect the MC cable to the box and fixture. These were awesome--easy to use and fairly inexpensive! Use 14/3 MC cable whips and wire lights for dual level. I had too because I have large windows in shop, so code requires dual level lighting. Now that I have it this way, I would not do anything else.

With the dual lighting, I find I often use only two of the 4-bulbs most of the time. My highest light is 20' in the air. I cannot notice a difference in light intensity from the lights that are 15' up.

If you drop outlets from the ceiling above, hardwire them in and make certain you use strain relief to hang the cable as the cable weight needs to be supported to meet code. I am not certain, but a twist lock might be sufficient on the ceiling but would cost significantly more than hardwiring.

This is what I did to meet code in my commercial shop. The cost to do so was not that bad, especially if you are doing yourself or have an electrician friend! Your code may differ slightly, you may want to look into.

BTW, I did test LED high bay fixtures and did not find any I liked. They were very expensive and all that I tested used a diffuser to spread the light or had a clear glass bottom. They quickly filled with bugs. At 20' in the air, I did not want to regularly clean them out. LED lighting has changed fast--perhaps there are different fixtures available now.

Also, just want to mention, I had these same T5 fixtures in my last shop for 8-years and never have changed a bulb.

In the pic, the two hanging cords are SO cable drops with twist lock connectors on the bottom. I have over a dozen of these drops around the shop from 120V to 480V--fantastic way to do so, and can move drop around to get precise location with the strain relief hanger. I would never do this any other way now!


Attachment 389888

If the MC cable used to supply chain supported or other flexible means,lighting fixtures has solid conductors it violates NEC art 410.56(E), stranded conductors are required & most MC cable uses solid conductors.

[Gregory Stahl]

If the MC cable used to supply chain supported or other flexible means,lighting fixtures has solid conductors it violates NEC art 410.56(E), stranded conductors are required & most MC cable uses solid conductors.

And it needs to be fastened to one of the supporting chains as in my picture.

[Evan Lentz]

Wow - lots of good info on here, thanks guys. I am currently looking into the 'other easier' option of hanging lights via running a chain through conduit and attaching on either end of the shop, walls, etc. My thoughts were...low and easy to adjust as my space changes and more tables are acquired, and the running chain through conduit - maybe less of a sagging look, or a cleaner look to it. Also - I could connect T-sections to it and run perpendicular lines using more chain/conduit. Anyhow, not the fanciest solution but it might work for me. In the shop I have two large wooden beams that divide the space into thirds, they reach up only about 10 feet. I can install switched outlets to them to make the whole system easy to reach.

[Wade Lippman]

I just bought a 250w equivalent led PAR38. I bet a few of those up high would give good light.

[Tom Bender]

So you are probably going to install your lights around 10'. There are options for suspending them. I would not hard wire them. My suggestion is to install outlets with a few switched circuits and use plug in whips so you can easily reconfigure. You can then switch certain outlets but it would be easy to extend a fixture to another outlet if that was needed. And it is easy to replace or relocate fixtures.

[Tom Bender]

So you are probably going to install your lights around 10'. There are options for suspending them. I would not hard wire them. My suggestion is to install outlets with a few switched circuits and use plug in whips so you can easily reconfigure. You can then switch certain outlets but it would be easy to extend a fixture to another outlet if that was needed. And it is easy to replace or relocate fixtures.