Shop Lighting Advice please

[Jordan Lane]

I am building a new shop that is 24 x40 with a 10 foot ceiling height.. I am looking for recommendations of good lighting and how many fixtures i would need. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I did a search on the forum but could not find any formulas or suggestions. Thanks in advance

[Mark Bolton]

Find your local good quality electrical supply house and bring your layout to them. They will give you several proposed layouts based on the lighting density you want.

We recently retro'd the entire shop to LED and we are 40x100 and are happy with a bit lighter spacing than spec'd though there are still some shallow corners. I would make sure you have a perimeter of good lighting and you can reduce coverage a bit in the center. Central portion of our shop seems similar to your and we have 6 8' 2 tube LEDS, 5 4' 2 tubes, and 6 4'single tubes.

Our layout could use a touch more on the perimeter.

Make sure you tell your supplier you will likely have tools against the wall. Your body casts a shadow. A band of perimeter lighting 12-18" off the wall on the ceiling will be invaluable in my opinion.

[Bill Dufour]

Install outlets on the ceiling to plug into. This allows things to move as needed. Also drop one light outlet down to a shelf for a radio that goes off with lights out. Same deal near drill press, grinder, bench so you do not forget to turn off task lights.
Bill D

[Bill Dufour]

The power company may come out and design the lights for you. May be rebates for more efficient models.
Bill D

[Jay Runde]

See the sticky in the work shop forum: https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....-Shop-lighting

[Mark Bolton]

To add to Bills comment, we dropped a receptacle off the lights for a cordless charging station. Its very nice to know when you leave the shop you dont #1 have LiOn chargers idling (as rare as fire is) and #2 they dont need to be a power bleed all night long.

Im not a fan of plug in light fixtures in the ceiling, thats kind of a 1970/80 convention. I would hard wire everything. The receptacles are a waste of time and money. If you get your layout coverage right from the get go you will never move a single fixture unless you were a tight wad and skimped on fixtures. A few extra fixtures at the onset will elminimate any need to shift a fixture around. Pour the light to it on day one and dont look back.

[Frank Pratt]

Im not a fan of plug in light fixtures in the ceiling, thats kind of a 1970/80 convention. I would hard wire everything. The receptacles are a waste of time and money. If you get your layout coverage right from the get go you will never move a single fixture unless you were a tight wad and skimped on fixtures. A few extra fixtures at the onset will elminimate any need to shift a fixture around. Pour the light to it on day one and dont look back.

I agree. I've never felt the need to move a fixture in the 15 years or so since installing the lighting. Hard wired looks soooo much neater too. Cords on ceiling mounted lights do not have a professional look.

[Jordan Lane]

thank you all for the help ...the sticky was particularly helpful.. i am shocked at what it recommended for the number of fixtures i needed. Now to find some good fixtures.

[Mark Bolton]

I wont be one to talk you out of a lot of lighting and I havent read the sticky but keep in mind that if you buy quality LED fixtures they are night and day (or perhaps day and day) compared to conventional fluorescent tubes. I wouldnt hesitate to wrap the perimeter of a space with 8' fixtures 2-3' off the wall (not end to end but with some spacing between them) and then 8' fixtures 8' or so apart in the field. It will never be too bright.

To me at least the lighting out at the outside wall is the most important when you will inevitably have tools and stations where you back is to he interior. No different than kitchen lighting. You can have all the lighting you want in the field but when your standing with your face two feet off the outside wall and your hands/work are in a shadow...

In the grand scheme lighting is pretty cheap. Around here an 8' 2 tube LED is $100 bucks.

[Jeff Monson]

These https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I have 10 of them in my 40 x 60 with 12' sidewalls, it is lit up extremely well, couldnt be happier with these.

[Jordan Lane]

Jeff how are your lights spaced out?

[Jordan Lane]

Is Jack Lindsey still active on this forum??

[Jeff Monson]

Jeff how are your lights spaced out?

I'm guessing they are 6' apart end to end. I have a vaulted ceiling so I used short sections of jack chain to keep them level. I also installed outlets instead of hard wiring them, you cant see the outlets as they are directly above the fixture. These fixtures are truly amazing for light output. I was skeptical at first so I ordered 1 fixture to try it out.