Shop Lighting
 

what are you guys using to light up your shops? I am moving into a 1200sq ft bay and need some suggestions on lighting the place up! :thumbsup:

I'm in the same boat. I'm going to finish off my shop and I'd like to have recessed lighting so nothing hangs down from the ceiling other than the overhead door opener. I'm curious what others have done.

flouresent power tubes (twice the wattages, no flickering start up, same cost to operate, twice the price as normal ones) and lots of white paint

Mike

im usinf 4 8 ft flouresent lights
bright as the sun in there now.

My general rule of thumb is 1 to 1.3 watts per square foot. T8's are the way to go, I wouldn't consider T12 nowdays.

If you can epoxy coat your floors a light gray color, it will almost illuminate the underside of your car...works awesome!

I know it's not recessed but here is what I'm using. It's an eight foot fixture with 2 HO flouresent bulbs. I bought them at Lowes for about $55 for the fixture and about $10 per bulb. I just installed 3 fixtures and it lights my shop area up really well. I think I might need one more.

My shop is about 700 sq feet.

Mike

keep the ideas coming :thumbsup:

I did white walls, white ceiling, and light gray epoxy floor coating. For lighting I used the lowest cost recess 2 ft by 4 ft florescent fixture designed for a tiled drop ceiling - troffer I beleive is the name - and recessed those into the ceiling between the rafters with 1 drywall screw in each corner. Add 4 T8 natural day light bulbs. In my 25 by 30 garage I have 6 of these units in the ceiling - plus under cabinet task lights over the workbenches - and 2 standard ceilng retractables with 150 watt rough service bulbs between the 3 car bays

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...507&lpage=none

You can get the fixtures from a big box store at 40.00 - or on sale for 25.00. You can also buy them from surplus outlets or from someone who's taking a bunch out of a building. Ceiling retractables from Harbor Freight. Box of T8 bulbs are 35.00 avg.

PS, always wire a florescent ballast so that when you turn off the lights - it removes power from the system. Most people wire the ballast hot all the time - switching the return to on/off the light - and then run hot drops off the circuit to plugs around the room. (so that with the lights off - the plugs are always hot) A short in this style circuit design can overheat the ballast without popping the breaker - and it will/may eventually catch fire - or set the ceiling insulation on fire.

Lights
 

6 eight foot HO's. They come with the cold weather ballast which I needed in Michigan. I have the center two on all the time and the outside ones with string pull switchs. On sale at the Depot.

Both my shops have a bunch of 400 watt metal halides that I am changing out to T6? flourecents. The new lights come on instantly, don't put out heat and give out more light while using less electricty. Out west , Pacific gas and electric has a rebate going that cuts the cost of the new lights by about 30%.

My garage is 30 by 30 with white walls and white ceiling.my lights are quick start flourescents.I have 6 of these lighting the main portion with 4 foot lights over the work bench area.works pretty good.

I have five 8' HO double tubes in my garage and love them! Got them a Home Depot. This garage is 700sf.

1 room is 30x40, it has 28 8' flouresents, flush mounted into the drywall, the "lil" room is 12x12 with 16 4' bulbs, (this is my "harley" paint room)


my new addition will be 40x50, and im not sure exactly what i am gonna do just yet...but im sure it will also be overkill. i like lotsa light.

T8's.
It's what I do.

Lights
 

Sorry, my fixtures are double bulb.

Check the auctions..
 

We once procured about 20 4-foot, 4 fixture fluorescent fixtures with bulbs for about $5/ea at a local industrial auction. They were all industrial pieces from a warehouse that was being torn down. You can sometimes find these auctions in the newspaper or other classifieds.... they have lots of cool stuff like industrial shelving, tools, etc.

I find it easier to use multiple banks of 4' floresents. The bulbs are available anywhere, easy to transport and easy to store, unlike the 10' and 8's are.


I usually put one on each side of the car, and one front and rear and it works pretty well.

If you have a large area to do, 8 foot lights will be cheaper to install then the 4 footers. Reason being is that you have to run electrical to each one, and it's quicker to run electrical to half as many.

Here is my question. Besides providing light to work in, how much "damage" do various forms of light do to the paint. If any? I changed bulbs when I got my car and took the precaution...but is it a real concern? Or is this conversation more about just seeing while you work?


Okay...that was more than one question.


Tim

Fluorescents don't do any kind of damage to paints. They just hurt some people's eyes depending if you have a problem with that light spectrum. Having said that, halogen is about the best kind of light you could get, but it does have higher wattages, even the low voltage tend to be of a higher wattage. Halogen’s are the best light out there for homes, and it's spectrum much like the sun will allow you to see things you might miss with a florescent, but this will be like granite, marble and oil paintings as you will lose the edge/luster in these things with any other light source. I personally hate fluorescents, but it is the best light for the garage as it's a very low wattage for the amount of light it gives out. Only LED's will give out less wattage, but these are a few years off before they become viable for a home lighting source. They make them now, but they are very poor. MIT is doing a liquid crystal wrap with these and getting great results, but this again is a few years away from being in production. 8 foot T8's are the way to go to light up a big area.

plug in lights
 

I use 8' flourecents which I wired plug ends on each, and when I built my shop I wired outlets in the ceiling for each to plug into, so each light on my ceiling has a short cord to a plug. This way if a ballast goes I unplug the light take it down and toss it in the garbage, in most cases a complete light is cheaper to buy than a ballast, not to mention easier to change.

Florescents also flicker at a rate that can be picked up by some people - just like a TV or computer monitor and the rate is not adjustable. Plus the ballasts buzzzzz when they are cold - or get hot. Sometimes cycling them on/off fixes it - but it can be annoying - unless you turn up the radio.

Florescents are not good around spinning machinery, lathes, mills etc. Makes them look like they are not spinning at some rpms.

If your car looks good under florescent lighting, specifically the paint, it will look great under all other light, including natural light.

Here are a couple shots of my lights. T8 with electronic ballast. Tough to get a good picture. My shop is 28' x 36' I have 3- 8' units and a 4' unit in each row. They are all twin bulb. I have 6 switches so I can put the light where I need it.

Someone mentioned garage door openers, I had my door guy use these wall mounted motors, they work perfect. I was looking to maximize headroom for a future 4-post lift. (If you are thinking of getting a lift, put a receptacle in the ceiling)

Also, a pic of my urinal, lol, with a little planning it is cake to install and it gets used constantly.