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.