Putting new lighting in the shop. I know fluorescent lighting has come a ways, and am looking for input. I think what I'm looking for are T8's in @4500 range with electronic ballasts. I know Metalux and Lithonia are (or were) good brands. Shop has 14' walls so I can't mess around with cheap lighting. Am I on target with brand/type or do you fellows have any 'bright' (har) ideas?

 

For the shop, I'm still a big fan of the H.O. T12s. Work good at any temp, and put out good light (even if it is "cool white").

 

Be sure to have enough light, My shop is 24' x 24' with a 8' ceiling, I have 6 - 8' double fluorescent units, and man is it bright in there.

 

Make sure that you put the lights on their own circuit, possibly multiple circuits depending on how many fixtures you are putting up.

 

Greetings:
Just finished my new shop, 42 X 64 feet and installed 15, 8 foot high output flourescent lights. I have white metal walls and ceiling and WOW, do they do a great job. All on seperate circuits.

Keep in mind though that you will get some buzz from the HO lights, not bad but some. Was told that putting some rubber or wood between light and ceiling might help the buzzing.

BuffDaddy

 

I love the double 8 foot HO lights. I have six pairs in my shop, they are hanging from hooks in the ceiling with short lengths of chain. They are wired with cabtire extension cords and plugs. I have placed switched outlets into the ceiling on two circuits. If I need extra lighting at one end of the shop for a special project, I can move lights around with extra hooks in the ceiling. When painting my frame in the carport, it was easy to move lights from the shop for the weekend. I usually leave the extra hooks in place, I might need them there again and they help hold the electric cords up out of the way. ...Terry

 

I think you're on the right track with the T8 w/electronic. I've only put up one of the T8s and I remember thinking that this thing's too skinny to be any good, till I got it wired and turned on... The HO T12s I've put up really put out a lot of light, but I was suprised on that T8. I didn't have a side by side to see a difference, but your energy bill might....

My only suggestion is to get the single pin sockets, (really easy to change a tube), and try to get tubes with a light index at least 5000K. This might be as high as you can get on the 8 footers for the T8s. I think the 4 footers go to 6000K true light.

 

I was just in a class about T8 and T12 last week for work If it was me would go with the T8 electronic. They will have no problem at 0 degrees and will save you money in the long run. The T12 are being phase out in the next coulple years they cost to much money to run and take up to much energy to.

My info comes from Philips Lighting and Advance ballast. The To Biggest in the lighting market

Brands
Thomas Day Brite
Hubbell
Williams
Lightolier
G.E. Lighting
You can also go to your local Electrical Supply Co. and tell them your the size of the Garage your building and the height and should be able to tell or make drawing and fax it to ther lighting vendors and the tell you where to mount your lights.

Just my 2cents

Nick

 

Get the natural daylight ones if you can, they made a major difference in my garage.

 

Thanks for all input. I'll probably have to go to a speciality store because lowes only carried a crap brand with so-so shop lights and home despot was out of stock of the good ones...although they didn't have any h.o. like I was wanting (!?!?). Wiring up the 220 today

 

Hey Pro,

Go to Platt or Eoff to get your stuff. Walk in like you own the place and with the amount of money you're spending, they will work with you. (Now I tell you after you spent cash on your other stuff...

BTW, Eoff is pronounced like off, with a hard "O". I made the mistake saying E-off years ago with Mr. Eoff himself, and I think he literally refigured my discount...

You using EMT or romex?

 

The Joe-Schmoe off-the-street price at Platt is about double the Home Depot price.

A typical homebuilder /small volume "account" customer gets a discount that brings prices down to about 0 to 10 percent more than Home Depot. If you know what you are talking about you can usually give some story like "I work for XYZ electric, but I'm buying these for a personal project, so I'll pay cash/Credit card". And you'll get XYZ's pricing without needing to actually bill it through XYZ electric.

Home Depot should have the Lithonia "heavy duty commercial strip lights" for about $54.00 They've carried them for at least the past 4 years; I've bought over a dozen. These use the low temp ballasts and HO bulbs. Lots of lumens per fixture (18000), but they come with a noticeable 60 HZ hum (though not as bad as cheap shop lights). If one store doesn't have them, another will. I have 6 of these, new in box, I'll sell you for $30 each, if you want to drive south of Hillsboro to pick them up. (There's nothing wrong with them; I just would rather not have the hum for my next project).

Another option, for about $45.00 per fixture, is an 8 foot tandem striplight taking 4 32 watt T8 bulbs. The 4 bulbs together put out about 12000 lumens per fixture, so you'll need roughly 50% more fixtures to have the same total amount of lumens. The big advantage of these is the much quieter operation with an electronic ballast. A secondary advantage is about 25% less watts per lumen than the HO fixtures. If you look in newer grocery stores, you'll see these fixtures used a lot for general floor lighting.

If you want an enclosed fixture, offering some protection for the bulbs, consider using Lithonia 48 inch LB type wrap-around fixtures. These cost around $44.00 at Home Depot, about the same from Platt (WITH a discount -- they are $94.00 without). The MVOLT models available from Platt run dead silent; the GEB versions from Home Depot still have a detectable hum, though nothing like the HO striplights. These take 2,3, or 4 bulbs per fixture. You probably don't need the enclosures with your 14 foot ceiling. I used these in my basement with its 8 foot ceiling because I was afraid I'd smack the bulbs while carrying bulky objects.

 

Yea, I've heard Platt is good but I figured I'd take it in the shorts pricewise there. Still an option, though. Hadn't even heard of Eoff. I'll have to check them both out. I'm pretty good at walking in and acting like I own the place Fefarms, I pm'ed you about your lights. Maybe I didn't notice the high outputs because I was dead set on T8's since the T12's are getting phased out and their h.o's are T12's? I figured they would hum but that wouldn't bother me since I doubt I'd really notice it what with all the welding, pounding, and swearing that will be going on

 

Greetings:
Any idea on hoiw to get rid of or at least quiet the hum noise??? My lights are mounted tight to the steel ceiling, might that make the hum seem louder??
THANKS for any help you may be able to give.

BuffDaddy

 

Home Depot and Lowes have a tandem 8ft fixture that has a single electronic ballest and uses 4 T8 bulbs. The price was about $45 I think. Home Depot has daylight T8's rated at 6500K. The T8 bulbs give the most light for the buck.