Lighting

[kuhner]

Any lighting experts out there? Opinions on shop lighting, type, how much. Found a calculation that specifies you need about .63W/Ft sq. That doesnt sound like quite enough.

Looking for new light for my garage, trying to balance cost/efficency/reliability.

greg

[Ron Green]

This website might help you out http://sawnee.apogee.net/light/bblevel.asp . I use a 2-tube 8' type flourescent fixture(s) in my shop and they put out approximately 80 foot-candles which is more then adequate. Many garages probably are in the 50 FC range at best.

If your going to keep your shop cold or unheated you may want to go to a high output type flourescent fixture. These will fire / light in much colder temperatures and also provide more light which means less fixtures.

We use a program at work to calculate the type fixture verses the room size and floor / ceiling color, fixture height off floor, type of lamps, number of lamps and desired footcandle level. It then will tell you the number of fixtures and lamps needed. I typically go with 8' type fixtures where feasible as you then have less ballasts and lamps to maintain. These programs are one of the few things that computers made better.

[Bhigdog]

My shop is 1280' ft with a 12' white ceiling. I light it with 9 apertured fixtures. Each has 2 110w hi output 8' tubes. That works out to about 1.55 watts per sq ft. I would say the lighting is adequate but I would definately not want any less. I also have the fixtures wired in banks of three so I can light sections of the shop.

[Friartuck]

A consideration to ask is what temperature will these lights be operating in? If its in an unheated area, flourescent tubes can take awhile to heat up (I think +55F is threshold). If cold, then a high output ballast is required. Also orientation may be a consideration. In my shop, I use ceiling mounted track curtains to limit the dust and debris, so the flourescents on one side run lengthwise and the ones on the other side are perpendicular.

[kuhner]

The largest area will be kept at about 40-45F, my workshop area will be warmer about60. I have had problems with flourescent lights before.

greg

[Jim Bollman]

I have the high output ballast double 8 footers. They start down to 0 degrees and actually put out more light then standard 8 boot fixtures.

My main shop area is all painted white with white ceilings so it lights up pretty good. 12X30 area with 4 double 8 footers plus 2 double 4 footers over two work benches for more light.

[29 Chandler]

We are in the middle our redoing our garage right now. It is 14' x 38' with 11' ceilings. I have never liked the lighting my flourescent fixures gave. I did a little research on the net and settled on some used industrial metal halide lights. Each unit has one 175 watt bulb that rarely needs to be changed and will produce a bright white light. I had the electrictian install eight boxes to mount eight lights to.

I found a great deal on ebay for 10 lights and a spare set of new bulbs. I do not have them istalled yet, but hope to in the next few days.

The one concern that I have is that with these lights you can not flip them off and then back on without fear of doing damage. I'll see how I like them after we hang a few.

[Mark Shaw]

I have four double 8' flourescent lights for my 26 X 34' heated shop. They work great and provide just the right light mounted to the 9' high truss bottoms.

[Ron Green]

Quote; "The one concern that I have is that with these lights you can not flip them off and then back on without fear of doing damage."

The lamp life of a multi-vapor verses a flourescent lamp is pretty much the same (6 to 9 thousand hours) but a multi-vapor will slowly lose its brightness. Turning a multi-vapor on and off really won't hurt it but they take do a few minutes to come to full brightness, typically not good if you go in and out of the shop many times. Many commercial shops use these type lights as they turn them on in the morning and they burn all day.

They typically make a high & low bay version of these type fixtures which with 11' ceiling you definitely want the low bay.

[Dave@Moon]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> The one concern that I have is that with these lights you can not flip them off and then back on without fear of doing damage. </div></div>

The main chandelier in our (very modern) church uses these. I've always know it took a long time for them to gain full brightness (3-5 minutes--these are very early lamps for this technology), and that turning them off and then back on again takes much longer (at least 10-15 minutes). However I never knew why.

The wikipedia.com page on metal halides explains that their internal pressure needs to subside before they can refire. although this can be overcome with a 30,000 volt ballast <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />.

The main concern I'd have is if you're prone to power outages or blown breakers. You could be in total darkness for quite some time if so without an emergency lighting backup.

[29 Chandler]

Fortuntaely we did not have power issues very often and the need for lights is often off set by the two windows and three doors. Once they are installed i'll post a picture. The lights themselves are very nice, powder coated white with a nice canopy to disperse the light. They are "low bay" designed for my ceiling height. I can't wait to throw the switch.

Thanks everyone for the input.

[Jim Bollman]

You could mount a couple of incandescent flood lights in the corners to give you instant light and power failure light.

[29 Chandler]

I finally got my Metal Hailide lights installed . All eight in a 14 x 38 x 11 foot space. First impressions are that it does take a little longer for them to get fully on then I would like. but the light they produce is wonderful. Bright white light that gives excellent visability at the work bench. I plan to replace a few of them with simple compact florecent fixtures for nearly instant light. Once the MH light come up to speed the cf lights will be irrelevant. I'll try to post this picture that I took tonight.

[Barry Wolk]

I've been in the lighting business for 30 years. You made a good choice. You'll notice a small hole next to the socket of your Metal Halide lamp. This hole is designed to take a quartz lamp socket. This socket is tied to a relay that senses current going to the lamp. When a lamp first starts it draws very little current so the quartz lamp fires until the MH produces some light.

This quartz lamp also doubles as a temporary light source during restrike situations where the lamp needs to cool down before reignition. In case of lamp failure the quartz lamp would stay on all the time .

When your lamps are about 10,000 hours old you should replace all of them at once. As mentioned before, MH and fluorescent lamps lose a significant amount of light over time. A lighting system that is maintained by changing lamps as the burn out in will only operated at 50% of light potential while consuming 100% of the original energy. This holds true for all fluorescent lighting.

In effect, if you've been changing your fluorescent and metal halide lamps as they burn out you will realize as much as a 100% increase in light levels with no increase in operating cost.

My major fixture supplier is Ruud Lighting. They have an awesome web site at ruudlighting.com. They only sell to contractors and large businesses. I can order for you if you want.

If you need lamps, my supplier is Lighting Supply in Oak Park, MI. They will ship anywhere and have a huge inventory. They will do business with the public. Their phone number is 888-838-2852.

Hope this helps someone.

[29 Chandler]

Thanks Barry. I was wondering what that socket was used for. Now I know. I got a very good deal on these lights as they came with 12 brand new commercial bulbs. Worth the cost I paid for the lights alone. Thanks for the input on these. I expect to have a few left over if anyone on the DF is interested, otherwise I will post them on ebay when I am ready to move the extras out.

[Barry Wolk]

The lamps for those fixtures only cost me about $10.00. Supply houses make a fortune on lamps.Graingers charges $22.99 FOR THE SAME LAMP. The prices get far worse from there. A "small package" 400-watt lamp cost me $17.00 and is in Graingers catalog at $41.30.

There are some great prices out there but I would stick with the majors, GE, Osram/Sylvania and Phillips. Most of the off-brand import stuff is junk.

[Joe Block]

Granger got to pay for all those catalog that are use for looking. wishing and estimating project costs, i,e I haven't placed an order with Granger in 15 years.had order with yet. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />