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Shop Lighting Recommendations

ewlsey

Diamond
Joined
Jul 14, 2009
Location
Peoria, IL
I moved into a new shop. 3400 ft^2, 16 ft ceilings, walls and ceiling are OSB that has been painted white.

Currently there is one row of fluorescent tubes down the middle. It's not nearly enough.

I'm looking at LED units. Curious if I should be shopping the box stores or online or what? Is there a guideline for how many lights I need?
 
I like the Feit LED shop lights that have similar shape to a fluoro shop light but no tubes. The big box stores sell them for around $20/ea (sold in pairs). I find that they give a decent amount of light with low power draw. Lights are quiet because there aren’t any ballasts.

As to how many, that’s personal preference. Some people want tons of light. The body shop folks use tons of light fixtures to see small imperfections. However, I do think most people skimp on lights unless they have a pro do the build out.
 
I did this a couple years ago. Check with your power company, they may have rebate programs and will usually do a free energy survey and make recommendations. They ended up paying for 50% of my entire cost. I replaced every metal halite fixture with LED , so no wiring costs. Much better lighting and my electric bill is about $200. a month less on 12,000 sq feet.
 
I know The Despot has pretty good deals on LED fixtures, that is probably the way I would do it

Last I set up a place I wired outlets into the ceiling so I could switch to anything I wanted in the future
 
I’ve got three of these mounted at 16’ covering a 30’ x 40’ area. It’s like daylight in there.

https://www.amazon.com/Hykolity-dim...=gateway&sprefix=Hykolity,aps,242&sr=8-4&th=1

Homedepot carries a 19000 lumen 2’ long version for a $100. Got 3 of those on the wife’s barn side. It’s pretty bright there as well but not enough for my old eyes doing fine detail stuff. Most experts would say my three lights on the shop would cause point sourcing or beaming. I don’t notice it. I suppose you could use more of the homedepot lights spread out if you are concerned about even lighting.
 
I switched over to LED last year. A few people recommended the LED Bay Lights. If I were to replace the fixtures, that's definitely the way I would go.
 
Look closely at led specs. Most of the drop-in 'replacement' type units are too dim for high-bay use. I have 16 F54-T5HO 48" lamps in my 24X36 shop, 10ft off the floor. No shadows, adequate light (I also have a moveable 8-lamp welding unit with the same bulbs).

You can get bright-enough LEDs, but they cost significantly more. You can't trust the chinese specs either.
 
Look closely at led specs. Most of the drop-in 'replacement' type units are too dim for high-bay use. I have 16 F54-T5HO 48" lamps in my 24X36 shop, 10ft off the floor. No shadows, adequate light (I also have a moveable 8-lamp welding unit with the same bulbs).

You can get bright-enough LEDs, but they cost significantly more. You can't trust the chinese specs either.

The universal drop in lamps I bought at the despot are so much brighter than the standard it is silly

they list lower lumens, but florescents fade quickly

they were pricey at the time, so there is that
 
Hyperikon 8' LED replacement tubes in 5000K, dropped to about 12' off the floor. About $25 each, and a box of a dozen comes with new tombstones. So far we have replaced about half the 168 fluorescent tubes in the shop and next to the LEDs the old ones look like Halloween decorations.
 
Read this thread: The Best Light Fixture Ever! - The Garage Journal Board

I'm very happy with the 5000K Greentek T8 bulbs in my shop with 10 foot ceilings.

Mike

I outfitted my garage back in April with the MaxLite fixtures recommended in this thread. I purchased mine through ledlightingwholesaleinc.com for $28.25 each including two 5000K LED tubes. So far I'm really happy with them...very bright. If you search on Garage Journal, the member that started the "Best Light Fixture..." thread is a lighting professional and has done fixture layouts for a number of the members. I used a couple of those as a pattern for my fixture layout.
 
I did this a couple years ago. Check with your power company, they may have rebate programs and will usually do a free energy survey and make recommendations. They ended up paying for 50% of my entire cost. I replaced every metal halite fixture with LED , so no wiring costs. Much better lighting and my electric bill is about $200. a month less on 12,000 sq feet.

This ^ for sure.

There is a rebate from ameren that pays for up to ½ of the lighting materials needed. A 501c3 I’m involved with is half done re-lighting 4 spaces in a 16,000sq.ft. building. So far the cost is $2760.00 for 76 flat panel lamps (that is using an IBEW union contractor BTW). The payback vs florescent 1st half was estimated at 12-18 months, the second half will be a bit longer for payback.

This all was started before the tariffs, we had planned to do the 4 spaces over 8 months (jiggling our mechanical & utility budgets a bit). The contractor advises the hardware for the rest will be higher but still not screw up our budget limits. BTW, the sparky's were in and out of those 2 spaces in less than a day each... No f'ing way I'm gonna try to keep up with that.

Good luck,
Matt
 
The universal drop in lamps I bought at the despot are so much brighter than the standard it is silly

they list lower lumens, but florescents fade quickly

they were pricey at the time, so there is that

OK, I said 'most'. Add to that the fact that the cheaper LEDs are very high K color temp and most people 'see' that as brighter, even if it isn't. With high K lamps the darker objects will still be dark. Only the more reflective surfaces will appear brighter. I don't like anything above 4800K because the blueness irritates me.
 
Hyperikon 8' LED replacement tubes in 5000K, dropped to about 12' off the floor. About $25 each, and a box of a dozen comes with new tombstones. So far we have replaced about half the 168 fluorescent tubes in the shop and next to the LEDs the old ones look like Halloween decorations.

I went with the same Hyperikons on Amazon and stuffed them in nice T5 fixtures I have. I have 20' ceilings and they're amazingly bright. Burn your retinas out if you're not careful.
 
I haven't used the drop in LED replacement tubes so I don't know, are they brighter because they have more light output, or are they brighter because they don't have 5 years, or more, of shop dirt on them?

I hear florescent tubes fade, but I haven't seen it in my T8 lights yet, sure you drop in a new tube and man, what a difference. Clean the adjacent tubes/fixtures and you can't pick out new tubes or ballasts.
 
I mix high and mid color temps in every other bulb in the fixtures and alternate sides right/left. Something I did back before LED and the lighting so much better. I highly recommend this practice.
Be aware of cover differences in LED. Clear, ruled and frosted or milky.
High color temp units are harsh and while very bright at first install they kind of wear on you.
High temp and clear cover, you do not want it in your line of sight.
How many or how much is very subjective and what about lighting at machines.
Some people like the shop to be lit up as if a bright sunny day with no clouds or trees. Others just want enough to work in.

Also do you need all the shop lights on one switch, maybe 50% or some areas. Added wiring but lower power bill.
Stranger still to walking a big shop are the fixtures that only turn on when they sense motion under them.
Bob
 
I put in LED highbay lights with prismatic reflectors from econolight. I'm pretty happy with them. They are universal voltage, so I powered them 220 for more lights per circuit. The prismatic reflectors are deep enough that incidental looking at the emitters isn't a problem. IIRC they are 250W, 28,000 lumen, mounted at 24'.
 
OK, I said 'most'. Add to that the fact that the cheaper LEDs are very high K color temp and most people 'see' that as brighter, even if it isn't. With high K lamps the darker objects will still be dark. Only the more reflective surfaces will appear brighter. I don't like anything above 4800K because the blueness irritates me.

Again, this is not subtle.

Most of them do list a lower lumen output, but as I mentioned, flourescents lose with time, radically, so day one, they might be brighter, but 2 years later they are much dimmer
 








 
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