Any Reccomendation on Shop Lights/

munruh · Jul 16, 2012

I am wiring my 30' x 40' shop. The sidewalls are 14 ft. high. Any recommendations on what kind of lights I should put in. I really don't have any ideas. I will be doing machine work in here. The ceiling will be white metal. Any ideas will be appreciated. Thanks

steve10778 · Jul 16, 2012

t5 or t8's

Fluorescent Fixture, Low Profile, T8 - High Bay Fluorescent Fixtures - Indoor Fixtures - 6AA16 : Grainger Industrial Supply

check out some of the t5 or 58 high bay fixtures. Your local electrical supplier could probably give you a better price if you quantity is right. These are nice bright white light, bulbs are expensive but they are like the sun, and more efficient too.

Heavey Metal · Jul 16, 2012

I have the cooper fbays and really like them

Better light than metal halid.

SND · Jul 16, 2012

8' fixtures here that uses 4 of the 4' T8's. Had 2 balasts quit but otherwise plenty of light, 10' ceilings. I don't think 14' is quite enough height to justify the high bay pricey fixtures.

Tommy · Jul 16, 2012

My shop has 8' twin-tube (T12) fixtures mounted directly to flat 10' ceiling. Previous shop had 10' side walls with pitched roof & trusses. I used the twin-tube eight-footers there also, but suspended them from chains at about 12' in order to maintain clearance in line with the overhead door. None of the fixtures were "high bay" types and I generally had plenty of light in both shops. However, I did mount cheap 4' fixtures above a couple of machines that were located in darker corners of the pitched-roof shop.

Some of the fluorescents flicker when started in cold weather, but seem to "warm up" fairly quickly here in the South. You might check with your supplier to find out if that would be an issue in your locale.

Here's a link to a warehouse lighting website that has a video explaining the difference between T5 and T8 fixtures. I had no idea there was a metric style of light bulb.

Fluorescent High Bay Lights | High Bay Lighting | Warehouse Lighting | Industrial Lighting - Warehouse-Lighting.com

~TW~

robert123 · Jul 16, 2012

Will it be air conditioned? If not, how hot/cold does it get where you are?

munruh · Jul 16, 2012

robert123 said:
Will it be air conditioned? If not, how hot/cold does it get where you are?

won't be airconditioned for the first year or so, but most likely later on. We have xtreme temperatures here. 0 def. F. in winter and 100+F in summer

Ries · Jul 16, 2012

T-5's and T-8's.
They dont have any cold start problems- they start right up, they are cheap to run, and the bulbs outlast the old T12's.

I have halide high bays as well, just yanked six of em out of one building- the halides buzz, and are kind of weird colored light, even if you get the socalled "white" bulbs. Meanwhile, T-5's and T8's have a wide range of colors of tubes available, you can get which ever ones you like the best.

My wife is installing new T5's where those high bays were just removed, the buzz drove her crazy.
I just put a pair of T8's in my wood shop, tossed the old 8' T12's, and the light is better, they start right up, and they dont flicker.
I am doing the machine shop next, and then the fab shop.

jkilroy · Jul 16, 2012

Whatever you do don't buy any old T-12 crap, all that goes out the window any day now. Go for the T-5's if you can, most output per watt and lots of bulb choices, you just might not be able to buy them at the local big box store.

robert123 · Jul 16, 2012

14 ft is pretty low to be using HO fixtures. I would probably stick with standard T8 fixtures. Most are rated to start down to 0 F. Given the size, I would use 3 or 4 rows (3 long) of 4-lamp 8' T8 fixtures.

robert123 · Jul 16, 2012

jkilroy said:
Whatever you do don't buy any old T-12 crap, all that goes out the window any day now. Go for the T-5's if you can, most output per watt and lots of bulb choices, you just might not be able to buy them at the local big box store.

Yes, stay away from T12's. They are being phased out, are much less efficient, and might give you problems when really cold.

I did some research for a lighting upgrade recently. I found that T8s are generally more efficient than T5s in the standard (non-HO) variety. If you need the HO, T5s are better.

munruh · Jul 16, 2012

robert123 said:
14 ft is pretty low to be using HO fixtures. I would probably stick with standard T8 fixtures. Most are rated to start down to 0 F. Given the size, I would use 3 or 4 rows (3 long) of 4-lamp 8' T8 fixtures.

How far apart in the rows? Is there some kind of online planning calculator for this where you enter in the dimensions of your shop and it gives a reccomendation?

Ox · Jul 16, 2012

steve10778 said:
Fluorescent Fixture, Low Profile, T8 - High Bay Fluorescent Fixtures - Indoor Fixtures - 6AA16 : Grainger Industrial Supply

check out some of the t5 or 58 high bay fixtures. Your local electrical supplier could probably give you a better price if you quantity is right. These are nice bright white light, bulbs are expensive but they are like the sun, and more efficient too.

Sorry, not taking time to read through all the replys, but I have recently added some T5HO's.
When I ordered them - I was thinking that I was getting the same as I had recently installed, but come to find out - those were T8's.

The new T5HO's that I got are BRIGHT!
They have a chromed (polished, or ??) reflector, and I know that it may be fun, but you should not look into their eyes for long! They are bright!

Of course a lot of bulb will be bright - but what I really liike about these is that they have a bright (read white?) light. They are not yellow, or some shade of whatever - these are a bright light!

Be warned Will Robinson - these will shine bright enough to expose some things that you (I) would rather had stayed left in the dark!

They are not cheap. At least not where I got them. (compared to T12 fixtures anyway)

http://www.energywisegroup.com/

---------------------

Can anyone recommend a good rain gauge?
Mine seems to be broken...
Ox

paul39 · Jul 16, 2012

Can anyone recommend a good rain gauge?
Mine seems to be broken...
Ox

5 gallon sheet rock mud bucket out in the yard & a ruler.

Paul

alphonso · Jul 17, 2012

+2 +4 +6 +8 on the T5HO lights!!! Did my entire shop a year ago with 10 6 bulb high bay Lithonia I beam units. Saw things that had been missing for 20 years!

TDegenhart · Jul 17, 2012

This will give you a little more info on T5 and T8's.

T5 fluorescent lamps - Google Search

For general knowledge, the flicker, hum or noise and starting problems are due to the ballast (the older magnetic ballast), not the lamp. Also, a given lamp (what you call the tube) will produce 11% more light for the same watts using high frequency ballasts (read electronic ballasts) just do to lamp physics.

bjorn toulouse · Jul 17, 2012

The joint where I work has just had all new lighting installed, and by the description I'm guessing they use T5 fluorescents. The lamps are quite a bit smaller in diameter compared to the ones in my garage. Man, what a difference from the yellowish light of the old single bulb fixtures! It's like daylight!

Rex

Big B · Jul 20, 2012

Just for reference because I have not seen it mentioned so far. The T-5, T-8 etc. refers to how many 1/8 inches they are in diameter. Or so I heard from someone that sells commercial lighting for a living.

Big B

Ox · Jul 20, 2012

paul39 said:
5 gallon sheet rock mud bucket out in the yard & a ruler.

Paul

THANK YOU KIND SIR!

Aint this site great!
Have a problem - ask!
Someone here has been there and got the T-shirt already!

Took and went to the building supply store the other night and bought a bucket of Sheet Rock Mud and scurried it on home.
Next day I openned it up and ..... well - I doo have some sheet rock that aint been mudded, but I don't expect it ever to be, and aint got time for such non-sense ratt now, so I really had no use for the contents, so I dumped it out, and proceeded to clean out the bucket... (what a mess!)

Tossed it out in the yard - and wouldn't'cha jist know it!
THIS THING WERKS!

In 36 hours it showed 2.3" of rain in it!

This other POS gauge that I put up 2 months ago has only had less than .4 in it all together in 2 months!

I am sold!

We were thinking about moving the old gauge to under the eve the other day, but this beats all!

----------------

Thank you kind Sir!
Ox

cnctoolcat · Jul 20, 2012

Ox, Lowes and Home Repot have empty 5 gal buckets for sale too... :dopeslap:

Any Reccomendation on Shop Lights/

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