New Shop lighting

[datsun280zxt]

Convenience, most probably. Eight footers are not all that common at the local hardware store and are a pain in the butt to get rid of.
Also if they are like me and scrounged their fixtures than that is what the fixtures I got had in them.
Dan.

I managed pick up the 4' fixtures for my shop for less than $10 a piece NIB. That's pretty hard to beat. It was also a lot easier for me to install them all by myself. 8' of anything starts to get harder to handle when you don't have a helper. Screw gun, screws, and then an 8' fixture would've been more balancing than I wanted to deal with!

[Lu47Dan]

Is the there a reason why everyone here is using 4' tubes instead of 8'?

Convenience, most probably. Eight footers are not all that common at the local hardware store and are a pain in the butt to get rid of.
Also if they are like me and scrounged their fixtures than that is what the fixtures I got had in them.
Dan.

[Abner]

Is the there a reason why everyone here is using 4' tubes instead of 8'?

[loose nut]

My shop is 21 x 16 and has 12 4' tubes. The energy costs aren't as bad as you would think because half of them are always burnt out. I hate florescent tubes.

[lakeside53]

My smaller shop is 18x30 with and 8 foot white ceiling. I used an illumination app on-line to calculate the layout and number fixtures. I don't recall the Fc but at desk height it's about the same as an office environment. i.e., bright.

I had 12 dual tube 32W T8 fixtures -not all bulbs and color temps are the same output, so you need to choose a bulb for the calcs - arranged as 4 rows 3 fixtures per row.

6 lights on each of 2 banks switched for high/low.


It's very nice My other shop/garage is about 25x30, 10 foot celing, lights at 9'6" and has 12 dual 40 watt tube. That shop is positively dull by comparison...

[aboard_epsilon]

What you need as well as good light, is a tracking system for ball bearings ..springs and small parts that get dropped or fly away

Lght grey painted floor is a good idea ..most light shines down if you have things set up right ..not on the walls ..
The floor ..(assuming your not JS) will reflect quite a lot.


My lights are from a bank ..and have those deep chrome grids on them...i think or it seems, they put out more light without the grids .

If i have all my lights on, they consume about 1000 watts ..so half the time i just have the machine lights on ..

Oh yeah ..there was a thread here not so long back, that had a link in it to a video from mexico, i think ..showing people putting 2 litre water filled soft drinks bottles in holes in the roof ..seemed to work quite well.

all the best.markj

[DATo]

You can't have too much light in a shop in my opinion. My home shop is in an oversized two car garage. When I set it up I installed four double-bulb 8 foot fluorescent fixtures. I also painted the entire shop white and the reflected light is so good that I do not require any shop lights on my machines. Now I know you must think it odd to paint a shop white but trust me, it works. When my brother (who is also a machinist) first walked into my shop his first words were ... "It's like being inside of a refrigerator." *LOL*

[gellfex]

Seriously, in my 25x30 work area, I (will) have about 10 8-ftx2 flourescent fixtures.

140x10=1400W! + incandescent tasklights. Hows your electric bill?

[Rex]

As has been said, the older you are, the more light your eyes require to see the same thing. At my age I use war surplus aircraft spotlights for task lighting

Seriously, in my 25x30 work area, I (will) have about 10 8-ftx2 flourescent fixtures. these are the old style, but they were free. I also have track lights running between them for task lights - approximately one per work area, incandescent bulbs only. The yellow lights balance the blue flouresecents somewhat. And I also have halogen task lights at each machine.
I like a lot of light. I almost have no shadows in my shop.

[gellfex]

Absolutely +1. They explode! ...everywhere! I have low ceilings in my shop (basement), and I never thought I would be "stupid" enough to knock one. Well, you know what happens when one has that kind of thought...

The most recent shoplites I've purchased have a wire grid over the tubes. Seems like a good idea, though in 14 years of 6 1/2' ceilings I think I've only broken 1. Raining shards of glass scared the crap out of though!

[Arthur.Marks]

These are a good idea in a low ceiling like mine.

Absolutely +1. They explode! ...everywhere! I have low ceilings in my shop (basement), and I never thought I would be "stupid" enough to knock one. Well, you know what happens when one has that kind of thought...

[914Wilhelm]

Ballast noise

Before buying, look at this link: http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44316
Some ballasts put out so much RF they can interfere with radios and also some buzz so much they are annoying.

[rowbare]

With the upcoming banishment of incandescent lights, maybe tracks will be unavailable, don't know.

You can get LED bulbs for track lights so they aren't going away any time soon.

bob

[gellfex]

I have the 4' shop lights every 5' or so, but I have very low ceilings. I've found work lights on the tools and over worktables to be more cost effective than increasing the general lighting density, a 20w cfl in a reflector is very effective light source at 1/4 the wattage of another shoplite.

Certain tools like the band saw and sensitive drill have the work light wired into their switches. And most of the shop outlets are on the main light switches, so when lights are out there's no worries about a forgotten soldering iron or such. No worries about compressor bringing down the lights, they should always be on their own circuit anyway. Some of outlet boxes are 4 way, with 2 always on and 2 switched, so chargers and such can stay on.

[datsun280zxt]

I have a 24' x 24' garage with 9' ceiling/rafters. The walls are white (where ther aren't shelves and machines and I put up 20 4ftx2 bulb fixtures (4 rows of five fixtures). I then have a couple of additional lights around the machines and work benches that can be turned on separately from the others if needed. Honestly, I've thought about adding a few more. Most of the time, its just the right amount of light. I'm a painter/bodyman for a living, and I like light! I truly want to see what I'm doing and eliminate shadows.