Amount of lighting needed for 40x52 barn?

[55Sprad]

I have a 40x52 pole barn with 10 ft. ceilings. How many 4ft. fixtures w/2 t-8
bulbs and 12" reflectors would I need to adequately light my barn?
I have been looking at the lights at Home Depot.
Commercial Electric 2 light flouescent shop light.
Mod# HBSL-35. 24.83 ea.
Anybody familiar with these? Are they a decent light?
Thanks for your help.

 

[ibedayank]

depends on how lit up you want it

 

[Strouty]

I have a 30 by 60 with 12'6" ceilings, I have four lights deep in eight rows and it is perfect. My guess would be you would need 6 per row and only need 7 rows. I think those are the newer version of the ones I bought three years ago, but I paid $7.97 for them. They work fine, run quiet due to electronic ballasts and they cold start with no issues. If they are the same, the sockets are very problematic, so sometimes it takes a few tries to get the bulbs seated. Other than that, no major problems and they have been going strong for three years.

 

[jvitez]

Are you over 40? Do you do precise work at a bench? Or just general car/build/putzing around? How are your walls finished, and in what colour?

If you're over 40 and like it bright, 1.5 watts/ sq ft of T8 fluorescent lighting is a quick and dirty number. That would be 49 2-bulb fixtures in your space. Yup, it's always way more than you think. I'll be at 50 fixtures or so for my 1800 sq ft garage, but I like it bright.

 

[nehog]

I have a 30 by 60 with 12'6" ceilings, I have four lights deep in eight rows and it is perfect...

That's (for the math challenged,) 32 light fixtures. I have 24 fixtures in my 30x60, which is enough for non-critical work. I found quickly however that if I wanted good light, I needed more, so I added a second level of lighting (12) HID 400w fixtures, four per bay (though two bays only have two fixtures right now...)

I now realize that having more light in areas where I work, and not as much in the other areas is a great idea! I can switch on lights in each of the three bays, both HID and florescent, as needed. Usually I come in and hit the first two bay florescent, unless I know I'm going to be doing something that requires more light.

BTW, with all the lights on, it is rather bright in there!

 

[jomobco]

I've got a 40x64 with 18 4bulb 4' T8's. I'm over 40 but I skinned the inside in white metal which helps. 3 banks of 6 is what I did. 14' ceilings.

 

[akdiesel]

I have a 40' x 60' shop 12'6" ceiling with 9 8' lights(I think T8's). Plenty of light to do activities but for shadows (underhood work) I use a drop light or similar.

 

[Ryanps8]

Does anyone have pictures of there lights in a 30by60. I have a 30by60 that I am currently getting ready to install lighitng in and would like some ideas.

Thanks