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The Best Light Fixture Ever!

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Platonic Solid

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calinflo - Standard LED tubes are not dimmable. They have the driver built into the lamp and you run 120VAC direct to the lamp holders.

If you want dimmable, Search for UL Type C LED tubes. These tubes are less popular and more expensive. The driver is a separate component (similar to a fluorescent ballast).

For better lumens/$ dimming options, you might want to consider integrated LED solutions like a wrap (link) or flat panel (link) Note: surface mounting flat panels has additional cost for mounting kit (link).
 
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calinflo

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Platonic Solid - thanks for the info

Regarding the flat panel you mentioned (Premium 1ft x 4ft LED Flat Panel - 40W - Dimmable - 5000 Lumens - LumeGen)

Is there something in the tool that I can choose that is close for layout

TIA
 
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pbon

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I have been using the LED wrap lights that Platonic recommended above for about a year and like them. I have 20 on the 1st floor of the garage covering about 750SF and 10 more in the upstairs storage room covering about 650SF. I considered the flat panels with surface mount kits.
 
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madspeed50

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Finishing up the painting in my garage, then comes flooring. I've got my sights set on new LED lights. I have 12' ceilings and currently have 4' T5HO shop lights hanging in between my 3 garage doors. They hang pretty even with the garage track. Do you recommend this setup or going with ceiling mounted units?
 
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pbon

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Those look like a good deal. Add $20 each for surface mounting frames if you do not have a drop ceiling.
 
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djones5548

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First of all I want to thank everyone especially Platonic for all of the information here. I've been watching this forum for a couple of years now. Finally getting ready to do some lighting and have a couple of questions. I have a three car tandem with 9' ceilings, mixed use but I enough light to work on small tasks on my work bench as well as detail cars, so lots of light. I think I've decided on the max light with a perimeter type layout like most plans in the layout thread. My first question is with the ceiling height and semi gloss white walls what spacing off the wall would be ideal? Secondly, would the bulbs linked in the first post be ok for my ceiling height. I noticed the majority in here are lighting shops with higher ceilings. Thank you!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
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madspeed50

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Finishing up my garage and looking at lights. I currently have 4- 2 bulb T5HO shoplights. They need new bulbs so time to go LED. Would like to add more units and because of my OCD and needing them all to be the same, time to go shopping. My question for you guts is should I have lights hanging down the way I currently do or just go ceiling mount?
 

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Platonic Solid

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madspeed50 said:
Finishing up my garage and looking at lights. I currently have 4- 2 bulb T5HO shoplights. They need new bulbs so time to go LED. Would like to add more units and because of my OCD and needing them all to be the same, time to go shopping. My question for you guts is should I have lights hanging down the way I currently do or just go ceiling mount?
Click to expand...

I don't know the size of your shop so I used 36x24x12.

madspeed50-10ft.pdf

madspeed50-12ft.pdf

Fixtures used 4' 2-lamp 2500 lumens/lamp (see post 1)

You save 2 fixtures (4 bulbs) by hanging at 10ft (I had to guess at that figure too), but it's a much bigger PIA to hang vs surface mounting at 12ft.
 
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madspeed50

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Wow, awesome! Thanks for taking the time. the ceiling height is 12.5'. My size is a bit odd, see crude paint mockup
 

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bad_idea

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It is time to run electrical in my garage. It is a 30x40 with 12' walls and scissor trusses giving a 14' height in the middle. No sheetrock at this time, will be a few years. I am truly confused on what fixtures to use. I would like cheap and effective, do not need fancy. I would like it very bright (but not glaring) to do everything from machinist work to welding/fabrication to auto repair. Can you point me towards a fixture quantity and placement? Thank you.
 
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Platonic Solid

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LOL ToddMcF2002 - First post @ 7:47. Decision made 8:17. You fixture choice is good. I'd have gone with 9 and framed the vehicles (assuming this is a garage for cars) - Three 2ft from left and right walls, 3 down the middle.
 
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ToddMcF2002

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Ha ha I can be impatient to say the least. I’ll add another one why not. Put these at 90 degrees to the vehicle orientations or in parallel? Thanks!
 
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ToddMcF2002

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Platonic Solid said:
ToddMcF2002 - Parallel to vehicles
Click to expand...

Hey Platonic I appreciate the help here. I oversimplified my situation. The garage is 24x24 with a 10' ceiling but I'm putting a lift in the first bay as the pics suggest. I'm in mid construction obviously. That is why I ordered 8 units and I was planning on installing them 90 degrees to the cars in the vaulted area (14' peak). Would you take a different approach? Thanks.

View media item 97074View media item 97075View media item 97076
 
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Cuda416

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Good morning folks,

Current project in my 36x48 barn is, you guessed it, lighting....

I found 12, 4 bulb fixtures for $100 that I plan on removing the ballasts so I have less to worry about with lights at 14 feet up. Looking at some of the configs around here, it seems like 3 rows of 4 will do the trick. I'm only work on a 36x36 square because the back 1/5 has a loft so the lighting will be different.

The barn is to be used as a shop for auto hobby related activities and will be wide with 3 banks of lighting moving from front to back.

Eventually, I'll put OSB on the walls and paint it white but that's about it for reflective surfaces.

My big question has to do with lumens and kelvins.

If I do the very basic (probably wrong) calcs for Lumens, I get..

36x36=1296
1296x100= 129,600 Lumens needed (100 Lumens/ft)
129,600/12 = 10800 Lumens per fixture
10800/4=2700 Lumens(ish) per bulb.

I'm probably way off on this and of so, could someone set on the right path?

If i'm right, then it looks like I'll need 48 2700L, 4000k(?) double ended bulbs for direct wiring?

In addition to correcting my calcs, if someone could recommend a budget friendly source for a decent compromise, that would be great.

Thanks!

-=C
 
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Platonic Solid

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ToddMcF2002 said:
Hey Platonic I appreciate the help here. I oversimplified my situation. The garage is 24x24 with a 10' ceiling but I'm putting a lift in the first bay as the pics suggest. I'm in mid construction obviously. That is why I ordered 8 units and I was planning on installing them 90 degrees to the cars in the vaulted area (14' peak). Would you take a different approach? Thanks.
Click to expand...
I'm confused, would the fixtures be mounted at 10ft pointing straight down or some higher height?
 
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RSET

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I just ordered 12 Maxlite LSS2XT8USE4803 fixtures and 24 Greentek Energy Systems GT-T8-18W1200 BIXX (they call them VersaT8), but the correct model number is listed on the page.

Is there any reason that I should NOT bypass the electronic ballast? Seems like a waste of energy to keep the ballasts in the loop.

I plan to wire the 12 fixtures on one dedicated 15 amp circuit (14 gauge Romex). The 24 18 Watt tubes add up to 432 volts, which doesn't seem excessive. I'm not sure how to rate the amperage though.

And lastly, since these bulbs will outlive me is it OK to wire them in series rather that take all the time to make pigtails and run them parallel?
 
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Cuda416

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madspeed50

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Platonic Solid

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ToddMcF2002 said:
They can be leveled but would have to be mounted high up because of the lift
Click to expand...
Mount the fixtures parallel to and next to the vehicles so they don't interfere with the lift. This provides much better lighting around and under the lift. If you mount fixtures directly over the vehicles, they will have to be mounted much higher to avoid the lifted car and light will be blocked by the lifted car.
 
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Cuda416

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Platonic Solid said:
What is your fixture mounting height?
Click to expand...

The walls are 14 ft, but the trusses are scissor so a little higher in the center. My basic plan is to just secure them to the trusses. Would it be better to hang them so they are all at the same height. Something less than 14, like 12, or even 10? is it a significant difference?
 
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Platonic Solid

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Cuda416 - 12 fixtures 4-LED lamps @ 2500 Lumens per lamp in a 36x36 space =
60 fc @ 30" workplane mounted at 14'
65 fc @ 30" workplane mounted at 12'
69 fc @ 30" workplane mounted at 10' (less even light distribution due to low fixture qty.)

Industry standard for mechanical work = 93 fc @ 30" workplane
 
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ddurrett896

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VA
ToddMcF2002 said:
I don’t really want a PhD in lighting to be honest. I’m thinking of grabbing 12 of these for my 24x24 garage with 10’ ceiling.

TechBrite 48" 2 Lamp LED T8 Strip Fixture - 5000K - 5,210 Lumens
https://www.prolighting.com/t442ssubcxx00p0-18w5k.html

EDIT: they come with bulbs/tubes wow that’s a good deal
Click to expand...

Just put 9 in a 27x27 with 11' walls and it's nice. Send an email with the dimensions and they will you send you a layout.
 
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