How many lights in my new shop???

Rodbolt · Sep 29, 2013

I'm starting on my electrical in my new shop. The shop is 32X50 with a 12' 6" ceiling. The walls and ceiling will be drywalled and painted white. I'm going to use 8' T8 fluorescent fixtures (the kind that runs four 4' T8 bulbs). I have been thinking four rows of four fixtures running length wise in the building for a total of sixteen. Does this seem about right for 1600 square feet or overkill? I've spent a lot of time in poorly lit shops and don't want to own one.

I've looked for a good lighting calculator and have not been able to find one so I'm hoping for some of your first hand experience or a link to a good calculator.

Thanks!

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carcruse · Sep 29, 2013

http://www.visual-3d.com/tools/interior/default.aspx?id=15170

Notch1988 · Sep 29, 2013

My shop is half the size of yours at 24x30 with the same 12.5' height. I've got 12 of the 8' long 4 bulb fixtures (4 rows with 3 fixtures per row) and I'd say it's about perfect. I definitely wouldn't say it's too much.

Rodbolt · Sep 29, 2013

Notch1988 said:
My shop is half the size of yours at 24x30 with the same 12.5' height. I've got 12 of the 8' long 4 bulb fixtures (4 rows with 3 fixtures per row) and I'd say it's about perfect. I definitely wouldn't say it's too much.

Thanks for the input. I checked out your build page and your shop is awesome! What is the spacing between your rows of lights? Also, what color temperature of bulb did you use?

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jaker10 · Sep 30, 2013

I put up 25 4 ft. twin tube T8 in my 30 x 48 and am very happy. I posted this picture in lets see your garages at night thread.

Notch1988 · Sep 30, 2013

Rodbolt said:
Thanks for the input. I checked out your build page and your shop is awesome! What is the spacing between your rows of lights? Also, what color temperature of bulb did you use?

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I'm running the 4100K cool white bulbs, not a fan of the day lights. I spaced them at 2.5', 6', 6', 6', 2.5' starting from the wall. On another note, my attached 24x24 has only 3 of same fixtures and its fine for normal tasks. I think there's a diminishing return with more fixtures. I think you'll find 16 of them in your shop more than adequate.

Kevin C · Oct 1, 2013

jaker10 said:
I put up 25 4 ft. twin tube T8 in my 30 x 48 and am very happy. I posted this picture in lets see your garages at night thread.

That works out to the same number of twin tube, 4', T8's per sq foot that I used in my 640 sq foot shop. Same result~Happy owner.

BHR4CE1 · Oct 1, 2013

Some people told me I was installing too many, but to them I say SCREW YOU!

You can never have too much light! Put in as many as you can and set them up to be on multiple switches. That way YOU are in control.

2ManyProjects · Oct 1, 2013

jaker10 said:
I put up 25 4 ft. twin tube T8 in my 30 x 48 and am very happy. I posted this picture in lets see your garages at night thread.

These two images serve as a perfect example of the futility of trying to make "brightness" judgements based on photos posted here (or elsewhere online, for that matter). In the first image, the interior space looks blindingly bright; in the second, it appears downright dim & dingy. In BOTH cases, these effects are completely attributable to the camera's auto-exposure control attempting to even out the overall brightness levels in the scene as a whole. Where reality might lie for this particular building remains anyone's guess.

waterss · Oct 1, 2013

In my shop i went the 4' t8 fixture route 40 in all with the daylight bulbs. I have a 40x60 with 15' ceilings and really dislike working in the dark or feel it is not bright enough. I laid mine out in a grid and love it. Even under cars you can see well enough to work with out a drop light.
Sorry about the pic, taken on a crappy camera.

Notch1988 · Oct 1, 2013

2ManyProjects said:
These two images serve as a perfect example of the futility of trying to make "brightness" judgements based on photos posted here (or elsewhere online, for that matter). In the first image, the interior space looks blindingly bright; in the second, it appears downright dim & dingy. In BOTH cases, these effects are completely attributable to the camera's auto-exposure control attempting to even out the overall brightness levels in the scene as a whole. Where reality might lie for this particular building remains anyone's guess.

Agreed and the reason I set the exposure limit on my camera when I did before and after shots of my lighting. There's no denying the difference with two shots done with the same exposure time.

Rodbolt · Oct 2, 2013

Thanks for all of your input. I think I'll likely go with my plan of 16 fixtures and space the Notch did. I may add one or two more where I'm planning more of a workbench area. If I ever get that far ill post some pictures.

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2ManyProjects · Oct 2, 2013

Notch1988 said:
Agreed and the reason I set the exposure limit on my camera when I did before and after shots of my lighting. There's no denying the difference with two shots done with the same exposure time.

Good on you for trying, BUT...

"Exposure time" (a.k.a. shutter speed) is only one part of the equation. You would also have to hold both your aperture and ISO settings constant, AND ensure that the camera has EXACTLY the same field of view (same camera position, same effective focal length, same focus distance, etc.), in order for any comparison to be even semi-valid. You would also have to make certain that both images were treated EXACTLY the same way in post-processing (no "Levels" compensation, etc.); which, if you're shooting in-camera JPEG, may well be impossible. And even after all that, the camera will still grossly exaggerate any overall luminance differences, due to its much narrower "exposure latitude" range as compared to the human eye. For example, it would only take a relatively minor difference in actual light levels (say, somewhere around two or three f-stops) for the photos to appear to be "night and day" different; whereas our eyes/brains would still recognize this as only a marginal brightness difference.

Cameras and eyes are two different beasts. Yes, the former attempt to mimic the latter; but in many ways, they fail miserably at that task.

Kevin C · Oct 2, 2013

If we want to get technical....

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bti.lightMeter&hl=en

Might be worth a try... Android light meter.

BTW, eyes are not very good at distinguishing light levels.

Note that the eye perceives different luminance levels in a logarithmic or relative manner, which means that a clearly perceivable difference in luminance equals a doubling – or halving – of the light.

http://www.dnp-screens.com/DNP08/Technology/Basic-Visual/The-eye/Adaptation-to-light.aspx

W_A_Watson_II · Oct 2, 2013

carcruse said:
http://www.visual-3d.com/tools/interior/default.aspx?id=15170

This tool, almost exactly matched my design with it's recommendation for 100fc. Now that the Florescent Lights are 5 years old, the lighting is getting dim, as the tubes age. Time to re-lamp.

How many lights in my new shop???

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