12 ft high ceilings

[hook982]

Okay...I've been going insane with what kind of fluorescent fixtures to use before I start sheetrockin' everything. Do I need high bays or would regular cheaper tubes work? I'm going with t8 4 ft. fixtures but can't decide...2 or 4 tubes in each, high bay or regular. How many? 40 x 30 x 12 w/ white walls and ceiling...help!!

 

[BioHazard]

Definately don't need high bay with a 12'. Mine's about 12.5' with a finished ceiling and I have just a bunch of strip lights, nice and bright. Mine are old T12s but I'm going to upgrade to T8 soon.

 

[tfi racing]

I have just about the same shop you do,I went with three continuous rows of F32T8 8' fixtures(4 lamps each),plenty of light for most regular tasks.I switched each row separately because I'm lazy,if you are doing the work yourself,it would be a good idea to switch each row in pairs,then you have more control over the amount of light and energy consumed.No need for high bays or anything fancy at that ceiling height,T5HO's are a nice unit,but unless you are planning to run them around the clock,you will never save enough in energy to justify the extra expense of the fixtures or the lamps.

 

[walrus]

I have a 30 by 34, I ran 3 rows, 32 feet long, 8ft fixtures with 4, 4ft tubes in ea fixture. Switched each row, if its during the day I may only turn on one row. Plenty of light

 

[larry4406]

Mine is 28' deep by 50' wide by 12' tall. I have 4' T8 dual bulbs. 16 fixtures total.

 

[hook982]

cool....thanks!!

 

[wormwood]

I have 12 foot ceiling in a 32x24 foot area.

I have 2 circuits of 2-bulb-8 foot T8s, one with 2 and one with 3 fixtures (total of 10 bulbs).

Either circuit is adequate, both on is like noonday.

 

[OldCarGuy]

Here's a picture of my 30' by 50' garage workshop with 12' ceilings. I have over 100 foot candles of light at working level. Great for my old eyes! I have a total of 16 eight foot long T-12 fixtures with two 75 Watts bulbs in each. At the time of the install, T-8's were just being introduced. And I could receive far more bang for my buck at that time using the T-12's. However I stashed away 100 spare bulbs that cost me $2.00 each at the time knowing they will eventually become obsolete. I have since purchased a dozen ballasts since another member mentioned they will be discontinued as well.... Isn't the board great!

 

[PurdueSD]

For fixtures, i went to an industrial lighting supply. I got T8 8' 4 bulb (4 foot bulbs) fixtures. I didn't want to deal with 8' bulbs. Go to a lighting and electrical supply house. You will be surprised... Better ballasts and pretty good prices. Its hard to remember but i think i had 18 fixtures total at about 40 bucks a pop. T8s get my vote! Avoid T-12 magnetic ballast like the clap, expecially if you are unheated... imo

Here you can see my layout, on the 10' side i chose to run the lights across the shop. That way i had a row across the back wall for workbenches. The light row on the left is on its own switch. They only get used when i work with the doors closed. I am an all doors open type of guy until it gets pretty cold.

On my 12' side i chose to run a row on each side of the 10' door. SO when the door is up or down, no light is blocked.

 

[aar0s]

blue fox body ftw
oh the shop looks good too, where did you get the goodyear signs?