14' ceiling's and 12' ceilings... Highbay lights?

[KeithTurk]

I'm building a new shop right now and it's got a 38X40 with 14' ceiling and it's got a 28 X 28 Garage attached to it.. I haven't started a thread yet but I will later... we've taken pic's along the way....

Along the sides of both the garage and the shop I've got can lights every 3' about 2' from the wall .... I trayed the ceiling and it just looked like an easy place to put in some soft lighting, The next main lights will be some high bay 4' T5's? ( I think ).... any experience guys?

 

[KeithTurk]

https://scontent-ort2-1.**.fbcdn.ne...=388ffb8d6d4139ed9517cf968c008d25&oe=5901FFAB

 

[KeithTurk]

https://scontent-ort2-1.**.fbcdn.ne...=ed6cb6b15c535c775753bde7437a0c77&oe=59453E7C

 

[tfi racing]

Save your money.Decent quality T8 fixtures with your choice of flourescent or LED tubes are all you need,if you want something a bit more stylish,there are some good choices in LED strip lights available.I like the looks of your building,is that some form of spray in insulation on your walls?

 

[American Locomotive]

12-14' is too low for high-bay IMO. You might get away it with, but it's probably not optimal. As mentioned, some decent quality T8 fixtures with reflectors (otherwise you'll be throwing a ton of light away) should be all you need.

What do you plan to do in the garage? We can probably help you come up with a lighting plan if you're interested.

 

[KeithTurk]

I am interested, I'm not as worried about money as I am about having quality light. The shop is designed for both motorcycle and car maintenance. It's actually a 40X50 with a 28X28 garage. The front garage is for my finished junk and there is a 12 X 30 storage area and bathroom in it. ( upstairs is a 12 X 16 room with 8' ceilings and a balcony )....

 

[wssix99]

You are definitely no where near a high bay situation and high bay lights won't diffuse the light enough for you. If you google for "high bay" images and you'll see what they are. (Home Depot, high truss factory ceilings, etc.)

Even if the manufacturer specs put the low end of their "high bay" range at 12-14', keep in mind that your objective (the work you are doing) will be much closer to the fixture. Unless you are doing coloring books on the floor, you won't really be 12' to 14' away from the fixtures.

 

[Radix2]

The panel "high bay" lights with diffusers are a pretty good compromise for large tall areas and the prices have come down so far that T8 makes no sense to me at all. If the high bay panels look like overkill (doubt it since you can get them down to 10,000lumen) there are also nice edge lit flat panels that still give much more light than the T8 strips people are always talking about and at a $50-100 price point.

You should use one of the lighting estimator like the lithonia one to get a handle on the number you will need at what lumen output. You can try the T8 as well.

Look at this thread -http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=337137

 

[wssix99]

The panel "high bay" lights with diffusers are a pretty good compromise for large tall areas and the prices have come down so far that T8 makes no sense to me at all.

Wouldn't this still be more expensive than just getting the exact same light fixture with a the regular (non high-bay) reflector?

 

[bob_mp]

The panel "high bay" lights with diffusers are a pretty good compromise for large tall areas and the prices have come down so far that T8 makes no sense to me at all. If the high bay panels look like overkill (doubt it since you can get them down to 10,000lumen) there are also nice edge lit flat panels that still give much more light than the T8 strips people are always talking about and at a $50-100 price point.

Look at this thread -http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=337137

+1

I have 22 4' dual tube T5HO fixtures with diffusers spread out on three circuits in my 44' x 21' shop. The ceilings are 13' high. I'm quite happy with the arrangement. I'd view the diffusers as a must for 14' ceilings.

 

[KeithTurk]

I can assume the diffuser is the mirror stainless backing plates?

 

[Radix2]

Wouldn't this still be more expensive than just getting the exact same light fixture with a the regular (non high-bay) reflector?

I can assume the diffuser is the mirror stainless backing plates?

No, the diffuser is just the translucent white plastic that covers the LEDs. (the alternative is just bare leds shining down with glare.

wssix - that's the thing, since LEDs are directional, the LED high bay panels don't have any reflector or anything to narrow the beam - they are just a smooth bright 2x2 or 2x4 surface which helps the perceived glare quite a bit. So long as you don't go crazy with too few 99zillion lumen lights, you can get a decent and even spread. Im not sure that many of them that are listed as "high bay" are really best classified that way since they do not have the optics to focus the light like some of the other styles. The inside of the fixtures are just white boxes.

The James lights some of us bought on that other thread are not harsh, I am using the 165W/20,000lumen lights at 14-16 feet, So I thing that at at a bit lower, the smaller one would be OK.

In my shop I am looking at the edge lit panels at 9 feet, I think they are comparable in cost to fluorescent in the same 4-5000lumen range, but much thinner.

 

[wssix99]

wssix - that's the thing, since LEDs are directional, the LED high bay panels don't have any reflector or anything to narrow the beam - they are just a smooth bright 2x2 or 2x4 surface which helps the perceived glare quite a bit. So long as you don't go crazy with too few 99zillion lumen lights, you can get a decent and even spread. Im not sure that many of them that are listed as "high bay" are really best classified that way since they do not have the optics to focus the light like some of the other styles. The inside of the fixtures are just white boxes.

That makes sense for LED's. I saw the James' threads but don't recall seeing any of the details on the LED arrays/mounting. I'm more familiar with drop-in LED fixtures in office environments and the LED elements are mounted at angles to give a wide angle spread and/or use wide angle LED's.