Found a smoking deal on these 6 lamp T8 fixtures I can get 15 of them brand new for 500 bucks (no bulbs) but i think that's a dang good deal and might be able to get him lower. Cheapest I see them is for is about 80 bucks, id be paying 33 bucks a lamp..
Shop is 40x40 (or will be rather starting building process this winter) but I am always on the look out for a deal and thinking ahead.
As always, even a "smoking deal" on the wrong product is no bargain at all.
How many do I really need though.
If you were to use all 15 fixtures, you'd have a total of over a quarter million source lumens. Averaging that out over your 1,600 ft.^2, that comes out to about 157.5 lumens/ft.^2 -- way more than you will want or need, unless perhaps you're doing open-heart surgery in there. We'd need to know the ceiling height to semi-accurately guess at the brightness level down at "working height"; but unless your ceilings are exceptionally high, it's bound to still be quite excessive.
If you were to cut back to, say, 10 fixtures, you could cut that down to about 105 lumens/ft.^2; which is right in the ballpark for "serious" shop illumination. However, there is another problem with that approach: With all of that light output concentrated into just 10 locations scattered about your shop, the overall lighting will near-certainly be quite "spotty" and uneven. Remember, those lumens/ft.^2 figures cited above are AVERAGES. They imply nothing about the quality or evenness of the illumination.
Or should i just run the 4 bulb HD/Lowes ones, more wiring though
Actually (and again, pending your ceiling height), TWO-tube F32T8 fixtures are probably your best bet. This will not only provide the most evenly distributed light, but will also allow the most flexibility in terms of switching.
