Another shop lighting thread

[psu927]

Just built a 40X64X14 pole barn. 3 12X12 garage doors evenly spaced. I want the fist 40-50' of shop to be well lit, the last 15-20 not such a big deal. Ceiling and walls all open right now. Are 8' t-8s gonna be my best bet?

 

[cybrdyke]

Let's see...
By 8' T8's, do you mean 4 lamp strips, in this configuration: == ?
That'll be 112 watts of power. If you burn them for 1000 hours each year, it will cost you (if you pay .10/KwHr) $11.20/year in power.
LED fixtures, with similar light output, will be around 60 watts of power. Using the same rate and hours, will cost you $6 per year.

Use these charges when comparing the T8 and LED fixtures over several years.
Good luck
CD

 

[handymancanfixit]

I agreed that your extensive research came up with the best solution for you.
And it seemed to make you angry.

Whether you meant to or not, you came off sounding very sarcastic......JMHO

 

[psu927]

So anyway I guess I do need to clarify some information and what I am looking for. With the open ceiling, I am looking at possibly LED t-8s because they direct the light downward. If I go with regular t-8s I would need reflectors I do plan on installing white ceiling metal in the future but not now.

If I were to go with LED's, how many would you guys suggest? I have never seen them in my configuration so I have no idea how many I would need. Just assume I would light the whole shop evenly.

 

[psu927]

bump

 

[Radix2]

you will need to specify what you mean by "well lit" or "not a big deal" so that you can use one of the software tools to figure out how many fixtures/bulbs you need to get that light.

Do a bit of research to see how many lumens you want at your work surfaces. 100fc or 1000lux is typical for detail work.

for example - http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/light-level-rooms-d_708.html

 

[cybrdyke]

you will need to specify what you mean by "well lit" or "not a big deal" so that you can use one of the software tools to figure out how many fixtures/bulbs you need to get that light.

Do a bit of research to see how many footcandles you want at your work surfaces. 100fc or 1000lux is typical for detail work.

for example - http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/light-level-rooms-d_708.html

...fixed...

 

[Radix2]

...fixed...

thanks, I was going to edit it to "...how much light you want at your work surfaces..." but forgot.

Since you are a lighting guy, what can be used to determine the quality of the light (shadowing potential for example) in say a tool like dialux evo?

I have a 40x50 that I am looking for fixtures to put up, I can put them at 14 or so feet high and am considering 12 (3x4) high bay 18,000 lumen LED linear fixtures. The distribution looks pretty reasonable and smooth, but I wonder about shadows.

Any thoughts?

 

[psu927]

you will need to specify what you mean by "well lit" or "not a big deal" so that you can use one of the software tools to figure out how many fixtures/bulbs you need to get that light.

Do a bit of research to see how many lumens you want at your work surfaces. 100fc or 1000lux is typical for detail work.

for example - http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/light-level-rooms-d_708.html

Based on this I would say 50-75 FC. I kind of made up my mind (based on cost and ability to go to LED's later) on t8's for now. But with the open ceiling, would you consider reflectors a "must have"? Which is no problem, but when I do install ceiling liner I will use the same fixtures and don't want them to look dumb. (also want to be able to flush mount)

And, later when I do line the ceiling, will I have a dark ceiling if I go the reflector route?

 

[oldiemotors]

I installed two rows of 4' 110V led tubes in my 30x50 shop. Total of 12 tubes in each row. Total draw to light my entire shop is just under 4 amps.

Bought these led's and these connectors off Amazon. The connectors shipped from China so those took a while to get here. They are fairly fragile and I might go with regular tombstones if I had it to do over again. They don't come with a plug so I just bought those as Lowes and wired a pair of connectors into one plug.

The clips that came with the connectors were crappy so I bought these to hold the led tubes. I just used self-tapping screws to mount the clips so no light "fixtures" needed.

I was really impressed with the amount of light I get and the CRI is really good with these led's. I installed switched outlets on my ceiling and wired every other one to a set of two switches. This lets me turn on half the lights at a time. Not sure how useful that will be, but it sounded like a good idea.