Buying T8 or T5........

[Chris05gto]

Where is the best place to buy T5 or T8 light fixtures?

Thanks, Chris

 

[powerhound]

I shopped quite a bit for my T5HO fixtures and didn't find anything so much cheaper than HD that it made it worth the hassle. Now, the bulbs on the other hand were waaaay cheaper on eBay.

 

[Rigpig]

Check with your local wholesaler for electrical companies. They'll often do cash sales to the general public and will probably have other options than standard retail outlets.

 

[Chris05gto]

I went to HD today to look at the T5 light fixtures, on one of the boxes it said for height 15' to 40'. My question is would they work ok at 9'?

 

[pattenp]

Not those. You need T5 with a wide reflector focus. You should use T8's, cheaper.

 

[Chris05gto]

Not those. You need T5 with a wide reflector focus. You should use T8's, cheaper.

Is 32watt the brightest T8?

 

[77thor]

T8 HO comes in 48 watt

 

[Chris05gto]

Are the reflectors needed, do they make big difference?

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Angelfire]

I bought from contractorlighting.com. Might not be as cheap as the borgs but fixtures came with better ballasts

 

[Chris05gto]

T8 HO comes in 48 watt

Do they take a different fixture?

 

[my02v6]

I'm also wondering about this. I saw the extremely bright T5 HO fixture at Home Depot and am leaning towards it, but I actually find myself wondering if it will be TOO bright.

The standard T5 and T8s paled in comparison..

 

[Manshoon]

Is there such a thing as to bright though ? If you are working it would be good to see a pin drop on the floor. If you are staring into the lights, that could be to bright, or not to bright depending on why.

 

[dimarcelli]

The problem with the T5HO fixtures is that installed on a low ceiling, say under ten feet, they will produce hot spots where the light is really intense in just a small area. I would say they're good fourteen feet and up.

 

[brettwind102]

I used to work at lowes I think they t5 not sure about t8 call and ask for electrical dep

 

[Garageguy65]

I have a 25x25 garage with 8 foot ceiling's. I had two 8 ft t-12 high output lights installed in the center of the garage. The lighting was ok from them.

I switched them out to two 8 ft t-5 strips in the center of the garage running front to back.. And added a extra 12 ft of t-5 strips in the front of the garage running side to side.

Both lights on a seperate switch and running Halco 54 Watt - T5 High Output - 5000K - 800 Series Phosphors bulbs.. Picked up a case (25) of them from 1000bulbs.com for around 75 shipped.. The profile of the fixture is about 2.5 inches from the ceiling. The install looks tight. Not bulky looking..

Each fixture ran about $75 if i recall. Lithonia lighting. From HD..

The cheaper price of the bulbs from 1000bulbs made it easier to pull the trigger.


my02v6.. If you question the amount of light they put out.. Dont. I totally love the output. It is really bright in my garage. But not to the point it hurts the eyes.

Very happy I went the T5 route.. Hope it helps.

 

[Chris05gto]

Thanks for all of the input guys.

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk 2

 

[ADKGarage]

I have a 25x30 foot garage with 10' ceilings. Just picked up 6 Lithonia I-Beam 4 bulb t5 HO fixtures. Pricey but I'm hoping to have a bright work shop. Ya think its over kill?

 

[froggert]

I have a 25x30 foot garage with 10' ceilings. Just picked up 6 Lithonia I-Beam 4 bulb t5 HO fixtures. Pricey but I'm hoping to have a bright work shop. Ya think its over kill?

can you surface mount those or do they have to be suspended from the ceiling?

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I went to HD today to look at the T5 light fixtures, on one of the boxes it said for height 15' to 40'. My question is would they work ok at 9'?

If you are looking at the fixtures discussed in THIS THREAD then you might still consider them. If you have a white ceiling, it will act as a reflector and help spread the light. I have two of these fixtures over my workbenches, at about 7 ft, and while they are bright, the light is very welcome and not too much for my tired old eyes.

Here is a comparison pic of the 92 inch four lamps in tandem T5HO fixture on the right vs an old 8ft T12 non-HO fixture on the right.

One member here installed them and decided they were too bright because he entered the garage from the house at an elevated level, putting him near eye level with the fixtures. THIS IS THE THREAD His cure was to install plastic covers over the lights. The covers are short, it takes four to fully cover the 92" fixture above, and they are made for use on the non-HO 28w T5, but they apparently work fine on these fixtures also. Scroll down to post #17 and below in that thread.

Pic mharris2007 posted it the other thread, of lights with the covers on them. I would like to hear about how they are holding up to the heat, as I have considered them to slightly dull the sharpness of the light at my workbenches, and more importantly provide some impact protection when I get to swinging around long things. I have bumped my old bulbs before, but luckily never broke one. Disadvantage to them is that they will collect dead bugs.

 

[ADKGarage]

The fixtures should be suspended but after speaking to the manufacturer, there is no minimum or max distance it needs to hang. So I will leave just 2-3 inches between the fixture and the ceiling. They will be spaced 6 feet apart giving overlap of light on the ground/work bench so I will have no hot spots as described above. Also where the garage door is when closed, I'll be using recessed lights there, things should be good. I'll take some pics before and after. Oh, rather than BS around with trying to wire these up and hang, I'm putting 3 prong plugs on the fixtures and plugging directly into its own outlet, I can't stand beating the **** out of myself trying to hang these and wire them up. So far between the lights and outlets, I've gone through about 600 feet of wire, good thing its cheap ha.

 

[PhantomEB]

Which ones the skinnier of the bulbs? I think the fatter ones will be obsolete eventually too.