can i use drop ceiling lights?

[hercules633]

I recently bought some 2x4 lights housing (3 bulbs) off Craigslist that were in a business. They were installed in a drop ceiling. My question is can I recess these in the ceiling and then lay insulation over the top of them when I insulate ceiling? Or would I be better off surface mounting them? I think they would look better recessed. They have metabolic diffusers on them to reflect light better. I will try to add some pics later. I got 21 of them for a 32x48x12 shop

 

[Norcal]

You cannot insulate over the top of them, overheating of the ballast will result.

 

[hercules633]

How come on these it will overheat, but on others you can flush mount?

 

[Motofixxer]

Some are engineered and spec'd for insulation others aren't. Kinda like a 6pt socket vs a 12 pt. Do they both work for the same thing...sure, will one work better than the other...yes. They were designed for different situations, similar but different.

 

[hercules633]

Makes sense I guess. Now what would be the best way for me to use these lights? Insulate top of trusses and below roof sheeting, and then use lights similar to what they were designed for, and center them on bottom of the trusses?

 

[Motofixxer]

You can finish your ceiling like normal, then just screw the lights up to the ceiling I believe, depending on construction of the lights. You could spray foam the underside of roof sheathing and trusses to get proper R value then mount lights to bottom chords of trusses.

You could hang the lights from chains like some lights are done. There are lots of options.

 

[D KRAGER]

I used them in my ceiling. I simply framed out around the fixture. I left airspace above the fixture so the ballast could cool. Just spaced up the sides of the frame and used some scrap tin to cover the top, then just used blow in cellulose above that.

I'm switching all my ballasts over to the new T-8's as I have time and money. The new electronic ballasts run much cooler than the old T-12 magnetic ballasts.

 

[n2ocamaro]

I used them in my ceiling. I simply framed out around the fixture. I left airspace above the fixture so the ballast could cool. Just spaced up the sides of the frame and used some scrap tin to cover the top, then just used blow in cellulose above that.

I'm switching all my ballasts over to the new T-8's as I have time and money. The new electronic ballasts run much cooler than the old T-12 magnetic ballasts.

I am doing something similar to this. In the process of putting insulation in the ceiling right now. I also plan to switch over to t-8 ballasts in the future.

 

[hercules633]

Thanks guys for all the input. Krager and camero, do you guys like how it layer out ir do you wish you would have went with standard 8 foot garage lights? And did you use regular recess light t bar to hang lights? What kind of spacing and how many lights?

 

[n2ocamaro]

I framed out spots between the cross beams that tie my roof together with 2x4's. There are 4 of them spaced 4 ft apart right now. I need 2 more. I will probably just go get some new t-8's (same size). When I bought the lights I did not realize they were t-12's. If I had known I would have just passed on them and bought 4ft, 2 bulb, t-8's.

 

[D KRAGER]

To hang the fixtures- the outside bottom edges have a small lip that I butted up to my frame, and simply ran screws up at an angle through the edge of the fixture into the wood frame.

I love the light, and the clean look of mounting them recessed into the ceiling.

I have 30 x 32 x 10' tall. I have 13 fixtures with 4 4' bulbs each. Wired on different switches so I can light certain areas.

 

[64dragnwagon]

I used some in my basement. Screwed them to the bottom of the floor joist, no insulation above them, no problem.