Cliff notes on lighting a 50x60

[baggedcc07]

So let me start off by saying that I've scanned through the lighting layout and best light thread several times over the past year with anticipation of getting my setup purchased. It has sort of been overwhelming for me because I'd like to stay in the range of between 600-1000 dollars for complete fixtures, but I don't want to sacrifice lighting.

So I have a 50x60 shop with 16' walls. I'd like to mount the lights from my roof purlins, and I have a 2 on 12 roof pitch, so the center purlins are closer to 18.5'. I'm not against hanging lights from chains if that's going to be the better route though. Walls are a combination of white backed insulation up top and white/light grey drywall on the bottom 8'. Ceiling is the same insulation and the floor will be a light grey epoxy soon enough.

If imagining the shop layout from overhead, from the center to the right, this area will just be a general area. I was thinking of running 2 rows of 6 in this 25x60 area and using the 4' fixtures paired with one of the bulbs that are listed on the first post of the best LED light thread. On the other side (left side from top) my work bays will be established in a 25x45 area and a fully enclosed room will be in a 15x25 area. So I'm only looking to light the 25x45 area. I'd put 8 fixtures in that area. So basically I'd have 4 of these fixtures in each 25x20 bay when you look at the big picture.

I've also thought about putting 4 8' florescent fixtures on the walls to help out. I'm doing automotive work, but with task lighting being used a lot, I'm not sure if I really want to spend the dough to get 90-100 fc at 30".

I think I've made this long enough lol. With that being said, I look forward to hearing what some of the pro's have to say and seeing what some of the guys with similar size shops have done.

 

[vrinner]

My shop is 40X60X20. Just in the beginning phases of getting the inside setup. As I am doing most of my work at night getting some basic lighting up quickly was necessary.

I have a about 10" wide girts running at about 7'6" all around the inside. I took some 4' LED lights and laid them upside down on the top of the girt spaced about 4' apart (they have those daisy chain plugs on them). So far I have the 40' wide side with 4 lights and another 40' of the 60' with 6 lights and it actually lights up the place pretty good. I also think it looks kind of need too once I get the wood siding up on the walls and do some finish/trim work. With all the white insulation on the walls and ceiling it really helps reflect all the light and with some specific task lighting for work benches it may just be good enough.

For under my mezzanine I put up 8 of those same lights and it's very bright.

This is all temporary but at least gives you an idea on a similar shop size as yours.

 

[baggedcc07]

That's definitely brighter than I would expect. Did you go with metal studs over wood for a particular reason?

 

[vrinner]

That's definitely brighter than I would expect. Did you go with metal studs over wood for a particular reason?

Save on cost but kind of wish I didn't. I ended up pulling a couple of the metal studs and putting in wood to make it stronger for the workbench.

 

[Platonic Solid]

.. I'd like to stay in the range of between 600-1000 dollars for complete fixtures, but I don't want to sacrifice lighting.

Contradictory statement as lighting budget is unrealistically low for a 3000 sq.ft. building. Posting drawings and pictures might help visualize your intentions, but may be pointless without a realistic budget.

 

[zmotorsports]

My shop is the same size, 50x60x16, being divided into a main shop of 40x50 and an RV storage bay of 20x50. I blew my budget on lighting because I decided I wasn't going to go cheap on the lights and have issue after issue down the road like a couple of friends were with their Costco special LED fixtures. I wanted high quality light and a lot of it. Ultimately I used eleven of the 27k lumen fixtures in the shop and 6 in the RV storage bay which netted me just over 100 ft/candles to the floor in the main shop and around 85 ft/candles in the RV bay. For good quality lighting I think your budget may be a bit unrealistic.

 

[baggedcc07]

So I've been thinking of doing away with the 2 bulb 48" fixtures and going with a 24" or 48" high bay.

Looking at possibly either a James Industry 2' or 4' 160 watt that advertises at 20,800 lm or a Greentek 165 watt 4' that advertises 22,425 lm. I tried to posts the links, but couldn't get it to work.

I've been trying to play around with the visual lighting simulator and trying to find comparable lithonia lights to use in the tool.

Seems like if I use 8 of the 4' fixtures, I may be able to get between 75-85 fc at a 30" plain. That's using 80, 80, 50 for my reflectances.

Am I even remotely close in my evaluations or am I out in left field?

 

[Platonic Solid]

50x60x16 - Qty.20 120W 16000 Lumen fixtures (link) 4x5 layout = 87fc @ 30" workplane. Plently of light for most tasks. At $60 ea. total = $1,200 and that's about the lowest cost while maintaining very good lighting. Price only goes up from here. I tested fewer higher output fixtures, but total fixture cost was actually higher and light distribution was less even.

 

[baggedcc07]

50x60x16 - Qty.20 120W 16000 Lumen fixtures (link) 4x5 layout = 87fc @ 30" workplane. Plently of light for most tasks. At $60 ea. total = $1,200 and that's about the lowest cost while maintaining very good lighting. Price only goes up from here. I tested fewer higher output fixtures, but total fixture cost was actually higher and light distribution was less even.

That's not bad at all. Appreciate that. So let me ask, is the layout tool laying them out 4 rows of 5 with the rows going along the 60' span?

 

[Platonic Solid]

Dialux Report (link)

 

[Fasthotrod]

I have a 40x50x14 with a 4/12 pitch. I have a 12' door in the center of the side wall, so the layout is basically 9.5 ft / 9.5 ft / 12 ft / 9.5 ft / 9.5 ft split left to right when it's all said and done. Five "bays" total for lighting, but I split them into left (19 ft) center (12 ft) and right (19 ft) as far as wiring/light switches goes.

I ended up buying some inexpensive 8' LED light fixtures and I hung them from every other c-purlin. They screwed directly to the purlin with some clips that keep them in place, not hung from chains or anything like that. Each fixture is about 9-10k lumen, and I hung 30 of them in the shop. The pics tell the story.

As far as I am concerned, it's plenty bright in there. I guess we'll see when I start wrenching. Because I bought them in bulk, I got them for about $20/piece. I bought two boxes of 25 and sold some to some friends that needed some lighting as well, so we split the costs vs buying them individually.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Mark

 

[baggedcc07]

Platonic Solid, thanks for the help man. I think I'm going with those that you mentioned. Let me get your opinion on this... I'll have 15x25 room on the upper left corner. The room will be walled all the way to the ceiling, so I would loose 16 and 11. 11 and 17 will only be 3 feet away from the wall. Will that be too much of a glare off of the wall? it will be white or light grey painted sheetrock.

 

[Platonic Solid]

baggedcc07 - Move those 2 fixtures to 4ft from the wall. Recommend eggshell paint sheen for best light diffusion.

The 2 fixtures in the 15x25 room should be centered on the 15' wall and will yield 45fc @ 30" workplane. This may be fine depending on the purpose of the room. 45fc is about the level of a typical office environment.

 

[Dagny]

highbay highbay highbay

 

[GRB]

16' is considered tall enough to use most high bay fixtures. Don't use any without diffusers over the LEDs.

You can tell almost NOTHING about the light levels from a picture posted on the web....

You can tell a bit about other characteristics like shadows.

 

[bdk1976]

I have a 60x60x16 (lights about 12-14’ above floor)

I put up 40 of the $20 (on sale) Costco 4’ led lights and couldn’t be happier.

 

[baggedcc07]

baggedcc07 - Move those 2 fixtures to 4ft from the wall. Recommend eggshell paint sheen for best light diffusion.

The 2 fixtures in the 15x25 room should be centered on the 15' wall and will yield 45fc @ 30" workplane. This may be fine depending on the purpose of the room. 45fc is about the level of a typical office environment.

Ok, I'll move those to 4' . I won't be using the other 2 that fall in the office area. That room is going to be a man cave with full kitchen and bathroom and the upstairs portion of it will be storage so just some cheap 4' strips will work up top. Thanks for everything again!

 

[justinthurn]

I might be able to find a pic. I'm not done but have a 50x60x16.i went with 13 250watt high Bay ufo lights I actually got off of wish.com. I have these in my shop and we have some in our shop at work. Over 2,000 hours on the ones at work and no troubles at all. I got them for $65 each with shipping so that is definitely within your budget. I did a 5x5 grid, spacing with 6 ceiling fans too. Hope that makes sense. I only have 5 of these installed so far and can assure you 13 will be too many unless I'm trying to find a screw under a truck! Terrible pics I know, I wasn't trying to take pics of the lights.

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