Driving Myself Crazy Over Lighting Layout...Please Help

[Ryanflathead45]

Ok everybody, I need to get some lights in my barn since I now have the electric service hooked up. But I can't decide the best layout and type of lights to get.
When I had the barn built I had the builders cover the ceiling with white ribbed metal and blow in insulation before they installed the attic floor.

The ceiling is 12 foot high, and when I finish the wiring in the walls they will also be covered in the same white metal.

I have read lots of threads on here about lights, and layouts. I think I want to go with 8 foot long fixtures with two rows of the 4 foot T8 bulbs.

I see that most of the layout designs show running the lights the length of each "garage bay". That seems to make scene to me, but I have garage doors on two different walls of the barn. So to run the lights the length of each bay, the lights will need to be running in 2 different directions.

The main problem that I see with that plan is I want to surface mount the lights to the ceiling.
So one set of lights will be running down in between the valley of the ribs, and the other set of lights will be running in the opposite direction of the ribs and will be sitting on top of the high ribs with gaps being seen between the light and the ceiling.

I'm afraid of how this is going to work, and I'm thinking that there has to be a better way.
Maybe just run the lights in the direction of the ribs, and use some other type of lighting for the bays that would need the odd direction lights???

Here is a rough sketch of the barn floor plan. Any help you have would be great, I'm open to any and all suggestions. I just don't want to mess up right at the start and have to live with it forever...

Thanks in Advance,
Ryan

 

[frankush]

Your over thinking it. No one except you is going to notice the gaps between the ribs and the fixtures. I'd run the genera lighting in one direction, doesn't matter which direction. If you find that you need more light in a particular area, you can always add a fixture. Don't be afraid to suspend the added fixtures. Put the light where you need it and you'll be a happy camper. A good lighting layout includes both general and task lighting. Switch the task lighting separately. You can break up the general lighting by adding switches for specific areas. Storage areas usually don't need to be lit all the time.

 

[sberry]

I got to agree. form follows function here and personally would run a pipe up to some quad boxes and put recepts and make some hook/short chain setups or use perforated strap even better so a guy can customize, change fast and easy, don't have to live with a poor layout uses gobs of power for nuthin due to the fact the installation doesn't follow a pre engineered thought that never worked outright.

 

[Ryanflathead45]

I totally agree that I'm over thinking it. That seems to be what I'm best at, lots of thinking and planning and no real work seems to get done because I'm not sure that I have the correct plan...haha

I think that running the strip lights long ways of the building (the direction of the ribs) might be the best option for the general lighting.

Are there any good general rules of thumb for the spacing of the lights? Such as distance end to end, and side from each light and the distance they should be from the walls?

I forgot to put on my sketch that the finished thickness of the walls is 7.5 Inches. And the ceiling is completely flat.

Thank you again for the help.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I don't see a problem, I would either run 2 or 3 sets down and then add task lights as need. Have each row on it's own switch plus the task lights on their own switch.

 

[frankush]

If you have an idea of who you might purchase the fixtures from, take your floor plan to them and they can provide you with a lighting layout based on the fixture you want to use. Any electrical supply house can do this. The big box stores can too, but they generally don't want to be bothered. They can also suggest alternate fixtures. With 12' ceilings, the T8's are a good choice. There is a standard recommended lighting level for every type of space, whether it's an office, library, warehouse, etc. They plug the numbers in and the lighting design software will spit out a plan free of charge. There are programs online as well, but the programs are usually manufacturer specific. The plan will detail spacing, number of fixtures required and will also provide footcandle levels anywhere on the plan. Good general lighting will have fairly even footcandle levels anywhere on the plan. A ballpark will have very good lighting at the field level, but crappy lighting in the parking lot. The design is done for you, you just have to install them. After you determine the fixture/lamp combo you can shop price based on model number, if you think the prices are high.

 

[grizz_660]

Just the fact that you have a white ceiling, will make a world of difference. I say, go for the best possible light you can afford. Some of the LED fixtures now are becoming quite affordable. If not, My second choice would be a 4/6 lamp T5 high bay. That would be bright.

 

[zendriver]

I have to second possibly scrapping the 150 old technology of fluorescent lights and design your new install, around LEDs.. They are bright, maintenance free, working any temperature and have energy savings of 50 to 60% over fluorescence. If you're not sure if you'll like them or how they will illuminate buy a couple of fixtures and then temporarily position them, to see if the light is where you need it, taking into consideration that eventually you will have white walls. You stated that you wanted to do it right the first time..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LonestarLando]

I've been researching and planning my garage lighting layout recently also. I found that Acuity Brands has a really good web based photometrics viewer to where you can play with the arrangement and type of lights. http://www.visual-3d.com/tools/interior/default.aspx?id=15170

You can adjust spacing as well. If you play around with it, you will see how much light you will actually get per foot. As a quick test, I put in the dimensions you supplied and chose a 8ft T8 light fixture.



It's a quick and dirty, but it shows to get 50fc you will need 12 8ft fixtures spaced approx. 6ft off the walls and about 12ft apart from fixture centers. You can mess with the arrangements more to get what works for you. Either way, this tool gives you a better idea of how lit your area will be based on your layout.

 

[Ryanflathead45]

I have downloaded the visual 3D software shown. But I'm not having much luck.

I was able to search for lights but I could not get them to be added to the bottom of the screen like Lonestar shows. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

 

[HemiRamOn22s]

You probably only need 9 of the 8' lights. 3 rows of three. You want to run them the same way you ran the metal. I have a 60x104' shop and i only have 15 lights. The white metal makes a big difference. Start 10' from either wall and then a row in the middle. Piece of cake dont over think it. You can do 6 lights on a 20A circuit. I drilled throught the metal and hung the lights with toggle bolts. If you are using romex make sure you use a gromlet to keep the wire from chafing.

 

[LonestarLando]

Ryan - Let's try a different way:

Click the link here

Here is where you'll have to dig to find which light model you want to use, or you can search the model if you know it. For this example, I just clicked on "Fluorescent and LED High Bay" (in red)



You should then get a screen that looks like this:



I clicked on "General Purpose" and got this:



I clicked on "IBZ" for this example. After that you get this:



This is all the specific models. Once you find the one you want, you click on the little Red & Blue Lined icon. This should bring up the photometries:



Once you get to here, click on the orange "V" icon on top called "Tools" and you'll get this:



After clicking on the "Interior" icon, the light model should calculate your basic layout. From here you can change dimensions, orientation a bunch of other settings. Hope this helps. If it still doesn't work, maybe try another browser.