Enclosed Flourescents, Not so bright

[chrwilliams]

I previously had (2) dual 8 foot flur. fixtures and it was really bright, plus my garage ceiling was about 14' high. I moved and my new garage is a very low ceiling, maybe 7', but I do a lot of work in there. Plus I have yooun kids and started to be concerned about a bulb breaking from them hitting it or even me, so I decided to buy enclosed fixtures from Lithonia. First they are expensive at $68/ea but they are safe in the sense that they each have 2 bulbs and they are fully enclosed.

I put three of them up to start, one bay is used more for work, etc and even that bay isn't very bright and they use 80 watts per fixture.

I am thinking I may have wasted my money on these, I can replace them and use these in my basement in less intense areas so I won't neet to throw them out

Any suggestions on what to get or maybe I do just have to buy more of them? I do want them enclosed but underestimated the amount of loss they suffer from.

Thank you

 

[Norcal]

I previously had (2) dual 8 foot flur. fixtures and it was really bright, plus my garage ceiling was about 14' high. I moved and my new garage is a very low ceiling, maybe 7', but I do a lot of work in there. Plus I have yooun kids and started to be concerned about a bulb breaking from them hitting it or even me, so I decided to buy enclosed fixtures from Lithonia. First they are expensive at $68/ea but they are safe in the sense that they each have 2 bulbs and they are fully enclosed.

I put three of them up to start, one bay is used more for work, etc and even that bay isn't very bright and they use 80 watts per fixture.

I am thinking I may have wasted my money on these, I can replace them and use these in my basement in less intense areas so I won't neet to throw them out

Any suggestions on what to get or maybe I do just have to buy more of them? I do want them enclosed but underestimated the amount of loss they suffer from.

Thank you

If your concerned about lamp breakage tube guards are available, they are used in commercial kitchens & other places where containing the lamp if they are broken is important. The only downside to them is as they age the plastic yellows.

 

[sams]

well are they not that bright because they are shining through diffusers? if so then get some clear acrylic sheet cut to fit in there instead, you shouldn't be able to notice the difference from a normal fitting then.