Enough Light

[Bib Overalls]

When I built my 30'x40' shop 10 years ago the money ran out before I got my lights up. The side walls are 10' high and the steel truss roof peaks at 15'. The trusses are spaced 10' on center. So I have four 10' x 30' bays. The walls and ceiling are white covered "ag board." The trusses are black and the wood purloins are raw.

My cheapest option at the time was $10 WalMart shop lights. I put up 12, 3 in each bay, with 2 40 watt T-12 tubes.

Times are better (sort of) and I need to upgrade the lighting so that I can do some real work in the shop.

Local electrical supply suggested using two 8' T8 florescent strips (4 32 watt tubes) in each bay for a total of 8 in the shop.

Will this be enough light?

 

[Garage5.9]

I asked a similar question before and what ive been told is " If astronauts need sunglasses because your lights are too bright in space then its enough" so probably noyt

 

[Bib Overalls]

If astronauts need sunglasses because your lights are too bright in space .....

Funny. But I am going to put the lights on the ceiling, not the roof.

 

[Garage5.9]

Funny. But I am going to put the lights on the ceiling, not the roof.

haha you never know

 

[wanna_be]

I would suggest you check out the T5 High Bays. The ones we have are 6 4' 54W bulbs. That is a total of 324W but is suppose to be the equivalent of 400W MH. You can also set them up to run 4 bulbs, 2 bulbs, or all 6. We have 6 covering a 30x60 area and that is plenty of light.

 

[jvitez]

You can get very detailed with luminosity at X-height off the floor, etc, but a reasonable rule of thumb with 32 watt T-8 fluorescent bulbs, most of which average about 2800 lumens per bulb, is 1.5-2.0 watts, not lumens, per sq. ft.

So your 30x40=1200 would be 1800-2400 watts of electricity use in total. 2400 watts would be 75 bulbs, or 18.75 4-bulb fixtures, or 4.7 per "bay."

This gives you an idea of how much light is really required. Anyone over 40 knows what I mean

My person garage lighting plan works out to ~ 1.6 watts per sq. ft. with 4 ft 2-bulb T8 fixtures.

 

[nehog]

Funny. But I am going to put the lights on the ceiling, not the roof.

You misunderstood: they have to be bright enough to shine THROUGH the roof, so the astronauts can see 'em! Turn on all the lights in my shop, open the garage doors, and outdoors at high noon gets dim!

 

[fjr04]

I have a 24x34 area and initially installed 3 - 8' T12 HO's due to cost. I installed them in one long strip spaced evenly and they laid out the light nice and even. I would suggest that you stay away from high bay lights as they have a tendency to concentrate the light in one area if you can't mount them really high.

Last week I ordered 6 - T5 HO 8' lights. They are the 4 - 4' lamp design and with my ceiling only being 10' 6" I went with the low bay High output versions. They are special order through the electrical supply store and run $114 with lamps each. This will allow me to really spread the light around with 2 rows of evenly distributed light.

 

[Bib Overalls]

Well, it looks like I need to go back to the drawing board.

At 68, I certainly know about tired old eyes.

 

[Falcon67]

You misunderstood: they have to be bright enough to shine THROUGH the roof, so the astronauts can see 'em! Turn on all the lights in my shop, open the garage doors, and outdoors at high noon gets dim!

My old shop had 12 T8 4x2 fixtures with 6500K bulbs. I could throw the door open at night and pull in bugs from another state.

2 8'ers in each bay may be enough. Maybe. Spaced evenly, they'd be 4' off each wall with 6' in the middle. Sets would be spaced long ways every 8' - that may be a little weak.

 

[enginenine]

I have 3-400w Metal Halide high bays down the center with 4-T12 fluorescents down both sides where the wall meets the roof, angled slightly toward the center. All on separate switches.

 

[jeepntxj]

I've got (8) 4' 2 bulb fixtures with 32W T8's at 6500K in my 24x36.
Is it bright? Yes.
Is it bright enough? No.
I just got back from Lowes with 4 more fixtures. Still don't think it'll be enough.

Just be sure to make provisions in your wiring to easily add more light at a later time.

And don't forget about wall mounted lights shining towards the middle of your work space. That will make a BIG difference in the amount of available light. Just put them on a different switch if you dont want them on all the time.

 

[Call me the Breeze]

I've got (5) 8' 4 bulb fixtures with 32W T8's in the 24' x 24' rear section of my shop. Plenty of light in that section.

 

[bochnak]

I have about 1W per sq ft, and thinking about adding more at some point.

 

[Grape Ape]

I would suggest you check out the T5 High Bays. The ones we have are 6 4' 54W bulbs. That is a total of 324W but is suppose to be the equivalent of 400W MH. You can also set them up to run 4 bulbs, 2 bulbs, or all 6. We have 6 covering a 30x60 area and that is plenty of light.

+1 on the T5 High Bays

I just got done installing 15 (3 rows of 5) T5 High Bays (4 tubes per fixture)in my 40 x 60 - 12' ceiling building. They are plenty bright even though my walls and ceiling are still bare. They are silent as well.

They are not cheap though. They ran me about $130 each with tubes.

 

[CaptainRay]

I looked into T-8 florescent lighting and found that they are brighter and consumes less electricity. Natural daytime bright. The tubes use three different types of phosphorous and create a wider band of light. They also burn full bright from day one until the end. Regular florescent starts bright initially and gradually fades over time. You can find out more info here http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Shop_lighting.html
Some good advice there too...

 

[Steevo]

I think the term "Enough light" is amusing.
You can never have enough light, enough money, enough shop space, enough toys, tools, etc.

 

[bokchoy07]

Go with T5 fixtures they are the most efficant and the brightest

 

[jimmie jam]

When putting my 600sf garage addition on last year I went crazy on this very lighting issue. I had 9 fixture boxes installed (ceiling is 13') double switched, etc., etc.. In order to get the electrical final before I could decide on fixtures I had the electricians put those single ceramic fixtures in. I then went to Costco and picked up a box of 75w CFL daylight bulbs for the final inspection as they were only $9+- for the box. After installing these bulbs the space was lit up like a basketball court. I have never changed them to the popular T-8's. At times, simple can work better than over doing the process. Better yet, all nine bulbs use a total of a 150w bulb. FWIW. Good luck.

 

[nit2wn]

I put two 150w CFL bulbs in our ceramic holders. The nice thing is they only pull 41 watts each. I still want more light, but it will probably take a rewire and several fixtures for what I want. I found the 300 equivalents at Home Depot too but wasn't brave enough to screw those things in.

 

[nissan_crawler]

I have 9 4' dual bulb t8 32w fixtures in a 19x23. Is it enough? Yes. Is it overkill? Not by a long shot.

 

[dankicksass]

I put two 150w CFL bulbs in our ceramic holders. [...] I found the 300 equivalents at Home Depot too but wasn't brave enough to screw those things in.

I have one of those in an old ceramic box-top fixture and one in a new plastic fixture, no troubles.

 

[DrunkSmurf]

I was reading on a study that showed maintaining the same reading speed you had at age 20 required 50 percent more light when you reach 50. At age 60 it requires twice as much light, and at 80 three times as much.

I know I've been adding more and more tube fixtures, along with incandescents at certain work stations. I find incandescents work better in areas that I do detail work such as carving, drawing etc.

 

[billfish111]

I have 30x30 with 10, 4' 2bulb t5 HO. I put one over each work bench and 8 spaced where the garage doors (front or back) will not block it. I'm happy with it. My eyes are 50. I had t8s in my prior 2car and I like this better.