How Many Lights

[jerkyboy]

I have a 32' X 36' garage with 12' ceilings and have (9) 100 watt cfl bulb ceramic light fixtures; this is too little light. I have (8) 4 light flourescent light fixtures that are 4' long. I'm thinking abour replacing 6 of my 100 watt cfls with the 4' fixtures. Will this be good or should I put up 4 of the fixtures, also what watt bulbs should I put in them? Once again, there are 4 bulbs per fixture.

 

[pattenp]

Are the fixtures T5, T8 or T12?

 

[PhantomEB]

Myself, I would load up all 9 fixtures with the long tubes!

 

[jerkyboy]

Don't know, how would I tell? The bulbs in them now are 34 watt each and the info sticker reads day bright, part no 7-74631-001 and says suitable for damp locations....probably doesn't help but I figured that I'd put it out there.

 

[pattenp]

If the tubes are 5/8" in diameter they are T5. 1" in dia is T8. 1.5" dia is T12. They are most likely T8's so I'd probably use all 8 fixtures.

 

[FunkyfullWidth]

My math may be off a bit, but it gives you an idea.

I have 40, 32w T8 bulbs, in my 21x21 two car garage. It's about right for me.
Your garage is just under THREE times bigger than mine.

I have 8foot ceilings. I STILL need a seperate work light on the bench.....

is that 8 or 4 footers? 40 bulbs! wow... Unless you have 10 8 ft. 4 bulb lamps.

 

[Norcal]

34W are T12 lamps, Daybright is still around, used to be owned by Emerson Electric, now part of Phillips.

http://www.daybrite.com/day-brite/

 

[Jbullfrog]

Get a headlamp, it will be way cheaper.

 

[Steevo]

I used 17 fixtures, each with four 4-foot T8 tubes (68 tubes) to light my 24x40x12 shop.
When they are all on, I don't have issues with shadows or dark zones.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

You are saying 100 watt CFLs, but if these are 100 watt EQUIVALENT then they are only about 35 watt or so. If you were to replace them with actual 105 watt CFLs, which emit light EQUIVALENT to a 400 watt bulb, you will get a lot more light for little work.

Some on this board have tried this and found it works well. Others have poo-poohed the idea (but have never tried it).

THIS THREAD will help you a little with this.

Charles

 

[jerkyboy]

You are saying 100 watt CFLs, but if these are 100 watt EQUIVALENT then they are only about 35 watt or so. If you were to replace them with actual 105 watt CFLs, which emit light EQUIVALENT to a 400 watt bulb, you will get a lot more light for little work.

Some on this board have tried this and found it works well. Others have poo-poohed the idea (but have never tried it).

THIS THREAD will help you a little with this.

Charles

Funny you should mention that as I've tossed that idea around. If I use 6 of the fixtures with (4) 40 watt bulbs each, I'll have a total of 960 watts of light. If I switch out my current 100 watt cfls with 9 400 watt cfls, I'll have a ton more light, right???

 

[jerkyboy]

Just checked out Lowes' website and a 65 watt cfl (300 watt equiv) is almost $18...ouch!!

 

[jerkyboy]

I checked the bulbs in my fixtures and they are T12s. How much more light would I get (if any) from a 4 light fixture, 4' long, with (4) 40 watt fluorescent tubes vs the single 300 watt equiv single cfl? I know the question may sound stupid but I'm guessing that (4) 40 watt 4' tubes will put out more light than its combined wattage of 160, right????

 

[fstbusa]

My math may be off a bit, but it gives you an idea.

I have 40, 32w T8 bulbs, in my 21x21 two car garage. It's about right for me.
Your garage is just under THREE times bigger than mine.

I have 8foot ceilings. I STILL need a seperate work light on the bench.....

I would love to see a pic with those on!!!! I have a 23x29 garage and have 20 lamps and think its bright.