LED lighting in High Bay shop

[mach158]

So I tried a search and only came up with LED in shops with 10' or less ceilings or non LED in anything higher then 10'.

I am looking to put LED lights in my shop which is 40x48x16. I would prefer to go with LED as I prefer LED lighting over the fluorescent as the shop will not be heated and can get down to -20*F in the winter. Plus I have some LED lights in the house and really like them.

I have found a few LED lights at various stores such as Home Depot and Lowes but none of them seem to have much for reviews or the ones that do and have pictures have low ceilings.

Does anyone have experience with LED in a high bay setting that can throw an opinion my way?

Or should I just stick with a T5HO or T8 light?

 

[FordsnFishin]

I've done several buildings with some new high bay led fixtures. Overall they seem pretty nice. Give off a bright clean light. The ones we've put in are a 48 led 4' fixture. They should need next to no maintenence for years. Your big draw back will be price, they are no where near cheap.

If I we're doing my shop, I personally would be putting up high bay t5's with the reflective backing. I love the amount of light they put out. An matched with a 6500k series lamp, it is clean light as well.

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[FordsnFishin]

These are similar to what we've been installing. http://www.lithonia.com/commercial/fluorescent+high+bays.html#.VaMuNp8o7qA

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[encantofred]

i went through this myself in my own shop. mine is 65x70 with 20' ceiling, walls are drywalled and painted semigloss white.

here is the thread i started and if you look towards the end at the posts by me (encantofred) you will see how it turned out.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=223133

i would have loved led's but just too expensive for me

i used 5k color temps and it is like a daylight operating room in there at night.

tom

 

[aar0s]

I saw some high bay led lights in a catalog at work yesterday, can't remember the name of the company but I do remember they were in the 20k lumen range. I'll see if I can't get a web addy for ya tomorrow.

 

[cybrdyke]

Mach158,
There are products out there that are exactly what you are looking for, but searching on the internet will only lead you to a thousand websites of complete junk. Home Depot and Lowes wont have what you are looking for on the shelf.
There is Schneider Electric, Border States Electric, Crescent and Graybar near you. They all deal with this every day. They know the products that you are looking for and will even do a layout for you for free to make sure that you get the coverage that you want.
Good luck.
CD

 

[encantofred]

If you look at my thread that has the link above you will see i used shineretrofits. they had very high quality stuff at reasonable prices.

not all online places have junk.

they did the layout lumens calcs as well.

tom

 

[cybrdyke]

If you look at my thread that has the link above you will see i used shineretrofits. they had very high quality stuff at reasonable prices.

not all online places have junk.

they did the layout lumens calcs as well.

tom

I am very glad that your project turned out nicely. I looked at it and it looks good!
But companies like shineretrofits, et al, carry 2nd and 3rd tier manufacturers. All you have to do is look under "brands" on their site and, with the exception of Cree, you will not see any top shelf brands. And most of the "brands" they carry are names that most people have never heard of before. Their prices are typically high, even compared to top tier brands, because most of their customers prefer to buy from the internet rather than having to interact with another human at a local supply house.
But, it's all good. It's just me. I wouldn't send any money to a no-name internet seller. I'm soon to be in the minority, though.
CD

 

[encantofred]

i can see your side as well. i am an EE and analyze everything. the light fixtures i bought are of a good quality and i specifically got them with GE ballast's. the rest is just sheet metal and wire.

so the real point is, buy what you are comfortable with and make sure they work for you both functionally and price wise.

i have a corp account at grainger and other supply houses and i couldnt find what i wanted for what i was willing to spend.

i went through the same exercise on exterior floodlights. i have 16 floodlights mounted at 17' high outside. they are 300w halogens. i have them on a separate 20a circuit for each side. LED's that worked with the same light output and at that height were so incredibly expensive, i decided against them. when they come down i will change them if needed. in fact i bought fairly pricey CFL flood lights but when i tried the first one, they simply were not bright enough.

btw, no one has asked me what brand my lights are when they walk in at night. they just say how incredibly bright they are.

i look forward to when led's that work in my application at the right pricing.

tom

tom

 

[James-W]

I went through the same exercise on exterior floodlights. I have 16 floodlights mounted at 17' high outside. They are 300w halogens. I have them on a separate 20a circuit for each side. LED's that worked with the same light output and at that height were so incredibly expensive, I decided against them. When they come down I will change them if needed. In fact I bought fairly pricey CFL flood lights but when I tried the first one, they simply were not bright enough.

Having 16 halogen lamps each at 300 watts each must be quite expensive to operate.

 

[encantofred]

it would be if i had them on very much. they are switched so each side is separate.

my use model makes them ok.

i have 200a dedicated service to my garage.

tom

 

[LS6 Tommy]

X2 on the advice to contact a local supply house. We have a lot of high bay LED "test" fixtures in the Concept Lab, a complete mock Toys R Us store. They almost all come from feldman Brothers Electric.

Tommy

 

[encantofred]

when you guys do, please be sure to post what you find. i hope the costs have come down.

thanks

tom

 

[Dagny]

LED are coming down in price some and are very nice i'll try to post pics of a recent shop we did 6 bulb t5s

 

[Dagny]

 

[bloomingtonmike]

I did 8 6bulb t5ho 5k howard lights off the jacksonville IL guy on ebay - $880 with bulbs. Crazy awesome bright - lighting the center of my 40x64x16.

I could not find anythng close to that light in led that was that thin a form factor.

I will prob get 8 more and swap out the metal halides i also have on the edges.

 

[encantofred]

the 5k lights i have are howard as well. t5ho. and very inexpensive.

tom

 

[mach158]

I appreciate all the replies thus far. Will I run into any problems with lighting with only having a 100 amp service?

I will have a 220 volt (dont recall specs) air compressor, 220 volt wire welder (dont recall specs) and the usual 110 stuff with two overhead door openers. Of course not everything will be used at once but I didn't think the lights would possibly be using up so much.

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[encantofred]

from a simple view, i dont think you will have any issues. you can do an official load calc.

your compressor and welder and garage door opener and lights will not all be on at the same time.

i only have 200a service and i have a ton more things wired up than what you will ever have. and if it gets marginal, you load manage.

tom

 

[Stuart in MN]

I have a project coming up where the client is planning on using these LED high bay fixtures: http://www.p-2.com/products/qhc They have an integral occupancy sensor, so they will automatically come on when you walk into the room, and sell for a little under $400/ea. I'm looking forward to seeing how they work.

 

[Jefe]

They've been discussed elsewhere with some mixed reviews, but http://www.bigasslight.com/ is worth a look. Designed and made in the USA and you can by direct from them.

 

[bloomingtonmike]

My solution to that was 3 way switches by doors for lights, and the 8500 jackshaft opener's motion sensors by doors and the remote lights above the doors. Walk in either door, light turns on above, I flip on the lights.

I do not want my lights turning off if I am standing at a lathe for awhile. Its a big shop so one person in there could easily cause part of shop's lights to turn off even if I don't want them too.