Light Fixture Layout Collections

[Platonic Solid]

bored350 - Here are basic Visual Photometric Tool instructions (link) (tailored towards a 5000 Lumen LED 4ft 2 lamp strip light). Use those instructions except use this link to the Visual tool with a 4-lamp F32T8 8ft tandem striplight preselected.

You'll have to change the "Lumens Per Lamp" box to 1600 and wattage to 28 (lower right boxes of Visual Interior Tool). I'm assuming you have F28T8 bulbs and not F32T8 based on the low 1600 lumen output.

Note: The fixture emulation I selected assumes your fixtures do not have reflectors.

 

[bored350]

Thank you. I was able to get my data plugged in and the layout generated with 82 fc achieved using the 4 fixtures. One last question. The plot suggested mounting the lights 5'5" from the side walls and my current J boxes are at exactly 5'. How much will 5" from the plot and a 10" wider spread between rows really matter in real world usage? I don't mind moving the j boxes if I have to, but won't invest the time to do so if the results will be trivial.

 

[Platonic Solid]

bored350 - Don't move your J boxes - difference in results will be trivial.

Note: If budget did permit, I would normally recommend 3 rows of lights to frame the perimeter of the 2 cars.

 

[Haze08]

Any help would be greatly appreciated. My barn layout is not what I would call typical. It is a monitor style.

The center section is 32'w x 40'd x 16' h. It has two 12' x 12' overhead doors and one 36" x 36" window. It has a mezzanine along the back wall that is 8' x 40'. It has storage up top and work benches underneath. The wall that connects to the left lean-to will be open and the wall that connects to the right lean-to will be closed. This area will be for general automotive work with a two post lift in the left bay. It will has white metal panning on the ceiling and 12' down on the walls with light gray metal from the floor up 4'.

The right side lean-to is 16'w x 32'd x 9'h and will be closed off from the main part of the barn. It has a 10' x 10' overhead door and two 36" x 36" windows. It will be used for auto detailing and will have white metal panning on the ceiling and walls.

The left side lean-to is 16'w x 32'd x 9'h and will be open to the main barn. It has a 10' x 10' and a 8' x 7' overhead door and a 36" x 36" window. It will be used for storage of lawn mower, golf cart, etc. It will have white metal panning on the ceiling and walls.

 

[boostedranger]

Platonic Solid,
I have a 40x60x 16 pole barn that we just had built, in the planning stages for lighting and electrical. Will have 1 2 post car lift, garage doors are high lift tracks. I have attached a crude drawing for reference.

What would you suggest for layout?

Thank you
Jon

Edit: sorry, just saw that your not doing layouts anymore, Ill search and find something close and go from there, Thank you for all the great info in this thread

 

[BlueChip]

Great thread here for setting up GOOD lighting

 

[GRivera]

GRivera - I put 30x40x12 in search and come up with more options than I know what to do with, including the post below:

Thanks you - I think my search parameters were the issue.

What are your thoughts on these fixtures and lights for my ceiling height - (24 fixtures)

https://www.shineretrofits.com/maxl...d.html?utm_source=connexity&utm_medium=search

https://greenlightdepot.com/collect...d-linear-versa-tube-ul-dlc?variant=3706824580

 

[Platonic Solid]

GRivera - mmavet just posted this housing (link) in the light fixture thread. I know nothing about the build quality, but it is cheaper.

The Visual Photometric Tool recommends 25 fixtures.

Or you could do 12 of these: https://www.ledlightingwholesaleinc.com/HB-90W320605-L-D-2-p/hb-90w320605-l-d-2.htm

or these: https://www.ledlightingwholesaleinc.com/DM-HB2-110W-50K-p/dm-hb2-110w-50k.htm (might want to use a dimmer with this option)

 

[boostedranger]

Reached out to Aleo lighting and they were nice enough to do a layout, but looks like they are not gonna put out the light I am looking for, still searching.

Jon

 

[GRivera]

Or you could do 12 of these: https://www.ledlightingwholesaleinc.com/HB-90W320605-L-D-2-p/hb-90w320605-l-d-2.htm

Will this option work well with the 12 foot ceiling?

Will this option work well with the 12 foot ceiling?

 

[Platonic Solid]

Will this option work well with the 12 foot ceiling?

Yes, much better than 2 lamp 4ft strip light fixtures. Minimum fixture output for 12ft mounting height is about 8000 lumens (so nothing less than 3 lamp 4ft strip light (link) should be used at 12ft).

 

[GRivera]

Thanks- how about surface mounting with angle of ceiling (scissor trusses) with 2/12 pitch ceiling.

 

[Platonic Solid]

GRivera - Sorry, Too much work to be doing this for free.

 

[GRivera]

I can pay you - what is your fee?

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

I have looked to see if there was a duplicate or similar setup to my garage. If I missed it please let me know.
The fixture I’m thinking of using is the
PHI FSS440L840-UNV-DIM 4’single
PHI FSS880L840-UNV-DIM. 8’single Both LED systems

https://buy.wesco.ca/LED-Strip-Ligh...S880L840-UNV-DIM/p/78419724542-2?dimId=oygabf

They also quoted Fluorescent 2 bulb Cooper products. Thought I would be better off with the LED application. Although the LEDs were roughly double in price per unit.

The building has a 10’ ceiling to the bottom of the open truss ceiling. Ceiling painted white. There are NOwindows on the west side of the building as the pic shows. This likely would likely make no difference for a lighting scenario anyways.

What are the spacing between the Phillips lamps? If any. Would 4 banks made up of 2-8’and a 4’ running down(or close) the centres of the garage doors and one between the garage doors.
The fourth running down from the man door towards the north end of the garage.
One 8’ in the mechanical room. And one strip of 3 8’s running parallel to the cabinet/work bench area? Or is this overkill in your estimation?
This would give me 11 8’s and 5 4’s. This to me is excessive or is it?

 

[Platonic Solid]

Miss the Pontiacs - I'll take a closer look later, but the 4000 lumens of the 40L is too low for 10 ft mounting height. Need to jump up to at least their 5500 Lumen 55L.
http://www.lightingproducts.signify.com/Documents/webdb2/DayBrite/pdf/FluxStream_Strip.pdf

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Patonic Solid-I do appreciate you taking a look.
When I pulled up the lights in question, the info I found is below. The 8's start at 6000 lumens so I am guessing that is good.

Do the higher lumens have any basis for longevity in a fixture or is that an issue?
Again appreciate your assistance.



4' length
30L 3000 lumens
40L 4000 lumens
55L 5500 lumens
70L 7000 lumens


8' length
60L 6000 lumens
80L 8000 lumens
110L 11000 lumens
140L 14000 lumens

 

[Platonic Solid]

Philips claims an L70 of 50,000 hrs. which is only average by todays' standards. How longevity of the LED array plays out depends on how they're laying out their arrays. If they're achieving higher output by maintaining same LED count and just increasing the current to the array, then higher output will translate into more heat = shorter life. If they're increasing the LED qty in relation to the higher current, the array will still be slightly hotter and only slightly affect LED life.

Depending on Lumens per dollar cost of 40L vs 55L vs 70L, I suspect it might be cost effective to go with 70L as you will use fewer fixtures. Would also like to know the cost difference between the 4ft 70L and 8ft 140L.

Worth noting that the 4ft fixture is 44.75" and the 8ft is 89.5".

I expect the 70L to be the sweet spot for a 10' ceiling height garage used for automotive mechanical work. Sweet spot meaning - fewest fixtures required to achieve 93fc @ 30" work plane while maintaining even distribution.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Knowing very little about your space - Here's a 12 fixture 4ft 70L layout (link).
Doesn't quite hit 93fc, but 87fc for only 12 fixtures is pretty good.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Thanks for you time and effort, I do appreciate your assistance. I’m going to call Phillips help line and see how they produce more light if more arrays or by voltage increase.
Thanks for the layout. I will likely add one additional 4’ for the mechanical room.
Now I’m going to try and get a handle on the specs you supplied.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Hi Platonic
Appears I have quick access to 11 of the fixtures you mentioned in your spec.



SIGNIFY DAY-BRITE - CFI - FSS470L840-UNV-DIM 4' FLUXSTREAMSTRIP 2-LINEP 2.40L6 4000K BOARDS 75W DRIVER 10.5KRESISTOR


I guess I'll pull the trigger.
Thanks Again

 

[snowdust2]

What a thread. I have read for a few hours now. I'm building a 28x40 shop with 10' ceilings and all drywalled. One 16'w x 9'h door in the front. (28' side) Used the DIALux tool and looks like I can get away with the attached layout using these lights: https://www.prolighting.com/t443ssubcxx00p0-18w5k.html

I am wondering if I should run the lights the opposite way or not. Seems like most recommendations for others were that way. I think those lights are ideal for my 10' ceiling, but would like confirmation on that as well. (maybe a hair too bright, but not sure)

Shop will be used to work on cars, snowmobiles, 4wheelers, etc.

 

[Platonic Solid]

snowdust2 - 28x40x10 - the fixture is correct, but the quantity is not. The screen shot you have is the Visual Photometric Tool (not Dialux). Screen shot doesn't show the results panel on the right. Workplane should be set to 2.5'. In Dialux I get 18 fixtures (6x3) arrangement yielding exactly 94fc @ 30" workplane, fixtures parallel to 40' wall.

 

[snowdust2]

Thanks Platonic. I just downloaded Dialux but that one looks to have a steeper learning curve. I made some adjustments in the other tool and understand it better now. It is having me run 4 rows of 4 to get the same lu. Would that work fine as well or would you prefer the 6x3?
I never thought lights would be so technical. Pretty cool to have a guy like you on this site. I didn't see where you have a way to send you a few bucks for your time, but if you do let me know. (or send a PM) At least mine is an easy one!

 

[Platonic Solid]

snowdust2 - Yes, Dialux has a much steeper learning curve. Dialux results for 4x4 = 83fc which is good for most tasks. Thanks for the payment offer, but I only (sometimes) request that when there's real work involved. A full blown layout taking everything into consideration can easily take 5 hrs. to get perfect. What I'm doing here only takes a few minutes. You properly defined your space, the purpose and selected the right fixture.

 

[hubnut]

Hey guys, so I am to the point of adding lighting to my shop and I've almost driven myself insane reading about light fixtures, reflectivity, and playing with the visualizer tool. My shop is 40x60x10 post frame, open truss ceiling, truss spacing is 5ft, white wrap insulation throughout. Actual floor to truss height is about 9' 6". I have been looking at the PLT 4ft led strip fixtures @ 1000bulbs. I'm not hung up on replacement bulb style fixtures. The issue I have with the PLT fixture is that it is only an 80 cri. Beyond that it is 50,000hr, 4600 lumen, 5000k, 32 watt. Americangreenlights has a comparable fixture with a 92 cri rating but at nearly twice the cost. The best I could come up with using the visualizer tool was 36 fixtures to achieve a 96fc at a 30in workplane. That was at 4600 lumens and 80% reflectivity for ceiling and walls, 20% floor. Just looking for some recommendations from some folks that are smarter than I am!

 

[Platonic Solid]

hubnut - Higher CRI has lower lumen output and higher price tag. 80 CRI is good for practically all tasks. 70 CRI is poor. There are very few instances where 90+ CRI is recommended: Paint matching, Hospital surgical suites, photography studios and art galleries. Unless you have some special needs, save your money and get 80+ CRI.

40x60x9.5 using 35 3-lamp strip lights (link) 5x7 pattern = 88fc @ 30" workplane.

Same fixture qty and arrangement using 2-lamp strip lights = 58fc ...

 

[hubnut]

Awesome! Thank you so much for the info! I'm going to get them ordered!

 

[Mr T body]

Read through the thread and thought I'd see what suggestions there are for my garage before the architect gets too far along.
Dimensions are 34'w x 60'd x 17'h. Lift will go where the center car is and am planning as much LED as possible to keep the load down. There's 200 amps service now at the pole, so will be breaking off 100 amps to the garage subpanel. The large box on the right represents a toyhauler, but will have the right side on a separate lighting switch so the area is usable and lit when it's not inside.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Mr T body - That requires more detailed analysis than a simple - use this many of this fixture.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Here's what I'm working with...

30x30 (~28x28' inside), with 10' walls vaulting to 14' flat ceiling in center. Two 10' overhead doors, with lift on one side. Walls and ceilings will be sheetrocked and painted light color. Floor will remain a natural only being sealed.

PM @Platonic Solid

Here's a visual

 

[Innovate1]

Just starting on a 30 x 40 x 14' H garage. Plans have "2' x 4' LED FLUORESCENT LIGHT FIXTURE" - not sure what they intended there - maybe led OR Fluorescent? 12 of them as shown in the attached. Have simple plug in dual 4' Fluorescent fixtures with LED retrofit bulbs in a 9' ceiling now and it works well. I can move lights around to minimize shadows. Seems like I will want something nearer the walls to minimize shadows over work benches. Outlets in the ceiling seem to give flexibility of location. Putting the lights right over the the raised OHDs seems like a poor plan - maybe put ones to each side and one in the middle over the door so I still have the side lights with the door raised? Drywall painted white - perhaps some white OSB or plywood on the walls in some places. Looking for lighting suggestions...

 

[Platonic Solid]

Innovate1 - See following posts:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6904184#post6904184

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6645798#post6645798

 

[CJseven]

Is there a decent free light meter app for iPhone, I’m just wanting to mess with one in my shop to see what the numbers are and maybe change up the lighting?

 

[spitfire557]

I’m looking to install lighting in my 30x50x12 pole barn. Right now it has open ceiling but eventually will have a white ceiling and OSB walls. The building will be used for storage and tinkering on cars. The back wall will have two 10’ work benches, and the primary work space will be the back right corner. I do not need or want an elaborate lighting setup as I'm a big fan of the “keep it simple” theory. The garage will only be used a few times a week so I’m not concerned about energy usage. Any recommendations? Thanks in advance!

 

[Platonic Solid]

...I do not need or want an elaborate lighting setup as I'm a big fan of the “keep it simple” theory....

What does that mean?

• You have a low budget and spending ~$1000 on lighting is out of the question?

• You only want enough light to see where you're going and will use portable task lighting for the rest?

• You'd rather spend $500 on 24 disposable any-brand plug-in shop lights intended for 8 ft max mounting height for 48fc @ 30" workplane than spend $1000 on correct style fixtures for 100fc?

• Installing a $30 dimmer is beyond the scope of this project?

 

[spitfire557]

What does that mean?

• You have a low budget and spending ~$1000 on lighting is out of the question?

• You only want enough light to see where you're going and will use portable task lighting for the rest?

• You'd rather spend $500 on 24 disposable any-brand plug-in shop lights intended for 8 ft max mounting height for 48fc @ 30" workplane than spend $1000 on correct style fixtures for 100fc?

• Installing a $30 dimmer is beyond the scope of this project?

I would say my ideal budget is $500-$750. If a decent lighting setup can not be had for that, then I’d consider upping the budget. I do not need body shop bright lighting, enough to work on my cars and move around. I can hang task lighting above the work benches. I have no issue installing a dimmer if it makes things easier.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Lowest cost/highest lumens per dollar fixture = 16000 Lumen 120W for $60 ea (link). Qty. 12 fixtures 3x4 pattern yields 103fc @ 30" workplane. Add dimmer and zones to suit useage. Total cost = $720 + shipping.

Above fixture is higher output than recommended for 12 ft ceiling. The 90W (link) is more appropriate at Qty 15 (3x5 pattern).

 

[spitfire557]

Lowest cost/highest lumens per dollar fixture = 16000 Lumen 120W for $60 ea (link). Qty. 12 fixtures 3x4 pattern yields 103fc @ 30" workplane. Add dimmer and zones to suit useage. Total cost = $720 + shipping.

Above fixture is higher output than recommended for 12 ft ceiling. The 90W (link) is more appropriate at Qty 15 (3x5 pattern).

Excellent, thank you very much!

 

[Platonic Solid]

spitfire557 - Low cost dimmer (link). Use standard wall switches for ON/OFF function. Dimmer connected to violet and gray wires from fixtures - jumping from one fixture to the next and ending at the dimmer. 1 dimmer can control all fixtures even if you have multiple ON/OFF zones.