Light Fixture Layout Collections

[chopper88]

@Platonic Solid
So I played around with Dialux Evo...

If you have a moment to spare, could you provide me with feedback, or an alternative design for the space you feel is a better layout? I'm struggling a bit what would be best for this shape.
I came up with the attached layout as a best solution so far.

Measurements are inside, done in meters (I'm from Europe )
There are double outside swinging doors about 8.5' wide in total at the 3.15 line, no garage door or anything blocking on the ceiling.
Ceiling height is 250cm or 8.2'.
Calculation surface is a workplane at 75cm or 29.5".
I've used the actual lights I intend to use, they are available in a Dialux catalog by the manufacturer (V-Tac), and gave the walls, ceiling and floor their actual colours to get a relatively 'realistic' approximation.

I had already ordered the fixtures, they are V-Tac VT-1532 LED SMD fixtures, 5' long, 32W at 160 lm/w, so outputting 5120LM. It's the VT-6484 configuration, meaning 6400K.
Probably should've done some more research before ordering the fixtures, but never knew I would be researching it to this extend until a day or 2 ago... I'd really like to use these fixtures though.

 

[Platonic Solid]

chopper88 - You lucked out - I've never been able to use any of the fixture maunfacturer's included with Dialux. What's the purpose of the space?

 

[chopper88]

Hehe, too bad most of my luck consists of things like this

Unfortunately quite generic, but it's sort of a general purpose space. I'll be wrenching on my motorcycle and all sorts of outdoor power equipment, will be doing tig welding, but also have a tablesaw in there for some wood working.
I'm not sure of the exact final layout yet, but will most likely put the toolbox and several 6-8 foot storage cabinets on the long side against the wall, intend to have a workbench with dedicated light on the 3.35m side, and will do my wrenching and welding in the middle of the room so I can walk freely around what I'm working on. The saw placement is not that important, it can be moved, even outside if needed.

 

[Platonic Solid]

chopper88 - I'm not loving the fixture forced into the point. I'd be tempted to experiment with 2 fixtures parallel to the 4.99 wall.

 

[chopper88]

Thanks for the feedback so far Platonic Solid! I agree about the point, the whole building shape is kind of awkward and has me struggling a bit.

I played around by moving the two fixtures in the point parallel to the wall as you said, that left somewhat of a 'dark spot' in the center (par.jpg).

Next I rotated the 3rd fixture in the center of the point so it was parallel as well, that evened the output out a bit (par2.jpg).

Then I got another idea, what if I just approach the room as if it were rectangular, and use two fixtures to fill out the point as much as possible?
Also moved the fixtures a tiny bit (3" to 5") away from the long wall and moved everything from right to left a tiny bit to even out things and move the light a bit away from the 6.00 wall towards the center (par3.jpg).

All 3 of these options are already better than the first one. Option 3 has the best output I think, but has me little worried about possible shadows if I place something in there diagonally on the orientation of all the fixtures. However with a 90+ FC average and looking at some random objects I placed in there in Dialux, those worries might be unfounded...

 

[Platonic Solid]

chopper88 - Any one of the three is fine. You really can tweak these things forever.

 

[chopper88]

Thanks for the affirmation Platonic Solid!

 

[darrahc]

Hey guys,

Spent several hours going through the thread and although much closer than when I began, am still a little confused about lighting options. I'm building a 46'x23'x12' garage and am using the Visual 3-d tool to model the layout but my head is spinning on lighting options. The space will be used for working on my cars and doing some detailing (not as a business).

From what I've be able to gather, these are the options:
110W - LED High Bay - 14410 Lumens - 4-Lamp T5HO Equal - 5000K - 120-277V
21,000 - LED High Bay - 6-Lamp T5HO Equal - 5000K - 120-277V
70W - LED High Bay - 8500 Lumens - 4-Lamp 32W T8 Equal - 5000K - 120-277V
TechBrite 48" 3 Lamp LED T8 Strip Fixture - 5000K - 8,019 Lumens - 120-277V
LED Linear High Bay - 110W - Slim High Bay - Frosted Lens - Chain Mounting - Gen 5
100W - UFO LED High Bay - 13286 Lumens - 250W MH Equal - 5000K - 120-277V

Will any of these work or am I getting off track?

The contractor is recommending these flush mounted lights but they don't seem like they will nearly be good enough for what I am wanting.

 

[Platonic Solid]

darrahc - You'll need a combined total fixture lumen output of around 175,000 Lumens. Fixture spacing (fixture center to center) 12' or less. Your space is a bit awkward as the outer bays are very close to the walls and the center space has lots of clearance which makes me want to put those 2 rows 15' apart (right over your attic access), but that exceeds the 12' max spacing. You'd need 40 of those 1x4 flat panels you linked to (bad idea). No simple answer, but 4240 lumen flat panels aren't it. Need at least 12 fixtures - probably more. I'd go for 15.

5 rows of 3 with 10' spacing, thus ~11,700 lumens per fixture. This puts fixtures right down the middle so if you have a lift in the center bay you might want to remove the one X,Y center fixture.

 

[darrahc]

Thanks, Platonic.

So based on your recommendation, would I need to add a 3rd light to every row using these light options or am I way off base?

 

[Platonic Solid]

darrahc - I did a test layout and you can use 5 x 2 with higher output fixtures as you show above.

 

[Platonic Solid]

darrahc - I should note that room reflectance matters alot. If your walls and ceiling are bare wood, change reflectance to 20 for each. Without reflective surfaces lighting between cars and walls will suffer.

 

[darrahc]

The walls will be painted. I think eggshell was the recommendation earlier back in the thread but I need to double check.

Thanks so much for your input! I'll be sure to post pictures when it's completed!

 

[adamsf986]

Hey guys I'm new here, excited to ask yall some questions as well as answer any that I can. I'm a welder, engine builder and I like to pretend I can work wood too lol. Anyways today I just clicked on the first post I saw because I couldn't figure out how to create my own posts? I feel dumb but if someone could point me in the tight direction I would appreciate it.

 

[Rocksteady]

Would you recommend your layout in 427 or something more like one of these 2? Garage is 19ft deep 23 ft wide with 9 ft ceilings.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Would you recommend your layout in 427 or something more like one of these 2? Garage is 19ft deep 23 ft wide with 9 ft ceilings.

More like this:

Assuming 2-lamp 4ft strip lights.

 

[Rocksteady]

Assuming 2-lamp 4ft strip lights.

Thank You, and yes with the t8 led bulbs. Using for projects and a gym, no cars will be parked in there. I will order the 13 fixtures tonight! Thanks again!

 

[Platonic Solid]

Rocksteady - The layout is tailored for cars. Not much point to framing cars with fixtures when there won't be any cars in there. You also don't need the 80fc that this layout provides (depending on the type of projects).

 

[Rocksteady]

Is there any simple lighting plan you would recommend than to light the whole garage adequately?

 

[Platonic Solid]

Rocksteady - Use the Visual Tool (link). Insert 50 fc in the illuminance box. You only need 6 fixtures.

 

[joelb]

Thanks a lot for all of the information you have already put out here, it's been great reading everything. I've been trying to match my setup to similar ones here and my original though was to use this fixture the 3-bulb TechBrite 48" 3 Lamp LED T8 Strip Fixture. My space is roughly 32x32 (it is a single bay and a double bay; the single has a 2' extension, but I don't think that will factor into the layout). The problem is the single bay and the double bay are separated by a support beam that sticks down from the ceiling about 8". When I use the above fixture in the visualization tool I get a 4x4 grid to get to 98 fc, but a 4x4 grid would require me to mount a fixture on or across the support beam, so I would have to mount the fixture on the beam itself, or hang it from chains, and I don't want to do either.

Another option would be a 5x3 grid, but this leaves the rows very spaced out, but this gives about the same number of fixtures as the 4x4. Another option would be a 5x5 grid, but using a 2-bulb fixture instead of the 3 bulb fixture; this would give 101fc according to the visualization tool. And just for fun, I laid out a 5x3 layout, but with some perpendicular lights thrown in, this would also use the same number of 2-bulb fixtures as the 5x5, but it will frame the front and backs of cars a bit.

Any and all advice/suggestions are welcome. Are there other layouts or fixtures I should look at? Which layout is best or would you go with? Thanks!

I'll attach/link pictures as soon as I hit 5 posts.

 

[Platonic Solid]

joelb - No ceiling height

 

[joelb]

joelb - No ceiling height

Ah yes, forgot that. The ceiling is 11'2" and i just measured the support beam and it sticks down 10" and is 6.5" wide.

 

[Platonic Solid]

joelb - 3-Lamp 8000 Lm strip light:

Qty.16 in a 4x4 pattern yields 73fc @ 30" work plane.
20 in a 4x5 pattern = 90fc ...
24 in a 4x6 = 108fc ...
25 5x5 = 112fc ...
Using the 5x5 pattern and replacing the 2nd and 4th rows with 2-Lamp strip lights yields 96fc ...

 

[joelb]

Sweet, thanks for the help! The 4x5 sounds like exactly what I want because 5 columns of lights fits perfectly around that beam. 2 columns on the single bay side, and 3 columns on the double bay side.

 

[Mesozoic]

Just downloaded DIALux evo and trying to import my plans... should be interesting. Thanks GarageJournal for all the education... and I do mean ALL the education necessary to at least coordinate the construction of a garage project!

 

[PNWguy]

Platonic,

You suggested a high bay for a previous shop space that is similar to mine. How does this look to you?
31 x 39 x 12. White metal or sheetrock ceiling, white or light walls and concrete floors. Used for automotive, machining and fabrication.

I hadn't really looked at high bays, because I thought they were for higher than 12' ceilings.

Edit: the attachment looks terrible and is not useful.
JEBL 12L 50K 80CRI - on a 3x3 grid
83fc @ 30"

Mainly, is that a good choice for a 12' ceiling?

 

[Platonic Solid]

PNWguy - 9 fixtures in a space that size isn't ideal. The white walls will help reflect light to where you need it, but I'd rather go with 12 surface mountable linear high bays in a 3x4 pattern (assuming your garage is 3 bays on the 39' side). Something like this (with the surface mounting bracket option). Put them all on a dimmer.

Edit: with 9 of the JEBL, I get 77fc at 30" work plane. You could do 12 of the JEBL = 101fc ...

Since you're pushing more lumens out of a small fixture, UFO lights will generate more glare. You'll also probably want the JEBL surface mounting bracket to pull the fixture as close to the ceiling as possible - the bracket also keeps the fixture parallel with ceiling & floor. The brackets are kinda pricey (link).

 

[pzcg7l]

Wow. Great thread. Sensory overload for sure.

Still not sure where to go with the lighting on my project. I have a new construction 34W x 28D x 10H pole barn. It's basically a detached 3 car garage. The left side will have a 4 post lift and a single 9x8 garage door. The right side will have a 16x8 garage door. Walls and ceiling will be painted white. I'll primarily be using it for vehicle storage and detail work prior to car shows. I've been leaning towards 3 or 4 rows of 2x 8ft flush mount lights running along the 28ft depth of the building (6-8 total fixtures), but could you recommend me a layout for my place? Appreciate the help.

 

[PNWguy]

PNWguy - 9 fixtures in a space that size isn't ideal. The white walls will help reflect light to where you need it, but I'd rather go with 12 surface mountable linear high bays in a 3x4 pattern (assuming your garage is 3 bays on the 39' side). Something like this (with the surface mounting bracket option). Put them all on a dimmer.

Edit: with 9 of the JEBL, I get 77fc at 30" work plane. You could do 12 of the JEBL = 101fc ...

Since you're pushing more lumens out of a small fixture, UFO lights will generate more glare. You'll also probably want the JEBL surface mounting bracket to pull the fixture as close to the ceiling as possible - the bracket also keeps the fixture parallel with ceiling & floor. The brackets are kinda pricey (link).

Thanks! Is there a rule of thumb for max lumens at a specific height?

 

[Mathewloewe]

So I have been doing a lot of reading on here the past few days and was looking to get a little help as I am no where near as experienced as half of you are lol.

So here is the pole barn I'm having done. 20'x20'x12' with one roll up door off set to one side on the gable end of the barn. It will have insulation on the ceiling white backing, with unfinished metal walls and concrete floor. Later I also plan to put a lift in on the side with the door. The question I have is what would net me the best light and be sufficient to see. I will be doing mechanic work on cars and fabricating roll cages. I have no idea how much FC I want or need; just from reading I gathered I would want at least 60-70fc, but I am unsure.

Secondly, would LED be better for my application or should I go with and older style T8 or something? There are so many light choices my head starts to spin lol. I just want to be able to see and possibly not spend $1500 on lights.

All the help is appreciated very much.

 

[joelb]

Thanks for the help Platonic, couldn't be happier with how things are looking. Still have two more fixtures to hang and then I'll have pictures of the results.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Thanks! Is there a rule of thumb for max lumens at a specific height?

There are many many rules. The IES publishes several volumes of rules. It's not all about max lumens @ X height. Fixture spacing (aka: spacing criteria "SC") is critical to reduce shadows. Size of objects in the space affects layout placement. Example: Installing a fixture dead center above an SUV will generate shadows.

SC math explained here (link)

What I can say is 12000 lumen medium distribution fixtures work well at 12ft mounting height when seeking 93fc @ 30" work plane.

 

[PNWguy]

What I can say is 12000 lumen medium distribution fixtures work well at 12ft mounting height when seeking 93fc @ 30" work plane.

Excellent; that's the kind of info I was hoping for.

My slab just got poured, and framing starts Monday. Stuff is getting real.

 

[perfect]

Platonic Solid - thank you so much for all the effort you put into this thread!

Can you please confirm my design and answer a few questions?

• 25W x 25D x 16H garage
• 2-post lift in the left bay
• Typical auto/mechanic work
• White painted ceiling/walls
• Bare concrete floor

Visual-3D shows 20 fixtures in a 4x5 grid (using the CLX L48 5000LM HEF L/Lens MVOLT GZ10 50K 80CRI from the sticky post)

1. Any concerns with the designed lighting plan?

2. What fixture / LED bulb combo is recommended for 16' ceilings? I plan on mounting them to the ceiling (instead of hanging them lower)?

3. Are 20 fixtures safe to run on a single dedicated circuit (I haven't figured out the amperage draw to calculate... maybe it will depend if you recommend different fixtures/bulbs for my ceiling height).

 

[Platonic Solid]

perfect - 16' is unusually tall for a 25x25 space. This space would be a nightmare to light if it wasn't for the white ceiling and walls. I would opt for a ~15,000 lumen high bay fixture with surface mounting brackets. Qty.9 3x3 layout, all fixtures 3ft from walls and 1 in center.
The MLLG-AL-LED-HBLIN2-110-50 (link) is a good balance of price/quality and it has a surface mounting bracket option.

15A x 120V = 1,800W.
As long as your total load doesn't exceed 1,800W, you're good.
You're prior 20 fixtures with 2 18W bulbs each = 40 bulbs x 18W = 720W.
The 9 linear high bays = 9 x 110W = 990W.

I'd use the 0-10V dimming feature with the high bays as results in an empty room = 113fc @ 30" work plane. This drops as you fill the space with stuff.

 

[Toomanytools?]

......
15A x 120V = 1,800W.
As long as your total load doesn't exceed 1,800W, you're good.
You're prior 20 fixtures with 2 18W bulbs each = 40 bulbs x 18W = 720W.
The 9 linear high bays = 9 x 110W = 990W.

I'd use the 0-10V dimming feature with the high bays as results in an empty room = 113fc @ 30" work plane. This drops as you fill the space with stuff.

What about the 80% rule? Lights being a continuous load so 15amp becomes 12a and your wattage is 1440.

 

[Platonic Solid]

I recall some sparky here on GJ claiming that LED lighting isn't required to follow the 80% rule (searching 80% yields no results). I always follow the 80% rule. I'm not a licensed electrician so I yield to those who are. When I Google the question I see there are 100% and 80% rated breakers to further confuse the issue.

 

[Mesozoic]

I love DIALux evo! Honestly, it's been more informative for me to visualize the space itself - I've not added any lights yet at all. I've just been watching the online tutorials for beginners and have modeled my garage from a DWG provided to me by my designer.

Platonic, if I were able to share my evo project with you would you be able to assist me with some lab/workshop lighting? I really don't know anything about lighting, but I know that I need "clinical" lighting for the jobs I want to perform in the new space. I'd also like to have the option to dim lighting to a minimal, sort of ambience level.

Here's an export of a raytrace I just did using some basic Cooper Lighton 48" LED tubes at a minimum of 5000K.

 

[wee]

Looking for advice for a 18,000 SQFT warehouse with 28 feet high ceilings. We have 60 metal halide fixtures now. Is there a LED unit that we could just replace the old units with....? If so what would be your recommendations...?

The size of the warehouse is basically 2 twice as long as it is wide with 4 rows of lights running the length of the building.

I can do a more accurate layout with dimensions and existing fixtures locations if needed.

Thank You
Brian