Lighting and CLF

[Dan5602896]

I know this is an older post and I've been considering using these lights but I had a few issues. First was that there are shadows depending where you're located under the light. Second was that the bulbs I ordered were the full spectrum daylight which were a bit intense with a 12' ceiling. I used 12" reflectors with them. Now that I'm older (60) it seems I need more light.

I have 14' at the peak. It is a finished ceiling painted white. I used Veno's (the author of this thread) total lumens numbers to calculate what I needed for my garage and ended up using 23 watt (100 equivalent) daylight bulbs and have no issues. No reflectors. I think the finished ceiling and no reflectors avoids the shadows. I still have to use a drop light under the hood, but...

You can see my results here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1385999&postcount=83
and here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1386016&postcount=84

 

[altereddezignz]

Just found an easier solution really. Walmart sells a 4ft T8 dual fixture for 11.00. you can get good bulbs for 1.87 each through 1000 bulbs. so you would have $15.73 in each fixture. More light and better light distribution.

 

[Fueler]

Just found an easier solution really. Walmart sells a 4ft T8 dual fixture for 11.00. you can get good bulbs for 1.87 each through 1000 bulbs. so you would have $15.73 in each fixture. More light and better light distribution.

There is always a reason. I tried some of those. If that's the Lights of America fixture with electronic ballast....The fixtures last about a year to a year and a half. Buy spares.

 

[bfr57]

I've been following this thread and would like to ask those using these large CFLs about putting them in my garage I've yet to get lighting done. The diagram hopefully captures all of the particulars, but here are the main points:

30' x 80' x 17'h metal building w/red iron supports
3 bays at ~28' each
4 translucent skylights in bay 1
roof and walls insulated w/white insulation
Most work will be done in first 2 bays with the 3rd mostly as storage
Work is all facets of automotive restoring/work and powder coating

Looking at my chicken scratching, it looks like a lot of fixtures; 18 per bay.
Too much? Thoughts on this?
Sorry this isn't to scale!

 

[Dan5602896]

BFR57

As I noted above, the best method is to use Veno's lumens total (the amount of light) for his garage sq footage to get the lumens per sq ft and then multiply that by your sq feet. From that you can decide who many fixtures you want to use to acquire that amount of light. The more fixtures, the fewer shadows.

For the main area of my garage it is roughly 22 wide by 24 deep, 14' at the peak, all white inside. I was able to use 100 watt equivalent (23 watt) bulbs 4 rows of 6 fixtures, no reflector. At my post above there are links to pictures of my results.

 

[ACDNate]

Thread revival

I found some CFL bay lighting options at 1000bulbs not discussed here. Anyone give these a shot yet?

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/8379/FIX-11225.html

Was looking to match these with 150w CFL bulbs

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/8373/FC150-35861.html

 

[Doctor1971]

Thanks Veno for this thread getting ready to put lights in my barn think I'm going this route.........thanks again

 

[GTPaul]

Great Idea I have 4 High bay fixtures, one is really noisy and the are hot. I have a conversion of all 4 scheduled once it cools off, over my Race Car.

Thread revival

I found some CFL bay lighting options at 1000bulbs not discussed here. Anyone give these a shot yet?

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/8379/FIX-11225.html

Was looking to match these with 150w CFL bulbs

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/8373/FC150-35861.html

 

[number9]

Just ran across this thread researching the lights in my pole barn shop. They were here when I bought it. They are about 3' long, stainless housings with a wire cage on bottom and hold two of the L-765 65W (300W eq) Mogul base 4U CFL's.

My shop is 40 x 60 with 12' to bottom of truss. There are 6 of these fixtures (3 in 2 rows) and they do a decent job but I want more light (hate shadows). I was thinking of going with T8 fixtures but ran across this thread when looking for replacement bulbs for the existing fixtures to hold me over until then. Now I am wondering if I should just add more of these (IF I can find the dang fixtures somewhere) or just swap out to a bunch of T8's. Obviously doubling up on these would be a lot cheaper, but I can't seem to find these fixtures anywhere.

...

 

[bfr57]

I realize this is an old thread, but wanted to share my results using CFLs and ideas I got here. The bulbs are 105W, 7150 lumens, 5000 Kelvins. They were a little pricey at $20+ from 1000Bulbs.com, but boy do they put out some light! My father-in-law and I spent a couple day bending and wiring them all up using a lift. My building is 32' x 80' x 17' composed of three bays. The bay pictured is where most of the work is done (cars, powder coating, etc.) and the other 2 are storage and parking. So, I lit up this bay with 14 bulbs, which comes to approximately 109 lumens per sq'. The second bay got 10 bulbs and the last bay just 3 as it's just storage. I put them on 4 20 amp circuits. One last light we installed was a garage night light. It's a huge Chevy Bowtie that I converted over to use 2 40W CFLs and put it on an eye to automatically turn it on/off with the natural light that comes in from the sky lights. Works great!

 

[altereddezignz]

I ended up changing over to all LED. The company i work for has started having led lights made specifically for them so i am using them now. We offer 2-4-8 ft led lights. They all use a very easy plug to install and they can link together to run multiple in one run.

Ill post up some pics when i get home. They are a little more than the flc but offer a 50000 hour life, can be purchased in frosted or clear lens. Crazy simple to hang using 2 small brackets with one screw to hold each bracket. No heat products. Internal drivers and VERY efficient at only 40 watts per 8 ft.
In the office we replaced 10 fo the 4ft 4 bulb fixtures with these and used 11 of the 8 ft led lights to replace them. There is a massive amount of light difference.

No i am not trying to sell these to anyone on here or boost our sales or anything like that so if this needs to be deleted please do so.
Thanks

 

[rustybutt]

Just bumping this to the top because of all the threads about lighting right now. This method is more labor intensive but much cheaper than other fixtures if you have to buy. I found GJ while looking for ideas for garage lighting, and this is the method I used, and only used 100 watt equivalent bulbs instead of the 105 CFLs. 22 bases in my 24' x 40' shop on two circuits is plenty bright, and I have task lights over the lathe, DP, bench, etc., to eliminate shadows and help my old eyes. YMMV!

 

[jlckmj]

BTTT because this thread is too good to fade away into cyberland.

Jim

 

[gearheads78]

Still very happy I did this. I have had 2 go out thin the last 6 months so they lasted 5 years

 

[jlckmj]

I had my first go out recently, about 4.5 years. That is a lot better than the florescent tubes were doing in my old shop.

Jim

 

[MacTexas]

I had to replace two after only 15 months. Didn't last as advertised.

 

[JCook5003]

I'm working out the lighting for my shop. I did some basic math on my 30x30 shop and at 900 sq. ft. with 15 of these fixtures with 105 watt CFL's I should work out to about 115 lumens per square foot.

The question, my trusses are like scissors but steel. The lights will be within 2' or so of the ceiling. Do you think I'll need reflectors? Where are you guys sourcing these? Most of the links in this thread are dead now.

Also, at .88 amps per fixture, I'm getting 13.2 amps total. I should be able to use these all on one 20 amp breaker with 12 awg wire. Correct? Advice?

 

[cybrdyke]

I'm working out the lighting for my shop. I did some basic math on my 30x30 shop and at 900 sq. ft. with 15 of these fixtures with 105 watt CFL's I should work out to about 115 lumens per square foot.

The question, my trusses are like scissors but steel. The lights will be within 2' or so of the ceiling. Do you think I'll need reflectors? Where are you guys sourcing these? Most of the links in this thread are dead now.

Also, at .88 amps per fixture, I'm getting 13.2 amps total. I should be able to use these all on one 20 amp breaker with 12 awg wire. Correct? Advice?

I hate this thread.
Sorry that you read this very old thread. Most of the information, is outdated, or even bogus. Lumens per square foot is not a valid criteria for selecting lights...never has been. CFL's are dinosaur technology at this point. One of the biggest manufacturers, GE, has said that they will exit the business at the end of 2016.
You should look at the sticky threads in this section of the forum. They're up to date. And what you need is someone to do a lighting layout for you.
Good luck,
CD

 

[2Big2Ride]

I'm working out the lighting for my shop. I did some basic math on my 30x30 shop and at 900 sq. ft. with 15 of these fixtures with 105 watt CFL's I should work out to about 115 lumens per square foot.

The question, my trusses are like scissors but steel. The lights will be within 2' or so of the ceiling. Do you think I'll need reflectors? Where are you guys sourcing these? Most of the links in this thread are dead now.

Also, at .88 amps per fixture, I'm getting 13.2 amps total. I should be able to use these all on one 20 amp breaker with 12 awg wire. Correct? Advice?

I have nine of the 105W bulbs in my 24'x30' garage area and six in the better half's 20'x30' studio area and each are on separate 20A circuits. I believe the bulbs are actually marked with 1.1A on the base so your .88A calculation may underestimate the actual load.

The six hang about 10' above the floor and have reflectors and provide enough light for her art in the middle of the room but are a little lacking at times if she is doing something near a sidewall. The nine bulbs in the garage area are mounted to the ceiling with two rows of three about 12' above the floor and the single row in the middle about 14' feet above the floor, all without reflectors. Garage side light is okay for general work, but not enough light for detail work. In our case it works and is acceptable in both areas.

Somewhere in this thread you will read a reference to a quantity of bulbs on a single cicurit that caused an undesirable buzz. The nine bulbs on the garage side create a very slight buzz at the breaker, the six bulbs do not. The point I am working towards is I don't think you will want fifteen of the 105W CFL bulbs on a single circuit. And as already noted, this lightling technology is now outdated.

 

[54stude]

Someone might be interested in these cfl bulbs at 1000bulbs.
125w equivalent (32w) 2700k CFL bulbs, 2.50 if you buy 4.
https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/153587/PLT-10102.html