Lighting for 24x28 shop

[dave*99]

So I think I'm off to a rocky start..... I've been reading the best light fixture ever thread for a long time. And I still think I need some help.

The basics:
Woodshop above garage. Under construction. I have some woodworking machinery to go in the shop. It will have drywall finished walls and white drywall ceilings. Room is 24x28. With 2 sidewalls 8' high and a flat top cathedral ceiling. The flat top of the ceiling is 24Lx16W and 11' high. The sides slope down to the 8' level. The sloped sections of the ceiling are about 5'8"x24. There will be a 62" ceiling fan in the center and a ceiling hung Jet air filtration system hung from the flat top via short chains.

I'd like to finish it with some decent looking light fixtures. Not bare bulb strip lights. I modeled it with (12) Juno WF8 disc lights. They yield about 24fc at the work plane. Seems I need more light to get to about 50 fc. I'm planning on 4000K. The room does have 4 large and 3 small windows spread across the North, East and South sides. I get a lot of natural light in the daytime.

So where do I go from here? Wrap around LED 48" fixtures? Stick with the disks and add a task light over the table saw and workbench?

Here is the model, which of course does not capture my ceiling accurately.

 

[olytdi]

I don't think it really matters how you get to your 50 fc goal in terms of fixture type. Whatever type of fixtures you can best afford and the difficulty/ease of installation should factor. Many individual fixtures spaced across the span will provide better shadow fill than would fewer fixtures. consider color temperature.

I was confused by your description of the ceiling (sloped section being 8x24).

Are your fixtures in your model spaced equally in two dimension (width and depth of room) but than vary in terms of height due to the sloping ceiling? I would think that if so, that's where you're going to have problems. Fixture height to work surface should remain about the same otherwise you'll have to compensate for those fixtures installed higher from the work surface than others are. I'd be asking for help from a pro for that.

 

[dave*99]

 

[dave*99]

I'd like to err on the side of aesthetics over performance. No exposed tubes. No hanging fixtures. Surface mount is fine. Most of the activity will take place closer to the center of the room.

 

[Mzungu]

Looking at your physical and personal parameters, I would suggest 2' x 4' LED panel lights. They only measure 1.7" deep, normally they are installed in a drop ceiling, but most companies also supply a surface mount box for them. Alternatively a 2' x 2' would also work, you just would need more of them to reach your goal. You could even alternate the 2 sizes for more visual effect.

Sylvania 74248 - 2x4 32W LED Edge Lit Panel 1A - 4000K | Energy Avenue

Sylvania PANELF1A/032UNVD840/24G/WH 74248 is an energy savings and eco-friendly white 2x4 32W LED Edge-Lit Panel 4000K. Order this from EnergyAvenue.com!

www.energyavenue.com

 

[dave*99]

That's an interesting suggestion. I will investigate flat panels. I already found some that are natively designed for surface mount. 1x4 sizes may be needed in some areas get around the ceiling fan etc.
Here is an example.

Westgate LPS-1X4-40K-D - 40W LED Flat Panel 4000K - 1 x 4 | Energy Avenue

Choose this 1x4 40W Flat Panel LED 4000K with surface mount for energy efficiency and long lasting brightness. Buy Westgate LPS-1X4-40K-D at EnergyAvenue.com

www.energyavenue.com

This needs a surface mount kit.

40 Watt Max - 4400 Lumen Max - 1 x 4 Wattage and Color Selectable LED Panel Fixture

Save money with this PLT-90145 1x4 LED panel fixture that offers nine different CCT and wattage combinations. See more selectable LED options at 1000Bulbs.com!

www.1000bulbs.com

 

[Mzungu]

That's an interesting suggestion. I will investigate flat panels. I already found some that are natively designed for surface mount. 1x4 sizes may be needed in some areas get around the ceiling fan etc.
Here is an example.

Westgate LPS-1X4-40K-D - 40W LED Flat Panel 4000K - 1 x 4 | Energy Avenue

Choose this 1x4 40W Flat Panel LED 4000K with surface mount for energy efficiency and long lasting brightness. Buy Westgate LPS-1X4-40K-D at EnergyAvenue.com

www.energyavenue.com

Nice, I like the low profile.

 

[dave*99]

Nice, I like the low profile.

The spec sheet shows what looks like an easy way to mount over a JB.

 

[Shiftless]

I have a couple of those flat panel edge lit LED fixtures in a small room downstairs. They are great. They look far more finished than the wrap around strip lights and don’t have any glare problem at all. I rate them

 

[dave*99]

This is using 1x4 and 2x4 fixtures

 

[Zeke]

^^^That looks pretty good to me. If the main work area is in the center you will be getting a lot of light from the left and r sides. Less shadows and certainly better shadow wise than can lights.

 

[dave*99]

This seems to be available, economical and surface mountable without buying a $30-$50 mounting box.

Lithonia Lighting Contractor Select CPANL DCMK 2 ft. x 4 ft. 4000 Lumens Integrated LED Panel Light Switchable Color Temperature CPANL 2X4 40LM SWW7 120 TD DCMK - The Home Depot

Give your home some smart illumination with the selection of this exclusive Lithonia Lighting Contractor Select CPANL DCMK Integrated LED Panel Light Switchable Color Temperature.

www.homedepot.com

Lithonia Lighting Contractor Select CPANL DCMK 1 ft. x 4 ft. 4000 Lumens Integrated LED Panel Light Switchable Color Temperature CPANL 1X4 40LM SWW7 120 TD DCMK - The Home Depot

Give your home some smart illumination with the selection of this exclusive Lithonia Lighting Contractor Select CPANL DCMK Integrated LED Panel Light Switchable Color Temperature

www.homedepot.com

 

[Mzungu]

This seems to be available, economical and surface mountable without buying a $30-$50 mounting box.

Lithonia Lighting Contractor Select CPANL DCMK 2 ft. x 4 ft. 4000 Lumens Integrated LED Panel Light Switchable Color Temperature CPANL 2X4 40LM SWW7 120 TD DCMK - The Home Depot

Give your home some smart illumination with the selection of this exclusive Lithonia Lighting Contractor Select CPANL DCMK Integrated LED Panel Light Switchable Color Temperature.

www.homedepot.com

Lithonia Lighting Contractor Select CPANL DCMK 1 ft. x 4 ft. 4000 Lumens Integrated LED Panel Light Switchable Color Temperature CPANL 1X4 40LM SWW7 120 TD DCMK - The Home Depot

Give your home some smart illumination with the selection of this exclusive Lithonia Lighting Contractor Select CPANL DCMK Integrated LED Panel Light Switchable Color Temperature

www.homedepot.com

I think those are a really solid choice. Well known brand supplied at your local home depot.

 

[eegger]

I think those are a really solid choice. Well known brand supplied at your local home depot.

I almost went with something like those, but costs were too high and the whole unit has to be replaced if some of the LED's die, which they will.

Went with these Prolighting.com T8 bought 9, probably should of went with 12

Each bulb can be replaced and if I want more light, I can attach 2 units together.

 

[dave*99]

I almost went with something like those, but costs were too high and the whole unit has to be replaced if some of the LED's die, which they will.

Went with these Prolighting.com T8 bought 9, probably should of went with 12

Each bulb can be replaced and if I want more light, I can attach 2 units together.

Good for your application, but not mine. From post #1

I'd like to finish it with some decent looking light fixtures. Not bare bulb strip lights.

And from #4

I'd like to err on the side of aesthetics over performance. No exposed tubes. No hanging fixtures. Surface mount is fine. Most of the activity will take place closer to the center of the room.

So far, the flat panel LED's are the best option I have found. But I'm always open to suggestions within the aforementioned criteria.

 

[BADSIX]

i'm about your size. my living room is 26x30 slightly skewed out on one long side. my ceiling is like yours only with a 4' flat center section, 20' to the flat, 9 ' walls. i have 16 can lights, 8 on each sloping part. the lights are LED from Feit, the are 5000k, 685 lumens and 9.6 watts. when turned on full they give off PLENTY OF LIGHT, you can set there and read very comfortably. they seem to be just the right color.
Jay D.

 

[dave*99]

i'm about your size. my living room is 26x30 slightly skewed out on one long side. my ceiling is like yours only with a 4' flat center section, 20' to the flat, 9 ' walls. i have 16 can lights, 8 on each sloping part. the lights are LED from Feit, the are 5000k, 685 lumens and 9.6 watts. when turned on full they give off PLENTY OF LIGHT, you can set there and read very comfortably. they seem to be just the right color.
Jay D.

I ran the interior lighting tool from Acuity - https://www.acuitybrands.com/resources/technical-resources/visual-lighting-software

I tried to model something similar to your case and I used 16 disk lights with 797 Lumens in my room dimensions. It yielded 15 fc at the workbench height. I read that shops should be close 100 fc. I saw a post from cybrdyke saying 50 fc is fine in a workshop. So I've been looking to get to 50. Which I can do with 8 Led panels 6000 lumens each. Not the ones in the links earlier in this thread.

As test, I went to my old shop and used a free light meter app on my phone to measure the light level right on the table saw. It was 50fc. The saw is directly under a pair of T12 HO fluorescent lights hung from an 8' ceiling, I've been happy with that light level for years.

I measured the light over my workbench. 4 tube T12 fixture directly over the bench. 55fc. So it seems 50 is still my goal.

I wonder what light level you get in you living room. I just checked my living room. It's lit with a bunch of 4" LED disks. It seems bright for reading. I usually dim it down a bit. With the LEDs on full bright----- I measured 15 fc. It is in fact plenty bright for reading. But I think living room bright might be shop dim.

 

[dave*99]

Here is the 8 light model. I'm putting all the fixtures on the flat top. Avoiding the slopes so I don't have to stare into the lights. I'll add task lights to any tool or bench along the side walls.

Lithonia Lighting Contractor Select CPANL 2 ft. x 4 ft. 4000/5000/6000 Lumens White Integrated LED Flat Panel Light CPANL 2X4 ALO6 SWW7 M2 - The Home Depot

The CPANL LED Fully Switchable Flat Panel features an integrated driver that allows CPANL to be suspended, direct surfaced mounted or integrated into a t-grid ceiling. The adjustable lumen output (ALO)

www.homedepot.com

 

[dave*99]

So here is an update after installation of the lights.
I am very happy with the results. I measured about 58fc at the workplane.

The room is drywalled with white ceilings and light gray walls. All lights are mounted on the flat top part of the ceiling. The angled sections reflect light well and it is evenly lit throughout the room. There are enough fixtures such that there are no shadows.

The 0-10V dimming works excellent. Very smooth, no flashing etc.

In summary, I learned that 50-60 fc at the workplane is a good light level for my woodshop. The calculator tool predicted results that were similar to the measured results. I set the panels to 4000K color temperature.

The Lithonia 2x4 CPANL panels come in many models. Some come with mounts for drywall, the mount is an option on others. Their online and phone support was excellent in answering my questions.

I used a commercial version because it had 6000lm output, and the 4000lm models did not suit my design. It just so happened the ones I picked had 0-10V dimming which works better than the usual triac dimming LEDs I ran the necessary extra wires for the 0-10V system and used a Leviton dimmer with 0-10V capability.

I initially tried to design this with puck lights. I have a bunch of 4" units in my living room ceiling. It seems bright enough in the living room, but I measured the light level to be 15fc. I looked at the light output from 4,6, and 8" models. I looked at the beam spread and how many pucks would be needed etc. In my application, with the 11' high flat topped vaulted ceiling etc, the panel lights were a much better choice. I was able to locate all the lights on the flat top. The light throughout the room is remarkably even.

I also looked at 3 tube 4' LEDs, but I wanted something a little better aesthetically.

 

[SteveL]

Can you post a photo of them installed? Trying to convince my wife they will look good. Thanks!

 

[dave*99]

They work good. Only your wife can tell you if they look good. There is an odd reflection around the lights and windows in the photo. I may have held a beer bottle too close to the camera when I snapped the photo. Zoom in and you’ll see what I mean.