lighting for 36x40

[2000pstrokeblue]

just finished building my new garage. Started reading the posts about florescent lighting. i am a little confused about the differences between say a t5, t8 or t12 fixture and then i hear about these high bay kinds. I basically plan on working on cars and like to have alot of light. My plan was to buy several 4ft florescent fixtures with the cords and pull strings. Anybody have any suggestions as to where to get them cheap, or what type/make? It's 36x40 with 14ft high ceilings

 

[TheEquineFencer]

I used tandem T-8 fixtures set at 14 ft height with 6500K bulbs in my shop. 44 x 62 x 16 building, bay area is 34 x 64 x 16. I set mine 10ft apart front to rear and 8ft apart L to R. Basically they are 3 wide and 4 deep. I usually just use the center row unless I really need the extra light.

 

[2000pstrokeblue]

ok so after more reading i now understand the difference between t5,t8,t12 and if im reading the right info high bay lights aren't recommended for a 14ft high ceiling. Now im just looking for a decent priced 4ft t8 fixture preferably with a receptacle on the fixture to run them in series.. any suggestions?

 

[TheEquineFencer]

T-12's are being phased out by the government. From what I researched on the T-5's for my use, they were not cost effective unless I left them on for at least 8 hours per day. All my lights are on motion sensors. I never really considered the CFL's, but after reading up on them they might be about , if not more cost effective at the T-8's. I just do not have much faith in how long they last going by the rate we go through them in the house.

 

[TheEquineFencer]

ok so after more reading i now understand the difference between t5,t8,t12 and if im reading the right info high bay lights aren't recommended for a 14ft high ceiling. Now im just looking for a decent priced 4ft t8 fixture preferably with a receptacle on the fixture to run them in series.. any suggestions?

High bays are nice and expensive too. I have standard tandem T-8 from Lowes, $39.95 each, with 6500K bulbs. I hardwired mine. I wired them so I can turn each light on/off by a wall switch. Mine are run with 3/4 EMT, they "share" a neutral (Wht) and ground (Grn) for each row. With the EMT, sharing wires was easy, if you're using Romex you cannot do it like I did to be cost effective.

 

[fabjunkie]

^^ You can if you're using 14/3 or 12/3. I'm planning on doing mine the same way.

 

[TheEquineFencer]

^^ You can if you're using 14/3 or 12/3. I'm planning on doing mine the same way.

Each light in the shop here can be switched individually and are controlled by a motion sensor with a manual over-ride. I have 3 lights per row going to three lights with three switches, I used 1 Neutral, shared, 1 Ground shared, and three separate, "Hot" conductors, It took 5 wires to do this per bank. If you use 12/3 or 14/3 you can only do two lights light circuits.

 

[pattenp]

Please clarify. Are you saying each hot is on its own breaker?

Each light in the shop here can be switched individually and are controlled by a motion sensor with a manual over-ride. I have 3 lights per row going to three lights with three switches, I used 1 Neutral, shared, 1 Ground shared, and three separate, "Hot" conductors, It took 5 wires to do this per bank. If you use 12/3 or 14/3 to do two lights light circuits.

 

[TheEquineFencer]

NO, each light fixture has it's own light switch, not breaker. All three lights are on the same breaker. There is a white wire;this is a Neutral, a Green wire,this is a Ground and a Black wire, Hot feed, going to each fixture, all three are wired to the same White and Green wire inside the conduit. This way I only had to pull one Neural and one ground all the way through for all three lights, and then just three black wires, one to each fixture. All three light fixtures are wired to the same Neutral and Ground inside the conduit.

 

[TheEquineFencer]

That way instead of having to run a Blk/Wht/Grd to each fixture and all the way back to the switch and having 9 wires inside the conduit, I only had 5 doing the same job. I just had to make sure I wasn't over loading the White/Neutral wire or Ground.

 

[TheEquineFencer]

12 gauge wire is good for 20 Amps, I knew I could not overload the shared Neutral and Ground, each fixture only pulls around 1.2 Amps, 3.6 amp total per three row bank. I have 6 fixtures on 12 gauge wire on a 20 A Breaker pulling 7.2 Amps Total.