To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Lighting for new shop - what about CFL's?

To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
E

Elmo4895

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
54
Location
Natchez, MS
Looks like a good idea. That is what I am going to use when my incandesant 300 watt bulbs burn out! Sane your receipts, most cfl's have a replacement warranty for up to 10 years and most burn out before warranty expires!
 
G

Gerald O

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Messages
1,884
Location
NC
I'd recommend going with a smaller CFL, say 45 watt, and twice as many fixture bases. It will spread the light out more evenly and the 45s are slightly cheaper per watt.
Mainly, those 85W CFLs are huge! They'll stick down from the ceiling by about 1 foot and be much more likely to be struck by something with only a 10' ceiling. The 45s will be about 6" long including the base. I used them in my garage with an 11' ceiling and I wouldn't want anything sticking down further than those.
 
F

foodgroup

Active member
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
42
Location
Florida
Gerald O said:
I'd recommend going with a smaller CFL, say 45 watt, and twice as many fixture bases. It will spread the light out more evenly and the 45s are slightly cheaper per watt.
Mainly, those 85W CFLs are huge! They'll stick down from the ceiling by about 1 foot and be much more likely to be struck by something with only a 10' ceiling. The 45s will be about 6" long including the base. I used them in my garage with an 11' ceiling and I wouldn't want anything sticking down further than those.
Click to expand...

I agree with Gerald about lots of small bulbs.

Have you considered LEDs? I recently replaced every bulb in my house with LEDs from Ikea and I really like them:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20266225/

The form factor and color rendition are almost identical to incandescent, no glass or mercury, they last forever, and don't cost much. I'm doing my shop next.
 
L

LS6 Tommy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
26,162
Location
Northern NJ
I'm not a big CFL fan. They never last as long as they're rated, they're a pain in the azz to dispose of, many won't start cold...

Tommy
 
K

kwoody51

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 19, 2010
Messages
215
Location
Twin Cities, MN
I just put in 10 105w CFL's in my 26x36 garage and they are great! I was going to do some t8 or t5 fixtures but the electrian wiring the house wanted $600 to install the fixtures. I said put in the standard fixtures and I'll go for there.

For $10/bulb or $100 total I figured I'd give the CFL's a shot. I'm glad I did. I "may" install a 4 bulb t5 fixture over my work bench but I'll leave the CFL's in the rest of the garage.

I'd say to for it!

As others have mentions they are big and do stick down about a foot. I have ~1/4" between my bulb and high lift garage doors.

Here's what I got, cheaper than in your link.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005FRCUHY/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?qid=1409438459&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70
 
Last edited:
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
T

theoldwizard1

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 22, 2011
Messages
43,243
Location
SE MI
estesbubba said:
I have a 30x40 pole barn with 10' ceilings and someone suggested ceramic fixtures with 85W (300w equivalent) high-CRI CFL's. This would sure make things easy. I'm going to paint the walls and ceiling.
Click to expand...

This is what make your idea feasible.

More lower wattage is better. I would think you would need 2 rows of 4 or 5, depending how much light you really want.
 
L

LEVE

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
1,727
Location
On the Willapa
I had 8 CFL's in my last 3 car garage and two more over the workbench. I like them. They weren't as subject to vibration, heat or cold. Unless I hit one with something and broke it I never had to replace on.

It took some getting used to them coming up to bull brilliance over a few minutes; once they did come to full brilliance it was almost like daylight in the garage at night.

Now, in my two car garage I've also installed CFL's. If LED lights were less expensive, I'd install them.

You can never have enough light.
 
B

bullnerd

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 17, 2012
Messages
5,690
Location
Jersey
I'd still like to see some pics, but there is this benefit also...."Ideal for treatment of S.A.D. - Winter Blues"
 
J

JimD1

Active member
Joined
Sep 8, 2011
Messages
32
Interesting thought. I had 3 round fixtures with CFL type bulbs in my old shop. They worked fine. I was going to put 4 fixtures with 2 32W bulbs in them in my new 14x24 shop. But this thread has me thinking. I could put up cheap round fixtures with 2 CFL bulbs in them for about the same price. You can't put big CFLs in them but you could put 40W ones, maybe 60W. The advantages of this approach is the ability to put in different size bulbs to vary the light and the better protection of the bulbs. The latter isn't insignificant in a mainly woodworking shop. I may switch my instruction to the electrician and have him put a box in 4 locations so I can go either way.
 
J

jlckmj

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 7, 2009
Messages
732
Location
SE Wiscosin
I have 10-105 watt (400 watt equivalent ) in my 24 by 36 and it is like daylight in there.
like the other poster sugested, read the link to Veno's thread.
Jim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom