J S Machine
Member
I have read a few of the light threads here. I have some ideas based on what I read in those threads, but I just wanted to mention a few things.
I have a 15' x 25' space I'm going to need to light in my home shop. It has a concrete floor and originally had bare inside wood construction, but I had it spray foamed so now the walls are a light pink color. I figure this will probably help with the light reflection. I don't plan on covering the walls with anything, and if I do, I will paint the covering light gray or something bright.
The ceiling is 8' high and open, and I have ceiling joists to mount light fixtures to. The underside of the roof is foamed as well. At this time, I don't plan on putting up a ceiling. The roof is probably about a 12/4 pitch.
I came here because I was seriously considering LED's, but I see that the cost is still high and the technology is still new. I currently have two T8 fixtures on hand, and they both have two bulbs each that are either 5k or 6500k bulbs, I can't remember which. Either way, I prefer the brighter, whiter light, vs the warmer, more yellow light. I see here that a lot of people think the T8s are good value for the money and a good option right now.
In this space described above, I was thinking of mounting four 4' fixtures - I'd simply add two more to the ones I already have. I have run two separate switch wires, so basically I will have a switch for the front two and a switch for the rear two.
1. The two fixtures I have are black in color. I took tin foil and molded it to the bottom of the reflectors before putting the bulbs in. After what I have read here, I'm not sure if that was useless or if it helped. The black reflector just didn't make sense to me and they did not have a white option. I may have just caused a focused light source, but I'm not an expert so I don't know.
2. As far as something to compare it to: At work, I recently had my whole office updated. I have a 14' x 30' space with 12' ceilings. the walls and ceiling are white; floor is black. I have twelve 4' fixtures with two T5 bulbs a piece. I don't know if they are T5HO or not, but they are very bright - so bright I have to squint sometimes, especially when I first enter the room. I downloaded the LUX app for my phone, but I'm not sure how to use it. In the calibration, I'm not sure where to set the calibration factor slider. If someone could tell me this, I will give you the reading for my office with all these T5 bulb fixtures.
I don't expect four two bulb T8 fixtures to have the same output, I was just comparing the two. I feel like T8 will be fine for now, and I will probably just add two more of the fixtures I already have - the T8's described above.
I have a 15' x 25' space I'm going to need to light in my home shop. It has a concrete floor and originally had bare inside wood construction, but I had it spray foamed so now the walls are a light pink color. I figure this will probably help with the light reflection. I don't plan on covering the walls with anything, and if I do, I will paint the covering light gray or something bright.
The ceiling is 8' high and open, and I have ceiling joists to mount light fixtures to. The underside of the roof is foamed as well. At this time, I don't plan on putting up a ceiling. The roof is probably about a 12/4 pitch.
I came here because I was seriously considering LED's, but I see that the cost is still high and the technology is still new. I currently have two T8 fixtures on hand, and they both have two bulbs each that are either 5k or 6500k bulbs, I can't remember which. Either way, I prefer the brighter, whiter light, vs the warmer, more yellow light. I see here that a lot of people think the T8s are good value for the money and a good option right now.
In this space described above, I was thinking of mounting four 4' fixtures - I'd simply add two more to the ones I already have. I have run two separate switch wires, so basically I will have a switch for the front two and a switch for the rear two.
1. The two fixtures I have are black in color. I took tin foil and molded it to the bottom of the reflectors before putting the bulbs in. After what I have read here, I'm not sure if that was useless or if it helped. The black reflector just didn't make sense to me and they did not have a white option. I may have just caused a focused light source, but I'm not an expert so I don't know.
2. As far as something to compare it to: At work, I recently had my whole office updated. I have a 14' x 30' space with 12' ceilings. the walls and ceiling are white; floor is black. I have twelve 4' fixtures with two T5 bulbs a piece. I don't know if they are T5HO or not, but they are very bright - so bright I have to squint sometimes, especially when I first enter the room. I downloaded the LUX app for my phone, but I'm not sure how to use it. In the calibration, I'm not sure where to set the calibration factor slider. If someone could tell me this, I will give you the reading for my office with all these T5 bulb fixtures.
I don't expect four two bulb T8 fixtures to have the same output, I was just comparing the two. I feel like T8 will be fine for now, and I will probably just add two more of the fixtures I already have - the T8's described above.