Lights above work bench?

[Rod N]

Hey Guys,
Suggestions on lighting above my work bench and tool box please.
I was going to go with 2 strings of 8' x 2, but after reading here maybe 4'ers are better.
Lots of light in the garage, but I want lights above the bench and box for better lighting there and so I don't have to light the whole garage up.
Thanks
Rod

 

[Falcon67]

I use a single 8' 4 bulb T8 over my bench and it works very well. You could tie two 8'ers end to end and use a separate switch for both. And if you really wanted to get minimal, you could swap out one of the ballasts for a dual switched unit and control both halves of an 8' 4 bulb. Costs more but you have more light control.

 

[PCO6]

Rod N - I have a pair of 4' T8 fluorescent lights over my 10' bench. You can get a glimpse of them in the upper right corner of the photo below. They are attached to the underside of an over head shelf much like what you have in your garage. I bought them at Home Depot ... coincidentally the one that is closest to where you live!

View media item 34362

 

[kluckfab]

How about led? They have some super bright stuff now.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[2ManyProjects]

Hey Guys,
Suggestions on lighting above my work bench and tool box please.
I was going to go with 2 strings of 8' x 2, but after reading here maybe 4'ers are better.

For that particular application, either could work. What exactly is the dimension across the back end of your garage, under that storage shelf / loft? If it is "conveniently" just a little over 16 feet, it makes virtually no difference. If it is significantly wider than that, then it becomes a matter of where the gaps between each fixture fall. With four 4-footers, you'll have five gaps (including the ones on each end), but they will be relatively small; with two 8-footers, you'll have only three gaps, but they will be larger. I think I'd lean toward the former; but it's a judgement call, and somewhat dependant on exactly what would be under each of those gaps. If you have 18-20 feet, don't dismiss the possibility of sticking a matching 2-foot fixture (using F17T8 tubes) somewhere in the string, to minimize the total number/size of the gaps.

Lots of light in the garage, but I want lights above the bench and box for better lighting there and so I don't have to light the whole garage up.

If you really want to also use this for some relatively low-intensity "mood" (or "walk-through") lighting, then I like Falcon67's idea to put two ballasts in each fixture, and switch them separately. This will presumably be easier/cheaper with 8-foot fixtures; but you can set up finer control with four-foots. Whether or not you NEED that degree of fine control is another matter entirely.

Rod N - I have a pair of 4' T8 fluorescent lights over my 10' bench. You can get a glimpse of them in the upper right corner of the photo below.

Nice bench!

I can't be sure; but it looks to me like that SlatWall does NOT have the aluminum channel reinforcements. Have you had any issue with tear-out, or an inability to support heavier loads? (Granted, it doesn't look like you're hanging anything all that heavy off of it; but still...)

 

[machine_punk]

I would suggest a 4-foot 'daylight' fluorescent tube fixture for general lighting, then a dental light, on a custom bracket, for 'spot' lighting. But that is just me...






Folded out of the way, when not in use...

The light pattern from that dental light...

You can see the fluorescent fixtures in this pic...
View media item 20571
I recommend the 'daylight' bulbs. The older you get, the more light you need.

Kev

 

[allinon72]

I have 2 4ft fixtures above mine

 

[shooting4life]

I would suggest a 4-foot 'daylight' fluorescent tube fixture for general lighting, then a dental light, on a custom bracket, for 'spot' lighting. But that is just me...






Folded out of the way, when not in use...

The light pattern from that dental light...

You can see the fluorescent fixtures in this pic...
View media item 20571
I recommend the 'daylight' bulbs. The older you get, the more light you need.

Kev

Awesome, I have been trying to find a dental light on CL for about a month now with no luck. I like your setup.

 

[machine_punk]

Awesome, I have been trying to find a dental light on CL for about a month now with no luck. I like your setup.

They are readily available on eBay, but expect to pay about $45 for shipping. Pelton and Crane are the brand I prefer. Look closely at the pictures and write-up before buying. Make sure it works and has the handle style you prefer. (the gray one in the background of my pics does NOT have the handles I like...that is going to cost me a bit more to fix. Yes, I did make sure I had all the lights I needed, before telling anyone where got them.

Kev

 

[PCO6]

Nice bench!

I can't be sure; but it looks to me like that SlatWall does NOT have the aluminum channel reinforcements. Have you had any issue with tear-out, or an inability to support heavier loads? (Granted, it doesn't look like you're hanging anything all that heavy off of it; but still...)

2ManyProjects - Thanks. The frame work for my bench is a pallet rack. Very simple to build and very strong.

The slat wall does not have aluminum channels and I haven't had any problems with it. Most of the brackets are the proper ones for slat wall. A few are from similar systems and they work well to. I don't have anything that is very heavy on it but I think it could probably stand up to some more weight.

 

[PCO6]

I have 2 4ft fixtures above mine

allinon - It looks like you and I did the same thing (post #3). I couldn't find an 8' light so I bolted two 4 footers together end to end.

 

[MeentSS02]

I'd recommend buying whatever size is easiest and most convenient to find bulbs for...other than that, I'd make sure it spans the entire length so you have nice, uniform light distribution.

Before pic:

After (I really need to get a better pic):

The upper cabinets are 36" wide, so I used 3 34" T5 fluorescent fixtures (Lithonia if I'm not mistaken) hooked to a single switch.

Nothing special, but they work well since they are fairly close to the work surface.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Whatever you get, make sure that it uses "4 ft" bulbs. Don't waste your time with 8 ft bulbs. If you want 8 ft fixtures, get ones that use 4 bulbs in tandem two and two. 8 ft bulbs are difficult to transport, and handle, and not easily found for a good price. 4 footers are cheap and easily found in all brilliances and color rendering.

Charles

 

[Rod N]

Wow. Thanks for all the info!
Above the tool box is about 9' and above the work bench is 8' 1 1/2".
So I guess I should go with my first thought of running 2 8' doubles.
I thought I saw some negativity on this board that they were being fazed out and used too much energy?
I don't need any ambient lighting lol I go to the garage for me time. Wait. Maybe I do
Will I be happy with T8's or ...? Reflectors?
Better pics to show the area.

 

[Rod N]

Replies coming faster than I can post.
There are 2 electrical supply stores close by that carry any size I want.
My other lights are all 8 ft so I need them anyway and they usually come in a box for transport.
Why are my pics so small?

 

[MeentSS02]

Replies coming faster than I can post.
There are 2 electrical supply stores close by that carry any size I want.
My other lights are all 8 ft so I need them anyway and they usually come in a box for transport.
Why are my pics so small?

Are you uploading the pics to the forum when you post them?

If you want them to show up bigger, you'll likely have to use an image sharing service (like Photobucket, which is free) and embed them.

From my limited experience and seemingly endless poking around on here, I've never seen anyone say "Damn, I wish I didn't have so much light." Stuff as much light under there as you can afford and be done with it.

 

[Rod N]

Don't say that!
I'll end up with 4 8 footers on both sides!

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Why are my pics so small?

Because the images you uploaded are small. both are 373x280 at 100%

Uploading to a photo hosting service would not do you a bit of good, they are small starting out.

Always upload pics here if possible. That way, they will always be here. We have a number of people who used hosting services in the past, and the accounts either died or were terminated and the pics are now lost. I know of at least one other board that demands you upload pics and even gets upset if you link to your already existing pic on the board.

I have 539 pics currently uploaded to this board and frequently go back and link to them again in another discussion. The pics can be quite large and still upload here.

Charles

 

[Rod N]

Thanks Charles. My iphone pics work on other forums. Maybe i should open open them in photoshop and save them as pdfs larger? I'm not a fan of keeping stuff on someone else's server.

 

[2ManyProjects]

I would suggest a 4-foot 'daylight' fluorescent tube fixture for general lighting, then a dental light, on a custom bracket, for 'spot' lighting. But that is just me...

I really like the idea of a used/surplus dental lamp for occasional super-fine detail work, if the cost is not outrageous; but I'd still install a full complement of fluorescents (or maybe LEDs) for general-purpose workbench illumination.

2ManyProjects - Thanks. The frame work for my bench is a pallet rack. Very simple to build and very strong.

Hmmm... I just went back to take a second look at that, and your pic has disappeared.

In any event...

The slat wall does not have aluminum channels and I haven't had any problems with it. Most of the brackets are the proper ones for slat wall. A few are from similar systems and they work well to. I don't have anything that is very heavy on it but I think it could probably stand up to some more weight.

Good to know. Thanks.

Whatever you get, make sure that it uses "4 ft" bulbs. Don't waste your time with 8 ft bulbs. If you want 8 ft fixtures, get ones that use 4 bulbs in tandem two and two. 8 ft bulbs are difficult to transport, and handle, and not easily found for a good price. 4 footers are cheap and easily found in all brilliances and color rendering.

Agreed, in spades.

Wow. Thanks for all the info!
Above the tool box is about 9' and above the work bench is 8' 1 1/2".
So I guess I should go with my first thought of running 2 8' doubles.
I thought I saw some negativity on this board that they were being fazed out and used too much energy?

There seems to be some confusion here. You can get 8-foot fixtures which take standard 4-foot T8 (or even T5) bulbs, typically four of them, in two rows. Those tubes (& fixtures) are NOT "being phased out", and are WELL within the realm of "energy-efficient" as such things go.

That is the route both Charles and I are STRONGLY recommending, IF you don't want to "bother" with individual 4-foot fixtures (which still offer some benefits; so don't completely rule them out just yet).

What you do NOT want are fixtures which require 8-foot tubes, for all sorts of reasons, including energy efficiency, economics, and long-term availability.

Why are my pics so small?

No idea, beyond that's the size images you are uploading. What sort of camera are you using to take them, and what exactly are you doing to them in post-processing?

Thanks Charles. My iphone pics work on other forums. Maybe i should open open them in photoshop and save them as pdfs larger?

No, NOT PDFs! That isn't even an image/graphics format (tho' PDFs can contain embedded images created in other formats). You near-certainly want to use JPEG for anything you upload here (or elsewhere on the web). Other potential choices include .PNG ("Portable Network Graphics") and .SVG ("Scalable Vector Graphics"); but neither of these has anywhere near the broad-based support that JPEG does.

 

[ket-tek]

Awesome, I have been trying to find a dental light on CL for about a month now with no luck. I like your setup.

I have a couple if your still looking PM me if your interested.

 

[Rod N]

So maybe run 4 of these?