jwith68
Well-known member
The thread below on CFL's for the shop got me thinking about lighting for a project I am currently working on. I am converting an old barn built for loose hay and square bales to a round bale barn. In a nut shell, I added lean-to's around 3 sides of it for stablization and extra space, added quite a bit of additional internal wall-to-roof bracing, and have removed the end wall not covered by a lean-to and and replaced it with a set of large sliding doors. The next step will be to remove the entire loft structure to open up the entire shell of the barn for stacking round bales in. Now, while the loft floor is still in it, would be the time to add wiring and lights.
The original barn is 30'W x 40'L with 16'H sidewalls. It is the classic hip roof design, with a peak height of about 28'. Round bales will only be stacked up to about the eave height of 16' - not practical to go much higher. I have collar ties down the center of the peak that are about 24' to the bottom, and might make a good spot to hang some high bay fixtures. I'm looking at using a few of these fixtures:
http://www.greenelectricalsupply.com/aluminum-cfl-high-bay-fixture.aspx
with these bulbs:
http://www.greenelectricalsupply.com/150-watt-cfl-retrofit-bulb.aspx
I'm thinking that just 2 or 3 of these might provide plenty of light for a hay barn at a reasonable cost. Having just a few large lights in the center would also minimize the high wiring work. Again, this is just for general lighting of a storage area, not for a workspace (unless you count stacking round bales with a tractor and loader as work.
)
I'm sure I could also find a few used HPS or metal halide high bay's for cheap, but I don't really want to have to wait for several minutes while they come on and warm up. Being this is just a barn, not insulated or climate controlled in any way, I know the CFL's will have some warmup time on cold days, but nothing like the others. The CFL's will be comparatively great on energy usage, but that is not much concern here - usage will be very intermittent and for short periods of time.
So, what are your thoughts - or better yet, experience, with these fixtures? How big a pattern of light will a typical high bay fixture produce at a height of 22' - 24'?
The original barn is 30'W x 40'L with 16'H sidewalls. It is the classic hip roof design, with a peak height of about 28'. Round bales will only be stacked up to about the eave height of 16' - not practical to go much higher. I have collar ties down the center of the peak that are about 24' to the bottom, and might make a good spot to hang some high bay fixtures. I'm looking at using a few of these fixtures:
http://www.greenelectricalsupply.com/aluminum-cfl-high-bay-fixture.aspx
with these bulbs:
http://www.greenelectricalsupply.com/150-watt-cfl-retrofit-bulb.aspx
I'm thinking that just 2 or 3 of these might provide plenty of light for a hay barn at a reasonable cost. Having just a few large lights in the center would also minimize the high wiring work. Again, this is just for general lighting of a storage area, not for a workspace (unless you count stacking round bales with a tractor and loader as work.
) I'm sure I could also find a few used HPS or metal halide high bay's for cheap, but I don't really want to have to wait for several minutes while they come on and warm up. Being this is just a barn, not insulated or climate controlled in any way, I know the CFL's will have some warmup time on cold days, but nothing like the others. The CFL's will be comparatively great on energy usage, but that is not much concern here - usage will be very intermittent and for short periods of time.
So, what are your thoughts - or better yet, experience, with these fixtures? How big a pattern of light will a typical high bay fixture produce at a height of 22' - 24'?
