Minimum height for high bay

[JoeMayo]

My personal home just started last week and my garage will be 33x23 with 12' ceilings. With lights like the James 110-165 is 12' to low? I'm only wanting 3-4 lights at the most. If 12' is to low what would you recommend?
Thanks

 

[swharris]

My personal home just started last week and my garage will be 33x23 with 12' ceilings. With lights like the James 110-165 is 12' to low? I'm only wanting 3-4 lights at the most. If 12' is to low what would you recommend?
Thanks

Not sure about beam spread, but the Lithonia tool shows you needing only 6 lights. At a 12' height, you will net you 111fc @ 3' work height. I guess if you don't feel you need that type of light level, you can do with just 4. 4 lights will net you 74fc @ 3' working height.

Link to the Lithonia tool
http://www.visual-3d.com/tools/interior/default.aspx?ToolXMLTransfer=interior

 

[cybrdyke]

The term "high bay" is a general category of lighting equipment. Within that category are thousands of different variations. When you are asking about height, you should probably be thinking about something called "beam angle", the angle at which all the light comes out of the fixture. This is a basic statistic of a lighting fixture and should be prominently displayed on any piece of literature or website.
High bays generally have a tight beam angle, in the ballpark of 90 degrees to 120 degrees (with lots of exceptions). If they are mounted too low, the beam doesn't have adequate distance to spread out over the target area. The result is hot spots and dark spots in the space, very high contrast levels, and harsh shadows.
Without the proper education, a lot of folks are enticed by the high lumen packages of highbays and figure that they can get away with fewer fixtures. They end up with dark corners, tons of light on the top of the car, and an overall crappy lighting job.
This is one of the biggest reasons that I try to lean people away from cheap internet highbays.
Good luck,
CD

 

[Radix2]

i would think at that size and height, the 100-110w / 10,000 lumen class would be a better fit. Try the lithonia tool and shoot for at least 8 lights. As cyber said, very few high intensity lights will give shadowing - think about it like this if you had only 4 lights, the shadows would be at least 25%-50% less illuminated, the more lights, the less effect of being in the shadow of a few.

These led high bays are fairly broad and do not have mirrored or focusing reflectors like true high bays so they are not quite as height sensitive, they also have diffused lenses.

Lowe's and menards sell the 11,000 lumen lithonia and often have sales, you can also look at them in the store to see the level of glare up close.

 

[JoeMayo]

Thanks. I'm just not to keen up on lighting. Beam angle, how many etc.
I thought 4 of the 11k would be almost to much light in that size with that height.
6-8 110w James won't be blinding?

Thank

 

[JoeMayo]

Went to Lowe's and seen there 11k high bay lights. 4x2 at $170.
Wouldn't I be better getting the James 110w. There $114.

 

[Radix2]

Went to Lowe's and seen there 11k high bay lights. 4x2 at $170.
Wouldn't I be better getting the James 110w. There $114.

with the 12000lumen lithonias, I get about 100fc using 8 lights, so you definitely need more than 4. You want enough sources so that your shadows are minimized. a 3x3 grid of 9 or two rows of 4 would be as low as I would go in that size of space.

Do you have nice bright walls and ceiling?

The James are good, I mentioned the Lithonias because you can go see them to get an idea of what the light looks like in person. And on sale the price is close.

The James and Lithonias look very similar in construction.

The store ones are only 70CRI though and the James claims 80+

 

[American Locomotive]

The James and Lithonias look very similar in construction.

The store ones are only 70CRI though and the James claims 80+

CRI is very important if you actually want to enjoy the workspace, IMO. 70 CRI is very bad, and is basically on-par with old 400W Metal-Halide bulbs.

80 CRI is the absolute minimum I'd go for LED lighting, and even 80 is still on the low side. There is a noticeable difference between 80 CRI lights and 85-90 CRI bulbs in terms of light quality. 80 CRI LED bulbs still tend to have a slight bluish tinge, and 80 CRI fluorescent bulbs tend to have a slightly greenish tinge.

I would also really question the James High Bay lights if they simply list the CRI as "80+". Whenever I see manufacturers of LED lights claiming ranges like that, it screams they're using reject LED modules that are all over the place.

 

[JoeMayo]

If James and the store lights are 70-80 cri. What other lights are out there that are better?
Walls and ceiling will be white. Tan porcelain tile

 

[Radix2]

If James and the store lights are 70-80 cri. What other lights are out there that are better?
Walls and ceiling will be white. Tan porcelain tile

You can special order the Lithonias in 90cri, will be $$ though. I am very happy with the James 80+ CRI, I went with the 4000K and the colors on everything look good to me.

... on the overcast days you can go in there and the bright light gives your mood a pick up...

 

[JoeMayo]

You can special order the Lithonias in 90cri, will be $$ though. I am very happy with the James 80+ CRI, I went with the 4000K and the colors on everything look good to me.

... on the overcast days you can go in there and the bright light gives your mood a pick up...

So with only 12' ceilings with chain making them hang around 11.4' this won't be to bright ? With 8 lights

 

[cybrdyke]

So with only 12' ceilings with chain making them hang around 11.4' this won't be to bright ? With 8 lights

Joe, what we're trying to tell you is that 4 or 6 high powered luminaires will give you lots of light, but it will be uneven, shadowey, and contrasty. Especially from a 11' 4" mounting height. If you are working on a bench against the wall with a big powerful light behind you, you'll have an extremely dark shadow to work in. If you want to see in a cabinet or toolbox drawer, you'll have dark spots and shadows. However, it's your garage.
A better solution would be more fixtures, with fewer lumens, spaced more evenly across the ceiling. Something like Philips Fluxstream EZ or Lithonia ZL1N. Techbrite has a good Narrow Lens Strip, as well. These are all well established professional lighting companies. Dont get caught up in high CRI numbers as long as your in the 80 range, you're fine.
Like I said, it's your space...make it however works best for you.
Good luck,
CD

 

[JoeMayo]

Joe, what we're trying to tell you is that 4 or 6 high powered luminaires will give you lots of light, but it will be uneven, shadowey, and contrasty. Especially from a 11' 4" mounting height. If you are working on a bench against the wall with a big powerful light behind you, you'll have an extremely dark shadow to work in. If you want to see in a cabinet or toolbox drawer, you'll have dark spots and shadows. However, it's your garage.
A better solution would be more fixtures, with fewer lumens, spaced more evenly across the ceiling. Something like Philips Fluxstream EZ or Lithonia ZL1N. Techbrite has a good Narrow Lens Strip, as well. These are all well established professional lighting companies. Dont get caught up in high CRI numbers as long as your in the 80 range, you're fine.
Like I said, it's your space...make it however works best for you.
Good luck,
CD

I understand. I will give those a look right now. Probably go with 2 rows of 5 to have a well lit space?

 

[wssix99]

My personal home just started last week and my garage will be 33x23 with 12' ceilings. With lights like the James 110-165 is 12' to low? I'm only wanting 3-4 lights at the most. If 12' is to low what would you recommend?
Thanks

I have a 3 bay, 25' X 37' garage with 14' ceilings and have 6 2-tube fluorescent fixtures (normal height/bay) per bay for normal lighting. (32,000 lumens) and things are just fine. In my work bay, I have an additional 6 tubes for additional lighting, which works well.

Others on this site have many more fixtures, lumens. I am happy with my setup but would not go with any fewer fixtures. (I do not have any dark areas or shadows in the garage.)

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Thanks. I'm just not to keen up on lighting. Beam angle, how many etc.
I thought 4 of the 11k would be almost to much light in that size with that height.
6-8 110w James won't be blinding?

You don't want high bay. The Lowes store itself is "high bay".

A 12' garage is definitely not. Keep in mind, also that the stuff you are working on will be a shorter distance from the fixture to the floor than 12'. As alluded to above, the beam angle on the high bay lights will be narrow and will work like spot lights and will throw shadows on you.

 

[swharris]

Joe, what we're trying to tell you is that 4 or 6 high powered luminaires will give you lots of light, but it will be uneven, shadowey, and contrasty. Especially from a 11' 4" mounting height. If you are working on a bench against the wall with a big powerful light behind you, you'll have an extremely dark shadow to work in. If you want to see in a cabinet or toolbox drawer, you'll have dark spots and shadows. However, it's your garage.
A better solution would be more fixtures, with fewer lumens, spaced more evenly across the ceiling. Something like Philips Fluxstream EZ or Lithonia ZL1N. Techbrite has a good Narrow Lens Strip, as well. These are all well established professional lighting companies. Dont get caught up in high CRI numbers as long as your in the 80 range, you're fine.
Like I said, it's your space...make it however works best for you.
Good luck,
CD

This issue, if in his case it turns out to be an issue, can be helped or eliminated by adding a diffusion material inside the light cover. Many ways to achieve this, but the easiest way would be to buy a roll of diffusion "gel". Heat resistant, plastic sheeting that comes in various levels of opaqueness. From very light to very heavy. Simply cut to fit inside the light housing.

The use of this material will help diffuse the beam and spread the light out. Of course, this will affect the output of the light so he needs to be aware of the reduction in overall light output. You can change color temp with CTO(orange) or CTB(blue) to modify color temperature. Again, the output of the light will be affected.

Companies like Lee or Roscoe are the two main suppliers. It can be purchased from any Film/TV/Theatrical lighting expendables company.

An informative page about diffusion from Lee. They measure light loss in F-stops(photographic terminology) http://www.leefilters.com/lighting/diffusion-list.html

 

[JoeMayo]

Made builder make the garage cathedral roof line at 14'.. any new suggestions with the lights now.

 

[American Locomotive]

Well cathedral roof line really isn't going to change much. A row of 3-4 high-bays 14 feet up (which really still isn't that high) is going to leave you with hard shadows and dark corners of your garage.

 

[nsula_country]

High bay generally means 15-20 foot minimum.

CRI of 85+, regardless of CCT makes lighting more enjoyable.

Be wary of cheap LED lamps... Just saying.

CT

 

[Brandon314159]

FWIW I just finished my 24x36 and hung x6 James 225W 'high bays' with the included diffuers up in the ~16ftish zone. They spread nicely and are MORE than bright enough. The goal was to be able to run them dimmed most of the time then bump it up when I need the extra lumens. Two per 'bay' (though my door is in the end) of my pole barn. It's daylight bright in there...eyes need not adjust coming in from outside on a sunny day (light colored walls).