New guy needs Fluorescent lights for the garage

[CheckeredFlag]

Wanna school me on School me on Fluorescent lights for the garage ?

I live in Mid Michigan and have an unheated garage* (remember that part for later)

I want to add some lights for the overhead. I would roughly say it's about 10ft up to the ceiling.

But when I was looking at a variety of lights at my local Home Depot, I noticed there was quite a varitey, for the garage.

Some were 2 bulb, some were 4 ... some seemed much brighter than others.

Bulb ratings seem to go from T5 - T8

.... so for brightness, should I be looking for a certain "T" number, or a higher "lumens" number ?

and back to my colder Michigan Winters - are some better in colder climates than others ?

The one I liked the best had 4 lights / seemed the brightest.

I have an electrical outlet already up there, so I could plug them in, or have my Electrical buddy, hard wire them in (so if I wanted to go with some High-output lamps, I think that would be an option.)

But I would appreciate your input

TIA

great site, BTW ... looks like I have a lot of reading to do ...

 

[Charles (in GA)]

The T number refers to the diameter of the bulb, in eights of an inch. Thus a T12 (fast becoming obselete) is 12/8 inch in diameter or 1½", while T8 is 8/8 or 1" diameter and T5 is 5/8 or five eights of an inch in diameter.

There are different colors of lamps, in Kelvin or K such as 2700K being a soft white (yellowish) or 4100K being a bright white, or 5000K being a daylight, or 6500K being a very bright bluish color.

Bulbs have a color rendering index number, such as 85 cri which is a rather good number, you might see something as high as 90 but more commonly in the mid 80's. Less than that is not desirable.

bulbs come in different lengths, generic term for the most common bulb is "four foot" though the actual length differs slightly, and T5 "four foot bulbs are a couple of inches shorter than "four foot" at about 46 inches.

There are standard and high output bulbs. T8 high output is not real common, T5HO is actually more common than a standard bulb. fixtures are made for standard or HO and you must use bulbs to match the ballast/fixtures being used.

Your main concern is starting the bulbs at low temps. Some ballasts and bulbs are designed for this, some are not. Others may chime in on what has worked best for them in low temps.

Charles

 

[CheckeredFlag]

thanks for the info

 

[CheckeredFlag]

Would I have any cold weather issues with LEDs instead of Fluorescents ?

got a lot to learn here ...

 

[NHBandit]

In my 30x40 shop I'm just finishing up I went with 12 8' T8 fixtures that use 4 4' bulbs each. It's like an operating room in there it's so bright and I mounted them 13' off the floor.

 

[regguy1]

The old T12 had magnetic ballasts and they don't light well in the cold.
I have the T8 from HD and the have electronic ballast and light much better in low temp.

20 T8 48" 2 tube w/ diffusor 6500K tubes
See them here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140674

 

[James-W]

How much time are you planning on spending out in the garage? If you don't plan on being out there all that much, I wouldn't go overboard putting in the latest and greatest lighting.

 

[aandpdan]

I have T8's in my unheated garage. Even at 0f they light. They may not be at full brightness right way but they have never had trouble starting. In a few minutes they are fine.

Not a concern for me. I recommend T8's.

 

[E.Marquez]

T8's and lots of um,, There is no such thing as too much light.

Wire them so just a few key position light come on one switch (quick trip in to retrieve that cell phone you left in the garage, or turn off the air compressor, TV, radio) and the rest on another switch.

When location lights consider shadows that are created by you or the thing your working on, in the typical locations you would do that work.. Locate lights off set so you can get good light on the project.

If your garage can not be seen from space on a clear night,,,, you do not have enough light.

 

[stingray1966]

just got a set of T5 high output from home depot They said they are new a little pricy BUT I never seen lamps that put out so much light They blow away all of my other Fluorescent lights and am thinking in the next few months to replace them with T5 high out put

 

[Randy in Maine]

just got a set of T5 high output from home depot They said they are new a little pricy BUT I never seen lamps that put out so much light They blow away all of my other Fluorescent lights and am thinking in the next few months to replace them with T5 high out put

X2 Very impressive light. They beat the hell out of my T8 HOs in the woodshop portion of my shop.

 

[Rob_b]

If I can suggest you go get yourself some T1248DHO lamps and ballasts. They work 12 months of the year in cold or warm climate (I'm in southern Ontario) and they are cheap. The ballasts are about $25 and lamps about $7-8 each. I used to be in the sign business years ago so I've had some experience here.

 

[James-W]

I used to be in the sign business years ago so I've had some experience here.

OK, so tell us, what's you sign?

 

[stingray1966]

The t 5 set up I got at home depot says on the box that they are built for cold or warm climate these have to be the brightest I have seen

 

[mrjaw14]

I have some T8's and they've been excellent. T8's are MUCH better than T12's. Glad those went by the way-side

 

[CheckeredFlag]

thanks for all the info !~

 

[djjsr]

I suggest that you do not even consider any T-12 lights. The ballasts are no longer being made and it's just a matter of time before the bulbs become scarce.

I found the 'best bang for the buck' is the 8 foot T-8 fixtures that use four of the 4' bulbs. BUT there are some really cheap oddball Chinese ballasts in some of these fixtures that are not reliable. I've been burned by early ballast failure a few times and now stick with Sylvania/Osram.

 

[77thor]

I'm considering some T5 HO (use 2 - 54Watt tubes) at Home Depot.
They are a bit pricey at $39.95ea but their light output rating is way higher than anything else. Plus they are good to start down to -20 degF.

 

[CheckeredFlag]

thats the ones I was checking out this afternoon...

 

[Zeke]

The T number refers to the diameter of the bulb, in eights of an inch. Thus a T12 (fast becoming obselete) is 12/8 inch in diameter or 1½", while T8 is 8/8 or 1" diameter and T5 is 5/8 or five eights of an inch in diameter.

There are different colors of lamps, in Kelvin or K such as 2700K being a soft white (yellowish) or 4100K being a bright white, or 5000K being a daylight, or 6500K being a very bright bluish color.

Bulbs have a color rendering index number, such as 85 cri which is a rather good number, you might see something as high as 90 but more commonly in the mid 80's. Less than that is not desirable.

bulbs come in different lengths, generic term for the most common bulb is "four foot" though the actual length differs slightly, and T5 "four foot bulbs are a couple of inches shorter than "four foot" at about 46 inches.

There are standard and high output bulbs. T8 high output is not real common, T5HO is actually more common than a standard bulb. fixtures are made for standard or HO and you must use bulbs to match the ballast/fixtures being used.

Your main concern is starting the bulbs at low temps. Some ballasts and bulbs are designed for this, some are not. Others may chime in on what has worked best for them in low temps.

Charles

That's one of the most informative posts I've read. We should have a wiki here to put things like that in.

 

[stingray1966]

Yes they are a bit pricey but after seeing them at night they blew me away
I think I will be replacing my old T12s for these I am very happy with them

 

[ejm1961Tbird]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/content.php?146-Lighting-the-Small-Workshop-by-Jack-Lindsey

 

[77thor]

Nice write-up... thanks for posting it.

 

[elav]

In order to make sure you have enough light you should target 100 - 200 lumens / sq ft of garage. I personally prefer 200 lumens / sq ft. Based on this you can figure out how many of a given light fixture you will need and the total cost associated with it.

 

[ABADWILLYS]

im no lighting expert by any means but ill throw in something you may not think of too, i just put i think seventeen T8's in my new shop, i bought a 30 pack of bulbs from an electrical supply place, however i needed more bulbs, i checked all the specs on the bulbs i bought and ran to Lowes , home depot whatever to get more , matched up all the specs ,no problem right?, well when i put them up the light was noticably different, wha the hell? same specs on the bulbs but obviously a DIFFERENT MANUFACTOR made a difference on the light appearence, i maybe be a little OCD but i wanted all my lights to be the same, i had to go back to the supply place and buy more bulbs that were the same as the first ones
my advice, whatever bulbs you buy, buy them all the same from the same manufactor