shop lighting

[Silvervic99stang]

i have friends that have added florecent lights in their shops and arent happy i was told to try high pressure sodium lights where can i get them and what am i to expect from them.. i got my slab poured on tuesday 30x40 its going to be 15 ft tall and how many fixtures will i need
thanks

 

[Mac]

I just finished lighting my new 40x60x16 with T5 six tube HiBay fixtures that I got from an eBay store. I put up 6 of 'em and they are great. The T5's use 54 watt tubes, come in a variety of brightness choices, use less power than sodiums and have a 5 year warrenty and a mirrored reflector. I couldn't be happier with them.

 

[calstyl2]

Same here, 4 tube, T-5 Hibays for a 40x60, 125ea, ebay store direct purchase with 5000 bulbs.

 

[Norcal]

Avoid HPS for indoor lighting, the amber color just ***** ,use metal halide or high bay fluorescent fixtures.

 

[UncleJedley]

Pardon my ignoramisence.

What's the difference between HiBay and regular fluorescents?

 

[BioHazard]

Trust me, you DO NOT want high pressure sodium (HPS) lights in your shop. Find the ugliest, dimmest, yellowest street light you can - that's HPS.

They probably meant metal halide, (MH) which is similar to HPS but puts out completely different light. Fluorescents are killing these too as they get better and cheaper.

Pardon my ignoramisence.

What's the difference between HiBay and regular fluorescents?

"high bay" lights are lights that are designed for really tall ceilings - a different type of reflector than if it was meant to be mounted lower.

 

[Norcal]

Trust me, you DO NOT want high pressure sodium (HPS) lights in your shop. Find the ugliest, dimmest, yellowest street light you can - that's HPS.

HPS does not produce yellow light, it's a amber color, LPS, Low Pressure Sodium produces a monochromatic yellow light output.

 

[luvair]

I just finished lighting my new 40x60x16 with T5 six tube HiBay fixtures that I got from an eBay store. I put up 6 of 'em and they are great. The T5's use 54 watt tubes, come in a variety of brightness choices, use less power than sodiums and have a 5 year warrenty and a mirrored reflector. I couldn't be happier with them.

Do you receive any AM or FM radio interference with the T'5's?

Are they commercial or residential?

Thanks.

 

[Gary S]

I agree about sodium lights. The light color is very poor to work under. I have florescent and really like the light color and intensity.

 

[Silvervic99stang]

so this T-5 work well, no one has had problems with them? how many do i need in a 30x30 shop?

 

[Jeff]

I did my lighting with keyless fixtures and CFL's. Couldn't be happier. Cheap too.

 

[BioHazard]

I think T5s are over rated. They put out about the same light as a T8 except they use 28 watts vs 32 watts. Big deal. Fixtures and tubes are way way more expensive.

If you start to look up more while you're out shopping, you will find that most retail stores, like a grocery store, that are well lit, and usually have a drop ceiling around 15'? or so and use T8s, and lots of them.

In a 30x40 shop you're looking at 60+ tubes whether T5 or T8 depending on how much light you want.

 

[Mac]

Do you receive any AM or FM radio interference with the T'5's?

Are they commercial or residential?

Thanks.

I don't recall anything mentioned about residential or commercial. The eBay listing had information about cost savings and such but I wanted the T5 light output and I'm not interested in how cheap they are to run.

All I have out there right now for noise is a BOOMBOX but no interferance that I've noticed. I do have a very large Yamaha sytem that is going in but not quite yet.

 

[Mac]

so this T-5 work well, no one has had problems with them? how many do i need in a 30x30 shop?

Stang - Check out the eBay listing by doing a search for "T5" in "eBay Home". The sellers name is "Jesse". He will respond to questions about quantity, brightness, and what will work best for your particular shop size and ceiling height. They come with tubes, chains and a 5 year warrenty but pigtails and some other features were add-ons.

Everybody has an opinion about what works best. I got a list of 50 references from my shop builder when I was still in the look phase and spent a couple of days checking. About a dozen guys were home and let me into their shop to look at construction quality and the one guy who used these T5's was far and away the best lit of all. I was sold right then. I used T8's in my last building (30x40) and until I saw the difference for myself I was undecided. I have six 6 tubes fixtures and intend to add 2 more when I get my storage mezzanine done. That will give me 48 tubes total.

 

[juiced10]

I have 6 four bulb T5 fixtures in my 30x50 pole barn with 14 foot tall ceilings.I could not be happier with them.I feel like I can perform surgery in there.They are Phillips HiBay T5HO fixtures and I paid $100 per fixture and $3.00 per bulb.I have no radio interference and love the fact that when I go into the barn in the middle of winter they turn right on.

 

[carpenter383]

I have 5 8ft t12 high output fixtures in my 36x40x12 and it's pretty bright, but the t12's use more power than the the t5's and 8's. The fixtures were like 60 bucks ea. at menards.
I heard they're going to do away with t12's, anyone else heard this?

 

[burleymike]

The only phaseout will be for T12 magnetic ballasts. If you magnetic ballast takes a dump you will have to buy an electronic replacement T12 ballast or an electronic T8 ballast. If you go with a T8 ballast you can then use T8 lamps in the fixture.

T12 lamps are not scheduled for phaseout at this time.

 

[Cuda]

I recently relit a repair shop doing away with almost (100) 400 watt Metal Halide fixtures and replacing them with 6 tube 4" T-8's. I have been amazed at the quality of the light, but have been somewhat disappointed in what I feel is early ballast failure. I would guess in the 2 years they have been in place I have had to replace a dozen or so ballasts.
They are G.E. ballasts and my supplier said they have seen a lot of ballast failures with G.E.
Anyone else notice that?

 

[CrashTestDummy]

While not HiBay lights, I was in the local big-box hardware store over the weekend and noticed that the price of 2-bulb 4' T5 fixtures, with bulbs, is now in the range that T8's used to be just a few weeks ago. I think prices for them is starting to come down a bit. Not sure, but that is what it seems.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

 

[Duane]

Not true. I just bought 3 8ft T12 high output fixtures at the home depot and they have electronic ballasts in them.


Duane

 

[BioHazard]

I think a lot of people confuse T5 and T5HO. They are two entirely different things, even though they look the same. Standard T5 = 28 watts, 2900 lumens, almost the same as a T8. T5HO is 54 watts, 5000 lumens. Major difference. Also, one is a lot more expensive than the other.

In the same way I have T12HO (8 foot) tubes in my shop which put out 4400 lumens per 4', 55 watts. (8800lm, 110w per 8' tube) That's old tech, and still beats "regular" T5s and is almost as bright as T5HO.

Also while T8s have a longer life expectancy than T12s, T5s have shorter life than T8s.

 

[BioHazard]

While not HiBay lights, I was in the local big-box hardware store over the weekend and noticed that the price of 2-bulb 4' T5 fixtures, with bulbs, is now in the range that T8's used to be just a few weeks ago.

I noticed the same thing, Home Depot (and probably lowes) has a new 2 tube T5 fixture for $35 including tubes. Unfortunately this is not T5HO, and the only tubes HD sells (and the ones that come with it) are 3300k. I want at least 4100-5000k for my shop.

 

[veno]

check this thread... as a alternative to the conventional

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38658