Some very nice, bright lights

[LeeG]

I really hate working in a poorly lit area. I saw these Lithonia Lighting 6-Light High Bay Fixtures at Home Depot. Although they say they are not recommended for ceiling mount, I have had them on my shop ceiling for over 6 months with no ill effects. The amount of light they put out made a huge difference for me in being able to see smaller details.

I have one over my table saw and another over my assembly table/bench. Here is a shot of my garage at night from outside.

If I was doing more work with the garage door closed, I'd add two more near the front of the garage, but since I don't have any climate control, I tend to keep the door open whenever I am working.

 

[mdkingsley]

I will have to take a look at those.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

The ceiling mount prohibition has to do with the heat they generate. You won't have any problems, till the fire erupts. Really should space them with some 1" or so blocks at the mounting points so there is some air gap between them and the ceiling.

Charles

 

[Aceman]

There's a reason they're called high bays, they don't belong in a garage with a low ceiling.

http://www.platt.com/CutSheets/Lithonia/IB 632 NDS-CutSheet.pdf

 

[Greatbear]

I used one of those same fixtures to sit between my two overhead doors. In that space are three pedestal grinders and some other stuff. I like having a lot of light in the area when using the grinders and such, since the doors cover two sets of 8 foot fixtures over each door when open. I installed channel-mount lighting in my garage and had a single two-tube hooded fixture in that spot previously. I grabbed the Lithonia light to take its place for more light. I knew the Lithonia fixture came with a pair of electronic ballasts running three bulbs each. Before putting up the fixture, I added a pull-chain switch on the end, between the two innermost tubes. This switches power to one of the ballasts. When on, I can choose to have three or six bulbs lit, in those cases where I don't need a lot of light by pulling the chain. Despite these lights being meant as high-bay fixtures, they actually work quite well at "normal" heights. As for heat buildup, there isn't any to worry about. The ballasts get lukewarm at best, and the lamps, despite being in close proximity to one another, don't even get hot enough to keep you from leaving your hand on the fixture continuously. In my setup, though, the lights are spaced about two inches or so from the "ceiling" by the channel mounting clamps. I always recommend people install some sort of spacer between a fixture and the ceiling surface to keep heat at a minimum, doing so also cuts down on any noise the fixture might generate.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

While the reflectors and venting of high bay vs low bay fluorescent lights is different, I don't think there is near the issue with them being "misused" as there is with metal halide and sodium lighting, where the focus is definitely a problem.

The HD web page gives the number as a IB 632 implying its a Lithonia I Beam series, but the I beam series is flat on top, the ballast is buried between the two middle bulbs, while the fixture shown on the HD web page more closely resembles the Lithonia FGB "Spec-Beam" series.

The only experience I have with heat in newer electronic ballasts is the T5HO strips I have, they get up to about 150°F on the top of the housing and if they were mounted up tight to a ceiling, no telling how hot they would get.

Charles