T5HO w/ a low ceiling

[buildyourown]

Looking for new lights for my 25' x 25' shop. 7.5 ft ceiling.
Looking at using single bulb T5HO strip light for a couple reasons. The form factor makes them low very thin, conserving head room. They can be found for $25-28 including the bulbs. This seems like a decent $/lumen value.

I'm thinking I need more fixtures since the ceiling is so low. Less room for light to disperse. Considering somewhere between 16-24 fixtures. I want the shop bright. My old shop was always dark and it drove me nuts. All upper walls and ceiling will be white.

Anybody use these lights with sucess is a short shop?

 

[litljay]

I have 4 - 4 bulb T5HO fixtures in my 3 car garage with 10' ceilings. It's crazy bright, but I love it.

 

[pattenp]

I really believe you shouldn't use a T5 HO lamp with the ceiling being 7.5 ft. Use a regular T5.

 

[gatchel]

HO's will give you massive hot spots.

 

[madosta]

I really believe you shouldn't use a T5 HO lamp with the ceiling being 7.5 ft. Use a regular T5.

Agreed. T5HO is usually best suited for high ceiling applications as has been discussed here in the past. Some find them actually too bright and have changed them out or diffused them.

That being said, the single bulb may not be horrible, but the hot spots might be annoying.

I have 8' ceilings and T8 2-bulb fixtures are great IMHO, I have some 4-bulb fixtures over my benches, and they are floodlights!!! 5000k is a great color for me, and others have differing opinions - just something to consider.

 

[Blondziegbart]

I installed four 8' T5HO fixtures (16x 54w bulbs) in a 23' x 21' space (approx), 8' ceiling, bisected by a structural beam. Beam hangs to 7'.

Thus my space is in two zones, we might say: east and west ends.

I flush mounted them. Nothing is burning up and they don't draw a ton of current, based on back-of-envelope calcs.

Guys on this forum and elsewhere suggest T5HO is better high-bay. I've never had anything else in there to compare/contrast; YMMV. They are rather annoyingly bright if one looks at them, which could be a deal-breaker for sure. I find the space now lit quite sufficiently.

Given a similar-sized space, OP's 25' x 25', would certainly be crazy-bright w/24 bulbs. Too, I prefer daylight (6500K). I "think" lower-temp bulbs produce even more light (white or soft-white, vs. daylight). Another person mentions 5000K as great for his purposes.

Circling back, couple questions based on other responses:

- What is a "hot spot"? Literally, or figuratively? Mine heat up, but the ceiling isn't smoking, nor are they drawing much power, nor do the fixtures themselves appear ready to burst into flames. Or does "hot" mean: stark light and shadow zones?

- I snagged five pictures in my garage for this thread, below. Tweaked exposure a bit in camera's manual mode to be as true-to-life as possible on level of brightness, in my eyes. I chose colors that would look interesting specifically in bright white (light gray walls, royal blue cabinets and RaceDeck accent, other RaceDeck colors Alloy and Black). My space has several somewhat-stark shadow due to the various ceiling obstructions I deal with. Too, there is clearly a bit of glare on reflective objects near the fixtures. Are either or both "hot spots?"

 

[Charles (in GA)]

A lot of people see a T5 bulb and assume it is HO. For the price the OP is citing, I wonder if they are HO. Also not common to see single bulb HO fixtures.

Charles