T8 fixtures for 8 ft ceiling, exposed joists

[OSULemon]

The house I'm renting came with a detached single in the back yard, which has an unfinished (and half insulated) ceiling with exposed joists, the bottoms of which are 8.5" from the unfinished cement floor. The walls are plywood, painted white. General dimensions are 13.5' x 19'

Were it my garage, I would finish the ceiling, install open strip lighting or wraps, and be done with it. However - since the garage is a rental, I'm not inclined to put that much money into it the structure itself. Furthermore, whatever fixtures I choose may not work with the next garage I rent/own, so I'm hesitant to spend too much.

Therefore, I'm stuck going back and forth between 4' reflector or open strip lights. I do intend to hang task lighting with reflectors over work benches for more fc where it counts. However, I do not like the idea of "cave lighting," and the floor will not reflect much back upwards.

I purchased a Lithonia SB 232 (seen in the second pictures) as an experiment:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia...nt-Ceiling-Fixture-SB-2-32-120-GESB/100427375

It definitely throws more light on the walls than my workbench task light, but it's twice the cost of, say, a Lithonia 1233 RE:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia...cent-Residential-Shop-Light-1233-RE/202994372

I decided I'm not very concerned about hitting the lights, since I don't work with long boards much, and will likely do my woodworking in the back room, which has a finished ceiling and will have wrapped lights.

My question, then, is do I install reflector lights because of my lack of a finished ceiling, then perhaps some hanging CFL's or general illumination bulbs above the rafters to avoid the cave effect? Or perhaps just install enough open strip lighting to make that a non-issue?

Thanks in advance.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I used Lithonia C232120RE as a test. I just ordered 10 more last night. The RE means residential ballast. You could cut pieces of reflective foil covered insulation board and mount behind the lights as a reflector until you end up with a different situation with white ceiling.

 

[OSULemon]

I used Lithonia C232120RE as a test. I just ordered 10 more last night. The RE means residential ballast. You could cut pieces of reflective foil covered insulation board and mount behind the lights as a reflector until you end up with a different situation with white ceiling.

Good idea. About the same price as drywall, but easier to hang.

I tried the 1233 RE and noticed it gave more of a cave effect, but then I discovered I could flip the reflector upside down, mimicking an open strip without the higher cost. So that's the direction I think I'll be going!