The Best Light Fixture Ever!

[Platonic Solid]

I don't understand all of the numbers related to bulbs. That said, I went by Lowes and looked at their lighting display and the T5 bulbs looked the brightest and best to my eyes. Anything wrong with the T5's ?

As stated in first post in this thread: "• Bare F54T5HO lamps produce too much glare when mounted below 15 feet. If you like them, put them in a wrap style fixture to cut down the glare."

 

[elba]

Thanks Platonic Solid !

 

[Platonic Solid]

Here's a quick reference for "what all the numbers mean" on fluorescent lamps:

F54T5/850 HO
F - Fluorescent
54 - Lamp Watts
T5 - Lamp diameter (5 = 5/8" dia.)(8 = 8/8" = 1" dia.)(12 = 12/8" = 1.5" dia.)
8 - 800 series phosphor = <80 CRI = good color rendering. (700 series phosphors are mostly obsolete)
50 - 5000K CCT = color temperature: numbers range from 2700 (warm/yellow) thru 6000+ (cold/blue)
HO - High Output

 

[turtl631]

Of note, the beeslighting site lists the 18W James lamp as single ended and allows orders of any quantity. Although obviously fewer lumens than the 22W lamp, this looks like a nice option to avoid rewiring the commonly available fixtures and not buy extra lamps you don't need. For model names, BINS = single end, BINT = two end wiring.

 

[ExxWhy]

ExxWhy - At 13.5' mounting height, LED really isn't cost effective. I'd go with Qty. 23, 8ft 4-lamp F32T8 Tandem strip lights with a high ballast factor Ballast (BF = 1.15 min), thus 92 lamps. Suggested ballast = Sylvania 49455

Perimeter fixtures all 3ft from respective wall. 1ft space between each in 4 fixture rows.
Here are the photometric results in PDF.

Wow, you didn't need to do that, but I am most appreciative!!!

 

[Brad J.]

I purchased 4 of the James 19.5 watt from Beeslighting to compare with the 49455 ballasts and Octron 8000 bulbs I bought a month ago.

I will let you know what I think when I get them.

Any problems with mounting the James bulbs in paint booth lights where their isn't any airflow?

 

[gpflepsen]

Here's a possibility for affordable shoplight fixture available from Menard's:








Housing:

Here's my lighting answer for the 36x24 shop with 12' walls and vaulted ceiling, 14.5' at the peak. 16 total fixtures arranged in four rows of four 4' shoplights. Lights are hung in a line 3.25' and 6.25' from the side walls equally spaced two feet from the end walls.

Fixture for $11
http://www.menards.com/main/p-1444423572360-c-7242.htm?tid=192216302081400647

Two non-shunted tombstones for $1.30
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S64ACCI/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Two James Ind ZY-T8-18W1200-BINS-50K for $22. You can order partial cases from beeslighting, so thats really nice. I have 40 of these received today. Quick shipping and was free in October.
http://www.beeslighting.com/product..._a_7c10411_a_7cZY_d_T8_d_18W1200_d_BINS_d_50K

Total $34.30 for 4320 lumens at 36W. 120 lm/W.

Here's a picture (not worth much...) of a two bulb electronic ballast florescent on the right with these bulbs (Sylvania 22433) and the LED fixture on the left. Light seems a bit brighter on the floor directly under the LED so it seems they outperform the fluorescents by a hair.

I plan to augment this lighting with task lighting at work benches if I need a little more intensity. I could always add a few more fixtures to the ceiling too.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Brad J. - I think ambient temperature would be a bigger concern than air flow. Unless otherwise stated, all light fixtures are design for 25°C (77°F) ambient.

gpflepsen - You said "Here's a picture". I see no picture.

 

[gpflepsen]

Brad J. - I think ambient temperature would be a bigger concern than air flow. Unless otherwise stated, all light fixtures are design for 25°C (77°F) ambient.

gpflepsen - You said "Here's a picture". I see no picture.

Strange, I had attached images last night...

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

[Bgoodoldboy]

Guys, this is lighting overload!! Every night I get home from work and try to decipher what I should go with...all the links in this thread are overwhelming! My garage is 32x40 13ft ceilings, would like to go led but with all of this info I'm not sure what I need for the fixture, bulbs, ballast, no ballast ect..can anyone recommend the best bang for the buck to someone who doesn't know the intricacies that are constantly mentioned????

 

[Platonic Solid]

Bgoodoldboy - Best bang for the buck is a moving target and varies depending on what you need. With 13ft ceilings you're best sticking with a 4ft fixture with around 7000 lumen output. There are multiple options to get there:

1. 2-lamp 4ft F32T8 fluorescent strip light with High Ballast Factor ballasts. BF of 1.15 or greater. That generally means you have to special order your fixtures. I don't think you'll find any of the big box stores selling High ballast factor fixtures off the shelf.

2. 3-lamp 4ft F32T8 standard BF (0.88) fluorescent

3. Any LED combination that yields around 7000 Lumen output.


You haven't provided enough info about your garage. Is the ceiling finished? flat? Walls finished?
You'll have to do your own shopping as pricing and deals change daily.

 

[matemike]

I have a 30x40x12 with 15'6" interior peak height. Gloss white insulation on ceiling and walls.

I feel LED's will give me too much glare and if I glance at them they cause my eyes to adjust like after a "camera flash".
See the first attached excel. Can anyone recommend LED fixtures with 15,000 lumens that will work well in "medium" bay heights? The mounting height for the fixtures will be about 14' and angled 22.5° toward the center line of the building.


Since I feel LED's just aren't for me, I'm leaning to go with 8 of these lights in two strips of 4 for 165 lumens per sq ft in my 1200 sq ft. shop.

http://www.badwgroup.com/collection...8x32-8ft-8-lamp-t8-linear-fluorescent-low-bay

I chose the 8 lamp fixtures because the 6 lamp fixtures are only 35 cents less each. 8 x 6 lamp fixtures would get me 125 lumens per sq ft which would be very nice itself, but for the almost zero price difference I might as well get the bigger ones. right?

 

[Bgoodoldboy]

Platonic thanks for the guidance, the ceiling is flat and will be finished white, the walls osb. If I want to go with led is there an economical led that does 7000 lumens? do I need to buy a fixture without ballast? thanks for taking the time...

 

[bedn0009]

All,

What is the best "today" option for a 4' fixture? I just built a 32 x 28 x 8 wood shop.

It seems like LED is getting more affordable? I need to purchase approx 20 fixtures this month, and I've seen different housing/ballast configurations. Anyone point me in the right direction?

Thank you.

 

[INTMD8]

Platonic, I think you mentioned you aren't doing this any more but if you have the time to put something together for my garage I will gladly compensate you. Paypal or? If not, no problem at all, appreciate you contributions thus far

 

[RoHo48]

http://www.grainger.com/category/le...or+led+light+fixtures&ssf=3&suggestConfigId=6

I haven't had time to read through all the pages yet but this was what I was planning to install. They are warehouse lights but fairly reasonably priced compared to lumens/$. I'm a little concerned that they may be too bright since the garage is only 15' high.

 

[600SL]

Hello Platonic.

A really nice thread you started.

I was wondering if you could comment on aperture reflectors.

I purchase about 17 of these for my 30x 48 garage. I really like them allot. A got the aperture reflectors because all the light calculation tools showed no difference between with and without an aperture, however in my reading I heard the apertures keep the tubes clean by circulating air.

I wasn't sure just how much credibility there is to that. I only know that it will be unlikely that I will dust them.

I got these with a coupon for 20% off and no shipping but it still came out to almost ~ 2 times the the price of the lower quality big box store brands.

TLA 2 32 MVOLT1/4GEB10IS

 

[GT350SVO]

Platonic Solids recommended light calls for two 4ft fixtures to be connected in tandem. I was wondering how far the two fixtures could be separated and still run off of one ballast? Mine will be direct mount and I thought I could just connect them using a length of conduit.

 

[Platonic Solid]

I have a 30x40x12 with 15'6" interior peak height. Gloss white insulation on ceiling and walls.

See C2tuck 30x30x14 (linked) add 5 more fixtures to linked layout for 40ft length.

Can anyone recommend LED fixtures with 15,000 lumens that will work well in "medium" bay heights? The mounting height for the fixtures will be about 14' and angled 22.5° toward the center line of the building.

You need around 7000lm per 4ft strip. LED can be done gracefully, but nowhere near the low cost of fluorescent.

I'm leaning to go with 8 of these lights in two strips of 4 for 165 lumens per sq ft in my 1200 sq ft. shop.

http://www.badwgroup.com/collection...8x32-8ft-8-lamp-t8-linear-fluorescent-low-bay

I chose the 8 lamp fixtures because the 6 lamp fixtures are only 35 cents less each. 8 x 6 lamp fixtures would get me 125 lumens per sq ft which would be very nice itself, but for the almost zero price difference I might as well get the bigger ones. right?

6 lamp (in that fixture) is more appropriate for your ceiling height ~7700 lm per 4ft strip, thus more even illumination. You'd need at least 3 rows instead of the 2 in your sketch. Even at 3 rows the reflectors could cause an uneven result.

2 rows of 8 lamp = ~10,200 lm per 4ft strip which will yield bright spots. The reflector compounds the problem.

Maybe 2 rows of 6-lamp on the outer purlins and a row of 8-lamp right down the middle. I can't really help you with the "Sun & Stars Lighting LBT8" since they don't offer IES files. $66 seems amazingly cheap for an 8ft tandem 8 lamp with reflector. Suggest finding out what the brand name of the ballasts are and check their warranty. A quality ballast will have a 5 year warranty and be a known name brand

 

[Platonic Solid]

Platonic thanks for the guidance, the ceiling is flat and will be finished white, the walls osb. If I want to go with led is there an economical led that does 7000 lumens? do I need to buy a fixture without ballast? thanks for taking the time...

Unless you have $4000 to invest in real LED light fixtures (not retrofit bulbs) I suggest you stick with fluorescent.

 

[Platonic Solid]

All,

What is the best "today" option for a 4' fixture? I just built a 32 x 28 x 8 wood shop.

It seems like LED is getting more affordable? I need to purchase approx 20 fixtures this month, and I've seen different housing/ballast configurations. Anyone point me in the right direction?

Thank you.

See links in post 259 (linked) in this thread for current lowest cost LED option. As for fluorescent, there are too many places to choose from.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Platonic, I think you mentioned you aren't doing this any more but if you have the time to put something together for my garage I will gladly compensate you. Paypal or? If not, no problem at all, appreciate you contributions thus far

Thank you for the offer, but I've actually had to shut down my PM box to stop the requests. My recommendation is install the Dialux Evo (linked) software and spend some quality time with it.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Hello Platonic.

A really nice thread you started.

I was wondering if you could comment on aperture reflectors.

I purchase about 17 of these for my 30x 48 garage. I really like them allot. A got the aperture reflectors because all the light calculation tools showed no difference between with and without an aperture, however in my reading I heard the apertures keep the tubes clean by circulating air.

I wasn't sure just how much credibility there is to that. I only know that it will be unlikely that I will dust them.

I got these with a coupon for 20% off and no shipping but it still came out to almost ~ 2 times the the price of the lower quality big box store brands.

TLA 2 32 MVOLT1/4GEB10IS

Aperture fixtures are ideal for pole barn style garage installations and can help many 11 to 14 ft high F32T8 installations by pushing most of the light down, but still providing a little up-light to eliminate the dark ceiling cave effect. Can you share a link to where you purchased yours?

 

[Platonic Solid]

http://www.grainger.com/category/le...or+led+light+fixtures&ssf=3&suggestConfigId=6

I haven't had time to read through all the pages yet but this was what I was planning to install. They are warehouse lights but fairly reasonably priced compared to lumens/$. I'm a little concerned that they may be too bright since the garage is only 15' high.

Aim for 8000 lm per 4ft length if mounting at 15'. Aim for 7000 lm per 4ft length if mounting at 13'.

If your serious about spending the cash for fully designed LED fixtures (not retrofit lamps put into fluorescent housings) you can have just about any lumen output you want. That's the beauty in the fully integrated LED fixture. Many LED drivers are programmable, thus the same fixture can be adjusted by the manufacturer to provide the exact lumen output you need.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Platonic Solids recommended light calls for two 4ft fixtures to be connected in tandem. I was wondering how far the two fixtures could be separated and still run off of one ballast? Mine will be direct mount and I thought I could just connect them using a length of conduit.

I'm not sure which fixture you're referring to, but here's a typical remote mounting normal power factor instant start fluorescent ballast statement (this one is from Sylvania):

Remote Mounting (Max. wire length from ballast case to lampholder):
• 20 ft: full wattage T8s
• 10 ft: energy saving T8s
• 4 ft: 25W energy saving T8s

 

[MichaelBikel]

Total newbie over here, got a few questions.

1)What are your thoughts on this fixture? Thinking I could install 4-5 in the basement shop.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_184349-13537-184349___?Ntt=184349&UserSearch=184349&productId=1225813

2) Do fluorescent fixtures get wired in series? I know nothing about high voltage but when I look at the existing fixtures, it seems that there are more romex than you would expect between fixtures...

3) What is the difficulty of adding in switchable zones?

4) What are the mathematics involved in calculating the max number of fixtures on a circuit (not using a dedicated lighting circuit)

5) can all fixtures be upgraded simply by using a Electronic ballast led tube or is it more difficult than switching just the tube?

 

[Platonic Solid]

MichaelBikel - See post 11 in your thread here (linked)

 

[matemike]

You need around 7000lm per 4ft strip. LED can be done gracefully, but nowhere near the low cost of fluorescent.

Thanks Platonic!
Can you please explain "gracefully" when trying to achieve 120,000 lumens for a 1200 sq ft shop?

I'm assuming you mean don't use fewer low bay fixtures with more lumens each, but instead use more fixtures with fewer lumens each...?

ie:
use 16 fixtures @ ~7,500 lumens each = 120,000 lumens (preferred, but more expensive)
vs
use 8 fixtures @ ~15,000 lumens each = 120,000 lumens

 

[Hollowground17]

Platonic Solid....

I have a 21' x 22' garage with 8' ceilings which will be turned into a woodshop. I plan on having white painted plywood or OSB on the walls.

I was looking at these fixtures from lowes. http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay...&catalogId=10051&productId=1225813&cId=detail

I thought maybe 9 fixtures (3 rows of 3). I have a 10% off coupon. Everything included that would make each fixture roughly $29.

Is there a better option out there that I should be looking at?

Thanks

 

[GT350SVO]

Sorry, I was referring to post #83. I was only planning to have them separated by a foot or two so I should be OK. Thanks for the help.

From post #83:

Cooper Lighting 4 Ft. 2-Lamp Standard Striplight T12

Ballast: SYLVANIA QHE4X32T8/UNV PSH-HT, Item No. 49455 (One 4 lamp ballast to operate 2 above strip lights)

Lamps: 84,000 hr SYLVANIA 22167 FO28/841XP/XL/SS/ECO3

 

[Platonic Solid]

Hollowground17 - You'll have to do your own web-searching for best wrap fixture value. Most are in the price range of your linked fixture.

As for qty of fixtures and layout suggestions, take a look at the Light Fixture Layout thread posts #14 & #15 (linked)

 

[Platonic Solid]

GT350SVO - Cool! I just checked all the links in Post #83 (linked) and all the prices and info is still valid (not bad for an 8 month old post).

 

[600SL]

Aperture fixtures are ideal for pole barn style garage installations and can help many 11 to 14 ft high F32T8 installations by pushing most of the light down, but still providing a little up-light to eliminate the dark ceiling cave effect. Can you share a link to where you purchased yours?

Thanks

Mine are mounted at about 10' in a garage with walls at 10' and a ceiling peek at 15'.


Got them from Zoro Tool

http://www.zoro.com/acuity-lithonia...-120-277v-tla-2-32-mvolt14geb10is/i/G2226095/

 

[Platonic Solid]

Can you please explain "gracefully" when trying to achieve 120,000 lumens for a 1200 sq ft shop?

I'm assuming you mean don't use fewer low bay fixtures with more lumens each, but instead use more fixtures with fewer lumens each...?

ie:
use 16 fixtures @ ~7,500 lumens each = 120,000 lumens (preferred, but more expensive)
vs
use 8 fixtures @ ~15,000 lumens each = 120,000 lumens

You got it exactly right.
Something like the Lithonia ZL1N series at $150 ea. (linked) would work quite nicely with 3 rows of 6, thus 18 x $150 = $2700

 

[mopar440_6]

Seeing how this thread has been such a wealth of knowledge and a constant resource during my ongoing lighting design, I requested the mods make this a sticky so that everyone can easily reference it. If having this stickied creates too much traffic for you Platonic, please ask the mods to change it.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Thank you mopar440_6, I'm honored.

 

[Hollowground17]

Yes, I also thank you Platonic for all that you do.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Added best bang for the buck LED bypass 4ft 2-lamp strip light known to date at top of post 1 (linked).
If anyone finds a better deal, please contribute (No Chinese mystery lamps from eBay please).

 

[horsa]

http://www.beeslighting.com/product-p/t818w1200bixxdf40f1.htm

What about their 19.5W version for $11.99 which is 2250Lm? Its a $1 more but 100Lms stronger. This strip LED is one of their "magic" tubes which works powered at one end, both ends and with or without a ballast.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Thank you horsa. Unfortunately I can't recommend the James universal ballast compatible/bypass "magic" tube technology as in-house testing resulted in flicker after 200 hrs.

This is better described as low frequency pulsing.