Hi --
I would like to install 4 tube fluorescent light fixtures in my renovated shop but can't seem to find any easily -- done a bunch of searching, but the only results are expensive enclosed office styles. Anyone know a source for a plain model?
thanks,
Richard
Probably be cheaper to use two 2 tube models and space them a bit. The 4 tube fixtures are used mostly in commercial/industrial settings and not found in the big box store along with the $10 ones.
Check with some used equipment places or demolition places. They may have them very cheap. Ed
Look in the yellow pages under Electrical Supply. Probaby won't find them in a borg. I outfitted my shop with 4 bulb fixtures (15 of them to be exact on 2 circuits), painted my walls white and have excellent lighting in every corner of my shop. Well worth it in my opinion. And come to think of it, the shop is now about 12 years old and I've never had to change a bulb in any of the fixtures.
Gary
The BORG - Home Depot. Eight foot long, four bulb with electronic balast for about $40 each. Quick start in cold weather. I have four of them in my shop. Paint the walls and ceiling white, floor too if you have a cement floor.
Well, you will now you said that. Luck of the draw.
thanks Ed..good point about the paint.. I have two 4 ft 4 blub fixtures and needed more light.. I Painted the whole shop White Now I need to wear sunglasses (g)
"Ed Clarke"
Yes, though Lowe's tends to be a little cheaper for light fixtures for the same models..
Seems like a T-12 bulb price. The T-8's are about 2X. Maybe worth it, maybe not. I went with T-8's probably because I didn't have many fixtures to buy.
I have 3 2-bulb fixtures and 1 4-bulb fixture. If I was to do it over again, I would go with another 2 2-bulb fixtures instead of the 4-bulb. Unless you have really large shop with high ceilings, the 2-bulb fixtures will look better and spread the light out a little better, IMO.
- Nate
|Hi -- | |I would like to install 4 tube fluorescent light fixtures in my |renovated shop but can't seem to find any easily -- done a bunch of |searching, but the only results are expensive enclosed office styles. |Anyone know a source for a plain model?
You don't specify four or eight foot bulbs. If four, then HD has a four tube model (32W) for about $45.
Be advised however, that the electronic ballasts are high frequency and *not* rfi (radio frequency interference) suppressed. In my location I was unable to watch off-the-air TV with the lights running.
After considerable research and haggling I got HD to special order "residential" ballasts that do have rfi suppression and the problem is solved. I had the hassle of three more trips to HD and the R&R.
Unless you have a huge shop, it sounds like you've got more light than a pro baseball park.
Fluorescent bulbs dim slowly with time. You've got tons of light, so it may not matter. It's not out of the ordinary to have to "relamp" fluorescent fixtures before the bulbs go out.
Barry
This company may have a location near you:
Hi Richard,
Some things you might not have considered, Diffusers on fixtures help broaden the area of illumination and different types of florescent lamp phosphors will appear brighter. I recently installed 'Wrap Around' 2 light fixtures in my son's garashop. 'Cool White' lamps seemed the brightest by test. Ceiling and walls are plain white. 9 foot Sheet Rock ceiling. Fixtures on 4 foot width and end spacing. 2 and 4 light surface mounted clear Wrap Around fixtures are available at Lowes and HD. Not expensive stock items. For the open shade type fixtures, Do a search for 'Industrial Lighting Fixtures Florescent'. Graingers usually only discounts from TOP retail pricing to established business customers. Wholesale electrical supply companies sell at Jobber prices.
Thanks for all the prompt comments -- I was thinking of 4 of the 4 tube X 4 ' fixtures for general lighting of a 16' x 20' area -- perhaps I'll just double up the 2 tube units: I was being lazy :-)
I'm a big fan of extra task lighting, so plan to supplement that with extra at the main work stations. My shop has high celings -- the underside of the roof, about 11' at the top of the wall and going up to about 16' at the peak. I'm just finishing up the ceiling, which is panels of industrial dropped ceiling -- basically 1" of compressed fiberglass with a semigloss white plastic facing -- I didn't want to paint or sheetrock that high of a space, plus I get some insulating value out of it over the between the rafters batts. I wondered about how much lighting I'll need but have noticed that just one 150W halogen worklight directed onto the ceiling does a halfway decent job of general lighting. Am I way off to figure 16 X 32
4' fluorescents = 512W will more than double that?Cheers --
everyone has a different idea of adequate light. I have 11 4 footers in my shop which was a 2 car garage of standard proportions. over my roll cabinet which is set under a large overhead cabinet, I put in 3 halogen "puck" lights, thinking I'd have enough light for close up detail work; it isn't enough. On the other hand my wife will read or do dishes in a semi-dark room.
Bottom line, don't listen to anybody else's opinion on lighting recommendations: do what pleases YOUR eyes.
dave
Richard wrote:
Well said!
Age has something to do with it too... :) My wife can read by a 4 watt nightlight - 30 feet away. Me -- I've noticed my night vision has deteriorated significantly.
My biggest disappointment was finally putting my eyes back to a decent telescope after 30 years. (Had an Edmund Sci 4.25" reflector as a boy). Man - was that depressing to not be able to see things that had been such a thrill as a child...
|Thanks for all the prompt comments -- I was thinking of 4 of the 4 |tube X 4 ' fixtures for general lighting of a 16' x 20' area -- |perhaps I'll just double up the 2 tube units: I was being lazy :-)
The 4-tube 4-foot Lithonia fixtures from HD that I spoke of earlier would be inadequate IMHO for an area this large with only four fixtures.
FYI, I bought just one and mounted it and took a few measurements before committing to more fixtures. My "shop" is one end of the garage, which measures 28' deep by 30' wide. The fixed shop portion is the 8' x 30' space not occupied by a Camaro and a pickup truck. With the exception of the white painted firewall between the garage and the living space the rest of the surfaces are unpainted I-joists,
2 x 6's, plywood and OSB.For my "light survey" I used a 50 year old GE selenium light meter mounted on a tripod at a fixed distance about four feet above the floor. While the meter indicates foot-candles the cell is old and temperature sensitive so I used it for relative measurements only.
I found that I could illuminate this space uniformly with three fixtures, mounted side-to-side on 8' centers, with the fixture ends 2' from the long wall and 9' high.
Wes
maybe those celestial bodies you used to view have gone out! :)
dave
mttt wrote:
I just bought twelve 2-tube, 4 foot T8 units from home depot -- in the vicinity of $10 each. Put 8 of them up so far for general light, and will be adding one more ceiling light to cover the door, and the other three for task lights. This is in a 12x22 space (1 car garage). I don't have a light meter, but I'm pretty certain that I've got it above noon sunlight in brightness. Hurts the eyes when you first turn it on, and makes the inside of the house look awfully dim afterwards, but it is sure nice when out there. FWIW.
--randy
The hard part about peepin' with a real telescope is getting used to seeing everything upsidedown...
I bet it wouldn't bother a dentist. I never thought about the image not being "right". Are you talking about a reflector scope as opposed to a refracting scope?
dave
mttt wrote:
Can you say Terrestrial Eyepiece?
Barry
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