I have read through many posts on shop lighting but have not seemed to find an answer to a question I have.
I am in the process of building a 30x30 shop with 10' ceilings. I would like to know what others have done and found successful in how many lights have they put in. I plan on using fluorescent lights, 8' long. How far apart would you put the rows, how far from the walls? Would you run lights around the perimeter with rows down the middle?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
John
Use F96T12HO lamps, two(2) per fixture.
This is a two (2) lamp, 8 ft luminaire.
Plan on three (3) luminaires/row, 3 rows on 10 ft centers(ie: first row starts 5 ft away from wall).
Have fun.
Lew
I recently installed lighting in my 28'X44' shop. I used 24-4' T8 fixtures from Home Depot .. .. it looks like Chernobyl when they're all on. Exactly what I had hoped for. To mount them, I first installed a grid of suspended tracks made of 2.25" wide & 8' long strips of mdf fastened to the ceiling with .375 spacers in between. I can move the light wherever I need them, running them either lengthwise or crossways, and just plug them into the nearest recepticle. I installed 36 duplex recepticles in the ceiling, hooked into two circuits, with each group of six controlled by one switch. A little overkill for sure, but it sure is handy at times to be able to add/move/change the configuration without ever having to pull another wire !! !! !!
I suggest having plenty of lights and wire them with independent switches. This will allow you to get as much light as you need where you need it when you need it, but will allow you to shut off those you don't.
I covered a 21'x24' area with 9 four foot fluorescent fixtures. I like the four footers because they give less hum. I installed chain pulls on all of the lights and a single switch at the door. My wife uses about one third of the are for ceramics and the rest is for my metal working machinery. Basically, we enter the room, turn on the switch and whichever 'chains' were left on light up. Simply pull the chain(s) on whatever area you are going to work and turn off the rest. Upon leaving we just turn off the main switch at the door. This way we save energy by not having all the lights on, or, not having a 'group' of lights on when we only need one. BTW, I have 14' ceilings and hung the lights so they are at approximately 8 feet above the floor.
Ivan Vegvary
John
Lots of nice suggestions here already.
First off stick with 48" flourescents. 8' are not widely available for a good reason. Not popular and difficult to work with. Don't get cheap fixures. They cost more. If you are ambitious feed each fixture with two circuits/switches. 4 bulb fixtures will have two ballasts so you can feed each ballast and the two bulbs with each circuit. Where I used to work the lighting circuits/switches/wiring will be 40 years old next year. No switch, wiring or fixture failures yet. The switches were $3.00 or more that many years ago. The switches were operate many times a day. We did bulb changes yearly.
This way you can change the lighting intensity without going the dimmer route. 4 bulb fixtures will have two ballasts so you can feed one allast and two bulbs seperately.
Ther is some information on the net with recomended lighting layouts. If you are ambitious go look at some commercial buildings.
Don't skimp on wire size. #12 all the way. Get better more expensive switches. They last longer and fail less often. Specification grade. Stay away from the cheap ones.
Put in a spare circuit from the panel feeding the shop. Use this as an emergency light in case any of your machinery/tools drop out your main feed whatever it is. Also have an outlet on this circuit. This way you can shut everything off and still have a light and receptacle to make any changes and not be in the dark.
Enjoy Bob AZ
Oye! I have 15 fixtures in my garage. I can't imagine having 15 switched ganged on the wall just to gain independent control of each light. I have mine switched by bay, so that each bay can be turned on or off. Two of the bays have 6 fixtures and the third has 3.
I agree with the others to go with 4 foot fixtures. There is a much better selection of bulbs types for them.
I prefer a bulb with a color temperature of around 3500K. Lower color temps are just trying to emulate incandescent or halogen, unless you want the "warmth" (pointless in a shop). Lamps over 4100K are too cool to me for shop use.
Get lamps with a color rendering index (CRI) of at least 80. Lower CRIs can cause colors to appear shifted and inaccurate.
Finally you need enough light to properly illuminate the work areas and the fixtures need to be positioned to avoid shadow areas.
John
I agree with others re 4' lights and switches. Additionally...
The lights in my shop are in drywalled, recessed areas in the ceiling between trusses. I have yet to smack one with a long board.
If your shop will have finished walls/ceilings, paint them white. With glossy paint. Floor too.
I would suggest 4' bulbs, chaper, easier to store. You can get eight foot fixtures that hold 4 4' bulbs.
I would also suggest using duplex outlets and plugging fixtures into them for easy replacement (ballasts or fixture).
There is a t-8 type and a t-12 type, I believe. With the latter more efficient than the former - may be moot as they may no longer make the less efficient units.
White ceilings and walls hlp a lot. Additional HIGH INTENSITY lighting over specific tools/areas on individual switches has proven a good idea over time.
I changed out all my 4' T12 to T8 electronic ballasts and bulbs last year. No more hum, no flicker in cold weather and instant on. They may make T12 ballasts in electronic, and probably do, but I am really happy with my T8's.
Why use T12 instead of T8?
Chris
Why would you ever use #12 wiring for lighting?
#14 allows for roughly 40 4-ft T12 bulbs, or 45 T8 bulbs. That seems excessive for a single circuit.
Chris
Other way around...T8 is generally more efficient, usually due to the electronic ballast.
Chris
Good question.
Guess it because that is what my lighting specialist would use for his lighting layouts for low bay (less than 15 ft) industrial lighting applications.
Lew
Oh, you may get away with shoplifting for a time or two but you WILL ultimately get nabbed. And then think about the consequences......... ooops... shop LIGHTING...... nevermind................
If the circuit is fused (or circuit breaker) is for 20 amps #12 wire is required by code.
Mark (sixoneeight) = 618
In my 18'x25' shop, I have (4) 8-foot two-bulb F96T12C50's, in two rows lengthwise (parallel to the 25' dimension) at about 1/3 and 2/3 of the 18' dimension. Plenty of light.
For your shop, I'd add a third row and space the fixtures evenly.
Note the "C50". Chroma 50 bulbs provide color rendition pretty darn close to daylight.
If you can get T8's instead of T12's (may need to work through Graingers or a local lighting supplier) with electronic ballasts, go for it (but stick with the c50's).
scott
Well sure...if it's a multipurpose circuit. "Bob AZ"'s post sounded like it was recommending #12 even for dedicated lighting circuits.
Chris
4' tubes are normal for 120V circuitry; you might want to stick to those (and be sure to get electronic-ballast fixtures).
My own experience is that the diffuse light from fluorescents makes some texture and edge discrimination more difficult; wire to a few boxes on the ceiling in case you want halogen, sodium-vapor or other pointsource lights installed later.
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