shop lighting again

[sweet sawdust]

I know that this subject has been beaten to death but I have a question and would like opinions. I have in my shop about 14 2 tube 4 foot fixtures of the shop type from Lowes. They are getting up to about 10 years in age and some of them are beginning to give trouble. Some wont come on, some wont stay on and some flicker. I replace tubes on a regular basis so that is not the problem. Tubes are not lasting as long as they used to. I am going to replace at least half of them maybe all of them soon. Now the question: should I go with new 4 foot units or go with single bulb reflector type units and direct light more to were I need it. Can any one give me pros or cons on this

[Scott Lurndal]

I suggest 8 footers, electronic ballasts and C-50 bulbs.

scott

[Steve Turner]

Aye.

[sweet sawdust]

I agree but the cost of them around here makes them out of the question. Nearest place I can get them is about a hunred miles away and shipping etc raises the cost. I am stuck with the 4 foot or the individual bulb type fixture.

[Robert Bonomi]

An alternative -- replace the _ballasts_ in the existing fixtures.

Way cheaper than new fixtures of equivalent quality.

Ballasts are 'non-delicate' enough that mail-order and shipping is entirely reasonable/viable to use for geting them.

[Scott Lurndal]

even home depot carries replacement electronic ballasts (I prefer the Advance brand).

scott

[Scott Lurndal]

All of the above are available at Home Depot (at least in California).

scott

[Martin H. Eastburn]

I'd do T6's (t8's I think are the big ones) then. They are green and long lasting bright bulbs.

Mart>> "sweet sawdust" writes:

[rverne44]

When I relighted my shop, I used 4-foot, 2-lamp enclosed units with the newer T8 bulbs (1" dia) rather than the older T12 (1.5" dia.) bulbs. These had electronic ballasts. They were from Lowe's, I believe (Lithonia?)

Major benefits of this ballast/bulb combination:

1. lower power usage (32W vs. 40W)
2. they seem considerably brighter than the T12 bulbs I had before
3. no hum, no flicker
4. excellent low temperature operation
5. true instant on
6. longer life

The enclosed units were more expensive, but I wanted to keep the dust off of the bulbs.

I am very satisfied with these units.

Bob in NC

[-MIKE-]

I don't know if anyone's covered this or not... but my time is the shop became much more enjoyable when I switched from the regular tubes to a higher color temperature.

The regular tubes are around 3200k and very green/yellow.

If you upgrade to a daylight or sunlight tube, 4500-6500 range, you'll be amazed at how much it improves your mood in the shop. An added benefit is truer colors for painting, staining, and generally just seeing colors the way they are meant to be seen, without a green/yellow tint.

[Martin H. Eastburn]

I put sunlight tubes into an engineering conference room that marketing and engineering meet within. After the AV and light upgrade - more paper work was processed and a far better mental time it was between the groups.

Both sides stayed through the process - and when the machine came out ahead of time the bulbs were the largest notation as to what greased the process.

Martin

-MIKE- wrote:

[-MIKE-]

People don't give lighting enough credit... especially sun light.

Japanese office buildings install huge reflective light tubes (basically fiber optics the diameter of HVAC vent hose) from the roof down to interior offices. They have been linked to a big drop in suicides in a country who's white collar workforce has an inordinately high suicide rate.

[Jim Weisgram]

FYI, when I put lighting in my garage I used some 4' T8 shop lights from Home Depot; the inexpensive ones that use electronic ballasts. They have done a good job lighting the shop but over the last 3 years I think I have had to replace each and every ballast. So the $25 fixtures ended up costing about $40-$50 each, depending on the ballast price (seems to be rising over the last 6 months).

They are still doing a good job with the lighting, come right on with cold weather, etc.

Anyway, caveat emptor.

If I had to do it over, I would use 8' T8 units. But if I had your problem, I'd replace the ballasts.

[-MIKE-]

Yep, me too. I finally had to leave HD, because when I ask where they keep the ballasts, they say, "Um sir, we don't carry boat supplies," and go over to ACE hardware to spend an extra five bucks on a fixture with replaceable ones.

[sweet sawdust]

Thank one and all for your replies. Unfortunately the 8 foot lights are not an option for me, nearest place to get them is 90 miles one way, local lowes doesn't carry them or the bulbs which have to be special ordered. So I am stuck with incandescent fixtures, 4 ft fixtures with out replaceable ballasts or 4 ft fixtures with replaceable ballasts. I will be figuring out what to do soon.

[Scott Lurndal]

Lowes certainly has a contractor desk. They'll order the 8' for you. Pick them up within a week.

scott

[Pat Barber]

Lowes will almost certainly order anything from their stock stuff and they have carried 8' lights for many years...

Thank one and all for your replies. Unfortunately the 8 foot lights are not