Shop Lighting opinions

[mark]

Greetings All, I have a basement which has just a couple of 48" flourescents right now. I need to add more lighting and was looking at replacing the flourescents with something else brighter. Since the machine layout will be in flux for a while, ceiling cans are out. Besides, my local code requires conduit everywhere, and I'm not going thru that for ceiling cans. I was at the borg and picked up a couple of GE 24" halogen fixtures, thnking they would be nice and bright. I was dead wrong. Dim, compared to my flourescents. Probably good for a small area at best. The one thing I did like about them is they are linkable. Any ideas out there? Bright, and linkable would be good.... TIA, Mark

[Lee Michaels]

I would reccomend mutiple floursecents. They are cool and cheap. The more, the better.

[Bob S.]

Replace your existing fixtures with ones that take the T8 bulbs. They are twice as bright as regular fluorescents for about the same cost. You may not have to add any more fixtures either - I didn't. Another advantage is that they don't flicker when the temp is cold.

Bob S.

[Phisherman]

I have eight 4' flourescent fixtures with reflectors. I drilled a hole every 8" along the edges of the reflectors and fastened hardware cloth to the reflectors. This prevents a swinging 2x4 from hitting a tube, yet easy to replace a tube. I installed electrical outlets on the ceiling--each oulet has an extra outlet for future units if needed. The chains holding the lamps allow you to move the light as needs change. I wired my ceiling outlets to a bank of wall switches near the shop door. I'm very fortunate to have windows in my basement shop, great for sharpening. Still, I have adjustable incandescent task lamps near my bandsaw, drill press, lathe, miter saw, putting concentrated light near the cut. As I got older I needed more light.

[Gerald Ross]

And they don't buzz and fizz. I changed over my main shop to T8 and now I hate to turn on the lights in the storage room which is still t12.

[B A R R Y]

As a fellow basement dweller, I concur.

The big problem with basement is ceiling height. With a low ceiling, you need far more fixtures per square foot, as the light doesn't get much chance to spread out.

[-MIKE-]

I agree with the fluorescents. You can put different color temperature tubes in, (instead of the stock ones that give everything that pukey green tint) which will give you much better results when staining.

However, I recommend not going with the $8-11 garage fixtures. The ballasts last about a year and can not be replaced. At minimum, buy a fixture in which the ballast can be replaced. You should be able to find $15-18 fixtures with ballast replacement under 10 dollars. The ballasts will last at least a few years, and the fixture is stronger than tin foil.

[Ed Edelenbos]

Incentive to spread some white paint around. It always amazes me how that helps.

Ed

[Ed Edelenbos]

Man, I found those *great* $8.99 fixtures at Home Depot and put them up in my unheated shop. (Maryland so it's been a bit chilly for a while now.) The worst $60 I've spent for quite some time. Cold I could deal with... but cold and flickering lights is a bit stiff.

Ed

[Steve Turner]

I'm smack in the middle of that very thing right now. I'm not even a third of the way done and it's already making a huge difference.

[Mark & Juanita]

What he said, basement or any other shop -- white walls make a HUGE difference in ambient light, and frankly ambience as well. Much more cheerful and inspiring than gray cement or bare studs

[Mike Marlow]

On Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:15:33 -0500, Gerald Ross cast forth these pearls of wisdom...:

Both of those "advantages" are a function of the newer light fixture and bulb than they are of the T8 size.

[Mike Marlow]

On Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:51:31 -0600, mark cast forth these pearls of wisdom...:

Where do you live that requires conduit for a simple lighting run in a basement? What a pain.

I'd just hang some more florescents. You can get different heat ranges that will provide much better light - just look at the bulbs in your local Borg.

[Mike Marlow]

On Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:21:56 -0600, -MIKE- cast forth these pearls of wisdom...:

I have often recommended the $8 shop fixture from Home Depot. It has a 0 degree C ballast, and the ballast is easily changed if you were so inclined. I've had them hanging for a couple of years now and they've outlived the $35 fixtures I had in my garage. I have a furnace in my garage so it never gets much colder than around 40 F or so, and my Borg shop lights fire up immediately in those temps. No flicker, no buzz. I have 15 of them hanging in my garage, so it's not likely that I just got a couple of good ones.

I was never able to find any ballasts for under $10, even though people say they have. Typically considerably more than that. At $8 for the whole fixture, it's kind of hard to beat the price.

[Limp Arbor]

But isn't the endless buzzzzing kind of relaxing...

[Leon]

Something else to consider, CLEAN the existing bulbs, if they are dusty a lot of light is being blocked.

[Ed Edelenbos]

If it was a constant 60hz I could probably get used to it. The un-ending buzz---buzz---buzz--- of attempting to start (on up to 3 fixtures at a time) combined with the flickering is just downright dangerous with blades flying around. (grin)

Ed (not ready for "Stumpy" as a nickname)

[spaco]

Whatever you do for additional lighting, also consider making the walls and ceiling lighter in color to reflect more light. I have a long, narrow shop. It has 5 2 tube 4' flourescents running down the middle. And then, along each edge of the room, 4 more of them. The main light switches (3 ways, at each door) turns on the middle section and separate switches turn on the lights on each edge of the shop. The whole shop is painted white. Even with all that, I still do have task lights (incandescent) at the lathe and the scroll saw.

Just a note on height: This shop has 9 foot ceilings. But I still didn't want the lamps in the way if I'm standing up an 8 foot sheet of something, so instead of the chains that hold the fixtures up, I screwed them right to the ceiling (with a 1" spacer).

This set up works quite well.

Pete Stanaitis

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mark wrote:

[Mike Marlow]

On Mon, 12 Jan 2009 08:22:58 -0500, Ed Edelenbos cast forth these pearls of wisdom...:

Man - I can't believe you guys are having these problems with them. I have none of those problems. Hell - I'm tickled pink with them - far better than the much more expensive ones I had purchased prior to them.

[Highland Pairos]

What is the purpose of the 1" spacer?

SteveP.