Shop lights

[Mike O.]

Just a note that if you haven't been to the Big Blue place lately, they are now stocking 8' 2 light T-12 fixtures with electronic ballast rated to -20. $55 but you still need bulbs.

Mike O.

[William]

It'll probably be a while before it gets to -20 (C or F) here in Texas, but good to know.

I found 500W-equiv. spiral fluorescent bulbs at Home Depot and now my garage shop is bright as day.

-Wm

[Robatoy]

I like those 4 foot T8 double fixtures. Cheap as dirt and hang them all over the place. (I no longer have the ceiling height.for LowBay

400W Halides.)

[Lew Hodgett]

all over the place. (I no longer have the ceiling height.for LowBay

400W Halides.)

Metal Halide is a very special purpose lamp.

Very good color rendition so they are the choice for car dealerships and sports lighting, both of which have low annual hours of operation.

Trying to use M/H for indoor shop lighting with 10 hrs/day, 5 days/wk or 2500 hours/year is to say the least, a poor choice.

I can give you the data to prove the above but I'm too lazy; however, SFWIW, designed and sold a lot of industrial lighting systems in a previous life.

BTW, F32T8 lamps are a good choice for most shops.

Lew

[Robatoy]

My previous shop had 6 x 400 watt Halides on the main shop floor and augmented T12's all over the place, like over work benches, spray booth etc. The solid surface side had 3 x 400 watt Halides, just to show the progress in sanding. BUT.. I had 14-foot ceilings. Did I mention I got all of those from a YMCA gym renovation for a $

100.00 donation? Including spare bulbs?

[Lew Hodgett]

------------------------------------------------- My previous shop had 6 x 400 watt Halides on the main shop floor and augmented T12's all over the place, like over work benches, spray booth etc. The solid surface side had 3 x 400 watt Halides, just to show the progress in sanding. BUT.. I had 14-foot ceilings. Did I mention I got all of those from a YMCA gym renovation for a $

100.00 donation? Including spare bulbs?

---------------------------------------------------

Initial cost of equipment gets lost in the wash if your power cost is in the $0.13-$0.15/KWH and you operate about 2,500 hours/year.

A far better choice for lowest cost of ownership in a 14 ft ceiling shop would be 250W HPS (Lucalox) and a low bay luminaire.

Lew

[Robatoy]

If economy is the only consideration, HPS seems to be top dog, eh? Colour balance is more important to me. Is there a HPS solution with a more daylight-like spectrum?

[Lew Hodgett]

----------------------------------------------------- If economy is the only consideration, HPS seems to be top dog, eh? Colour balance is more important to me. Is there a HPS solution with a more daylight-like spectrum?

---------------------------------------------- Actually HPS is the closest lamp to sunlight.

"Colour balance" requires some definition.

If you are trying to do "Color Matching" that's one thing, any lamp source will do that.

If you are trying to get the "True Color" like say an ink manufacturer, you need what is known as a "Color Table".

Very high maintenance and definitely not for general lighting.

Consider it a lab tool.

BTW, the higher the foot candles, the more "White", HPS becomes.

HPS for roadway lighting is typically 2-5 F/C, a long way from the

85-100 F/C used in a shop.

Lew

[Chris Friesen]

Wouldn't a high temp incandescent bulb be the closest to sunlight since it is a perfect black-body radiator?

The Philips TL950 T8 bulb has a CRI of 98 at 5000K.

There are metal halide lamps with a CRI of 92.

The highest CRI I found for HPS in a brief online search was 85 or so.

Chris

[Lew Hodgett]

Incandescent at 18-20 lumens/watt got put in the old bit bucket a long time ago for general indoor lighting applications.

Operating costs kill you.

Short life is another problem, typically 1,000 hours or less vs 20,000 hours for HID.

That said, "Color tables" are a different application.

Lew