Hello, awesome site, love all the great tech information. I am an ex Circle track guy going Road racing and have built a 30' x 40' metal building with 10' walls. I am needing information on fluorescent lighting and placement. I've seen some cool shops and garages here and could use some opinions and or personal experience. Thanks

use lots of tubes loads of light is a goodthing,by the way if you put them on the ceiling they give the best effect
cheer,s stuart

IMO it is best to use the 8', 2 lamp, high-output, strip fixtures with a -20 degree ballast. This will be a reliable, efficient unit for any shop space and the -20 ballast will ensure that they don't flicker or make a lot of noise when it is cold outside.

They are about $80 each 8' fixture without lamps. Lamps are about $12 each. Depending on the manufacturer.

You will probably want to use two runs consisting of three strips end-to-end parallel with your 30" wall, the two runs spaced about 13" apart to get the best light spread. Does that make sense?

Use the 3500K lamps for the best color rendering.

You can get the standard 8' strips at Home Depot or Lowes for about $30 each less lamps. They will do fine as far as light, but the ballasts may have a tendancy to fail in some conditions (cold, dust, etc.).

I do project management for lighting for an electrical distributor... I do this all day, so if you have more questions just ask...

Good luck!

Paint the walls white if they aren't yet. A good white wall will improve your lighting efficency a great deal.

I'll second julmer. Paint or use something white on those walls. Really reflects the existing lighting much better. Do the same on your ceiling if possible. I used 16 4ft double tube's in my shop (40x60 with 15ft walls). I use half of them most of the time except when I'm doing body work and need the reflection for contours. Then it's warp speed! Good luck.

Hang as many flourecent tubes as you can on the ceiling. All with different switches, no need to turn all of them on when you don't

Here's a diagram of what I just finished installing a couple of weeks ago(not pictured, 6 more lights on a 3rd circuit in the "upstairs" storage area.)

I mounted switched outlets in the ceiling and hung my shop lights from nearby hooks. That way I can easily replace an entire unit if need be. I wanted units with T8 ballasts but with this number of lights the price was too much. I settled for T12's running 4100K 40W bulbs(a hair closer to daylight than 3500K. If I had my choice, I would have liked something in the 5000-5500 range).

One thing that made this compromise a little easier to swallow- I found shop lights made of chrome diamond plate ! Very appropriate for the garage environment in my opinion, and not nearly as pricey as the T8's.

All my rows of shop lights are wired to two switches. Each switch lights every other light. I run one switch most of the time. If I'm doing something where I need extra light I turn the second switch on.

Great advice! Especially the 3500K lights. I'm a licensed electrician in NJ. I'm always amazed in areas that are trying to show cased with crappy light! Not a crititism but as a general statement that's more of an option is indirect lighting as well. This really acts as a finishing touch, taking care of shadows and giving the perception of more lighting then there really is, adding to the overall comfort level of the enviorment.

Once again, great info....especially for pointing out the 3500K lights.

My father in law owns an electrical supply co. The put new lights in a building and he gave me the old 3 tube fixtures the took out. My shop is 24 x 24 and it has 60 4ft tubes in it. I have to wear sunglasses to work in it. LOL

My work shop has low bay sodium lights that are the best lights I have ever seen. I have 4 lights in a 30 x 50 and it is perfect.

Keith

I take a 20 and hitup the dollar store for glow sticks. They'll usually last me through a short project .

__________________
1997 BMW M3 - 3.2litre Inline 6 cylinder

What Color?

There has already been a lot of good information about shop lighting but I would like to add one that has to do with safety. Do not mount flourecent fixtures directly to any wooden parts of your shop. The non electronic ballasts can get very hot and over years can dry out wood to the point of combustion. A friend of mine almost lost his shop because of this, lucky for him the fire department was johny on the spot and saved the building. Another thing to think about is add a set of smoke detectors and wire the alarm into your house. Better safe than loosing a cool ride to fire.

GOOD IDEA, I see another project in my future.

The 96T12HO 8" fixtures work great for a shop, especially a cold one. The single pin 8" standard duty lamps flicker sometimes for hours in any temp. below 50 derees. I put up six of the HO's in my shop and went with "Watt-Miser" green end bulbs to begin with, and later went to the silver-ended Comercial Duty lamps. The CD bulbs throw out more light and last a lot longer.

I was lucky when the whse. I maintain went to HPS (high pressure sodium) lamps and got rid of two dumpsters full of vintage 1969 Benjamin porcelain coated steel fixtures. I got my lights for nothing, with one small catch.. they were equipped with 277V. ballasts. I got my 120V. HO ballasts by the case, at 12 for $32.00 a pop. The bulbs were around $6 apiece, wholsale.
At any price, if your going phlorecent, these are a good choice.

PS - I installed my 8 footers on a 3" chain and hung them from the rafters on 2" eye-bolts.

Have fun