Quote:
Originally Posted by Mellow Yellow
Too many years of dealing with crummy florescent lights in the garage over Tom's work bench. Many issues and we're ready for some new and efficient lighting. We need bright light to focus on the work bench, low cost to operate and must be OK with cold temps. as there is no heat in the garage.
Any good ideas? What you have and perhaps where you purchased?
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By the sounds of your post, Tom had T12 fixtures and maybe even no reflector behind it. Just bare bulbs.
While T12 is still available, don't know for how much longer. T8 and T5 are the newer more efficient fixtures with T5 being more than T8.
I just went through this earlier this year what to do with shop lighting. And what lighting density to use per square foot. I wanted to be able to see good for night work, but not be blinded or be struggling to see. And be able to afford the lighting on the budget I had to work with.
What I ideally wanted was 4 foot bulbs in an 8 foot fixture with a reflective shield.( total of 4 bulbs/fixture) The 4 foot need was how to get the bulbs home down the road. Much easier getting 4 ft home then 8 foot and not breaking them.
After much searching, and cost figuring to do the entire barn, I ended up with 6 bulb, 4 foot T8's and spaced them differently to get my desired lighting density. These are hi bay fixtures with a shield that will direct the light downwards. They also make the shield versions to reflect some light partly up too if you want the cieling lit up. I have them at 10.5 feet up and 15.5 feet up. I was concerned they might be too bright at the 10.5 feet, but they came out very well. The hi bay came out very good too.
Here is a pic
Bought them at Menards, $79.96 each. Plus cost of the bulbs to go in them. I bought the bulbs by the case to get them cheaper. Home Depot has them too. They are even on sale now for $11 off regular price.
http://www.menards.com/main/lighting...092-c-7494.htm
Here is Cooper's site with data on them. They are rated to start at -20F
F-Bay HBE Series
They also make them in T5's. In my case T5's where 2.5 times more expensive, saves more energy however I needed 19 fixtures. I put them on switch banks so if I need all of them on, I can or only use 1/5th of them as needed.
If you are only looking for 1 fixture above a work bench, then spring for the T5's. Just make sure you get a good reflector regardless of 2 bulbs 4 or 6. In the work shop I also installed the plastic sleeves over the bulbs for burst protection. A board flying out of the radial arm saw or a 2 x 4 x 10 swigging around can make a mess of an unprotected fluorescent fixture. The sleeve at least helps contain the mess.
Hope this helps
John
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