Metal Building Lighting?

[JSanders10]

In the main barn, I installed three two bulb 8' florescent fixtures.
Two more on the side wing where will clean deer, and another in a walled locked up area.
So far this is enough light, but we can easily add two more fixtures in the main area when needed.

 

[grsthegreat]

How many total fixtures? (I have a 40 X 60 X 14)

I ran 10 total. Very bright

 

[ducks13]

I just skimmed the thread, I responded a couple of years ago. I design lighting for commercial buildings. I would be going with T-8 fixtures unless you are going to burning them 10 hours a days or so. If you are going to have them on a lot, like a commercial building, then there are just now LED fixtures on the market with good output for a resonable cost. Anything that is not from a major manufacturer may fail prematurely and even some from major mfg. will probably fail earlier than you would think.

 

[Todd727]

12 total fixtures? Is each bay switched separately? Thanks,

The first two bays (8 fixtures, 16 bulbs) are on one 20 amp circuit.

The last bay is actually divided into two rooms with 8 bulbs each on their own 20 amp circuit.

All of my circuits are 20 amps. I have to use 12AWG per code anyway, so it made sense to make everything 20 amps.

 

[LD1]

Separate circuits as in breakers? or just separate switches?

All your lighting total is under 10a

 

[grsthegreat]

Separate circuits as in breakers? or just separate switches?

All your lighting total is under 10a

i was thinking the same thing. One 20 amp circuit can handle 2400 watts (1,980 watts at 80%).

 

[LD1]

i was thinking the same thing. One 20 amp circuit can handle 2400 watts (1,980 watts at 80%).

Yep.

I have 8 6-bulb fixtures on my lighting circuit. Multiple switches, but one breaker. Thats 48 bulbs, plus the outside 175w security light.

 

[MFWD]

Hello,
After I posted a response to this thread the other day, I got to thinking about what I said. I DID NOT run 3 circuits for the downstairs lights, just three switches. I have (12) 4 bulb 4' lights downstairs and each bulb is 32 watts. So a total of 1536 watts when all are on......the lights are on a separate 20 amp circuit, nothing else on that circuit, but three switches that control 4 lights each. However, that is still the best way to do it......I can control the lights in each bay and not need to burn the lights in the other bays when not needed. 1536 watts is like running a portable electric heater and we all know how they run up the electric bill !!!!!

MFWD

 

[JPRambo]

My garage is not as big as others here have. But, I find I need more light than I used to. The lights in the garage are starting to give me problems to light up. I found LED tubes at Grainger . com that go in the 10 year old fluorescent fixtures without a ballast change. They start instantly, and give more light per tube. Plus they use about half the watts. They have a 5 year warranty, and 50,000 hour life. A little pricey for the non-grainger purchaser. I bought them though my work account for a lot less. Only a bulb change and I was done.

 

[Mace Canute]

My shop is 40' by 60' with a 15' 4" ceiling....white ceiling and walls inside...and we installed 8 fixtures in two runs, each 4 feet long with 6 T-5 tubes per fixture. We used 8 switches total and every pair of fixtures can have 1/3, 2/3 or all tubes on at once. Two breakers power them and the total power draw with all on is 24 amps. It's very nicely lit and I wouldn't want to have any less light.