DCRC
Silver Member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2004
- Messages
- 113
- Location
- Manvel, TX (south of Houston)
- Tractor
- Kubota Grand L3830 HST with LA723 FEL and HD bucket
I posted this on the bottom of my other post, but figured I'd start a new thread so people who might need it will see it. I tried going to different lighting stores and box store with not much help on the lighting layout of my shop. Nobody would give a number on the amout of fixtures I needed. I knew there was an easier way, but couldn't find anyone to help me. So I did some searching and found this on Lithonia's website.
Lithonia Lighting - The best value in lighting
It's a a software that lets you enter the demensions of your space, and determine how many fixtures you need to achieve a user specified level of equal lighting. It takes into account the reflectivity of the ceiling, walls, and floor, and lets you use all the photometric data from Lithonia's website to compare different fixtures.
I end up using 16 8' strips with 4 T8 bulbs each to light a 50 X 60 area. Turned out very nice. I have equal lighting through out and the lowest watt per foot I could come up with on the software.
After you enter your specifications and choose your fixture. You specify a light level (lumens, or foot candles), and then it will show you how many fixtures you need and the reccommended spacing. It also can display a grid overview of the lighting level throughout showing the max and min levels.
What I found with some of the fixtures like the high bay and low bays is that at a lower light level you end up having to far of spacing and have poor illumination in between. Everything I read suggested that Flourescent is still the way to go especally with the newer T8 electronic balllasted fixtures. The metal Halide buld will loose about 25% of the illumination over there life time were the newer flourescent loose about 5%.
Alot of the box stores are going back to flourescent because the provide the most light output per watt. Plus the color index has gotten alot better with the newer bulbs.
Lithonia Lighting - The best value in lighting
It's a a software that lets you enter the demensions of your space, and determine how many fixtures you need to achieve a user specified level of equal lighting. It takes into account the reflectivity of the ceiling, walls, and floor, and lets you use all the photometric data from Lithonia's website to compare different fixtures.
I end up using 16 8' strips with 4 T8 bulbs each to light a 50 X 60 area. Turned out very nice. I have equal lighting through out and the lowest watt per foot I could come up with on the software.
After you enter your specifications and choose your fixture. You specify a light level (lumens, or foot candles), and then it will show you how many fixtures you need and the reccommended spacing. It also can display a grid overview of the lighting level throughout showing the max and min levels.
What I found with some of the fixtures like the high bay and low bays is that at a lower light level you end up having to far of spacing and have poor illumination in between. Everything I read suggested that Flourescent is still the way to go especally with the newer T8 electronic balllasted fixtures. The metal Halide buld will loose about 25% of the illumination over there life time were the newer flourescent loose about 5%.
Alot of the box stores are going back to flourescent because the provide the most light output per watt. Plus the color index has gotten alot better with the newer bulbs.