Shop Lights

BSims66173 · Feb 9, 2003

Hi friends, I am building a new 40 x 60 shop and am wondering what is the best lights to put in it. Would 400 watt halide grow lights work. Guy on ebay is selling them and I was thinking about bidding. Also was considering dusk to dawn type lights and bypass the photo cell. I want something that puts out good light but not too expensive. I can get some 125 watt dusk to dawn lights at Home Depot for about fifty bucks apiece. Do you think six of these lights will give me enough ligh to work by. Thanks for your insight

Anonymous Poster · Feb 9, 2003

If You happen to have a good Electrical Supply or lighting Supply close . Some will have a computer program to figure out How much and what type lights that will do what You want to.

When I put lights in mine I had this done for no charge..and It really did work out well for me,I am totally satisfied with the results.

All they will need is Your dimensions and ceiling height .

Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Anonymous Poster · Feb 9, 2003

I would not recommend using the dusk to dawn lighting. I tried them in my 40' x 50' shop (trying to save a few bucks) the problem was that they had a blue cast to the lighting, making red colors (tool box) a purple in color with lights on.

I went with two metal halide (closest thing to actual sunlight) 400 watts each hung in the center about 15' from each end. Ideally 6 lights would have been much better, but I never had a problem of not having enough light.

Inspector507 · Feb 9, 2003

Just keep in mind, any type of HID lighting takes a few minutes to come on. And if the power flickers, they'll go out and stay out until they cool down.

OkieG · Feb 9, 2003

You may want to consider a couple switches for your overhead lights. One switch turns on enough bulbs to give adequate lighting. The other turns the rest on for when you need extra light. A supplemental 60w incandescent at each work station can work wonders when you don't want or need your whole shop lit brightly. Also, windows and skylights can help a lot with daytime light.

OkieG

Hoeman00 · Feb 10, 2003

Grainger has layouts in their catalog to show where and
how much to use.
The large metal halide light come in 'low bay' and 'hi bay',
this has to do w/ reflector and lit area.
400 watt lites need to be atleast 15' from bottom of lite
to your work plane (work bench or tractor hood) for
proper lite distribution.
Some of these large lights are 220v and up so u can use
smaller wire but need mag starter to turn on.
I run lots of 4' fluorescent lites and each row on seperate switch, plus a couple of nite lights so I don't have to turn
on whole row to grab something.

jimgerken · Feb 10, 2003

Be sure to ask what temperature the lights will start up in. As for florescents, most will not fire below about 45 degrees F. The ones that will are called High Output, I think. In my area, Menards Home stores now carry dual-tube eight foot High output Florescents for 25 bucks without bulbs. They're tough to beat for even bright light, and will fire in temps to zero.
Also, consider wiring whatever you use in groups to illuminate specific areas, so they don't have to be all running at once. Some guys wire them in long lines across the shop but really if you are working in one area, maybe you want half of two rows running. I wired six dual-tube eight footers in groups of two per switch. So most of the time, one switch is used to fire up two fixtures which illuminate the primary bench area I am using.

Hoeman00 · Feb 10, 2003

I keep my shops heated ALL the time so I don't have to
worry about cold start ballasts.
It makes it great to work in too.

rdbrumfield · Feb 10, 2003

I use some cheap portable halogen shop lights. I run some recepticles along the ceiling and plugged them in. I have a switch for each bay that have 3 500watt lights. I driled the stands that the lights come with and screwed them to the ceiling joists. They give out a bright light and are adjustable on one axis.

BSims66173 · Feb 10, 2003

KiotiDK35, Do you keep your shop heated? If not have you had any problems with the halide lights starting up when it's cold. Living in Alabama, winters are not to bad but we do have temps in the teens quite a bit. I am not planning on heating my whole shop, so startup is a major consideration for me. Thanks to everyone for their replys. As of right now I plan on going with four metal halides on two circuits and use quartz halogens for workstation lights with each having its own switch.

Anonymous Poster · Feb 10, 2003

BSims66173,

I had a heater in my shop, but didn't keep it on while away. The lights came on in the cold temps (0 to 20 degree range) They do require around five minutes to reach full brightness. I installed a 500 watt Halogen light at one end to turn on when I was just going to be in the shop for a short time.

CamshaftLF · Feb 11, 2003

Hi there, my shop is 36x48x12 high, had 10 4' florescent lights on ceiling, still hard to see. Put up 4-400 watt halide last week money will spent. Lights up everything. They were on sale for 79.00 w/bulbs. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Cam in Pa.

Schultz · Feb 12, 2003

This week I finally got tired of my fluorescent lights not working or barely working in the winter. First I tried rebuilding the exsisting lights with new electronic ballest & T8 bulbs. Unfortunately the ballest had a ballest factor of 88% which was 25% less than the originals. This equated to 25% less light, but they turned on in the cold /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif. I took those back and bought two new 8' High Output fluorescents lights at Home depot for $45 each, bulbs were $7ea x 4. The 8' H.O. lights throw out a tremendous amount of light, another 30% over a standard 8' fluorescent shop lights and have the -30F start temp. I believe they are 90 watts each, so all four use 360 watts, which isn't too bad for an area this size.

Last night I hung two of these in the rafters 14' up for an area about 28' x 28'. It's like outside daytime in there now. They are instant start, but I've noticed they reach peak brightness in about 3-5 minutes in the cold. In the first couple of minutes, the light is slightly pinkish, but becomes a bright white. Previously I had (4) 4' double fluorescent lamps, which were not nearly as bright.

Now I'm thinking the rest of the barn will eventually get these.

Tim

rdln · Feb 12, 2003

Tim, I tried these also and was pleased but they dont come with the reflectors.

To not sell them with reflectors or as an accessory doesn't make sense.

Schultz · Feb 12, 2003

I agee it doesn't make sense. When I bought these on the shelf below was a shop lite from the same manufacturer with reflectors but no the HO ballast/bulbs, and cold start rating.

Anonymous Poster · Feb 12, 2003

I have 10 of these units (Lithonia from Lowes) with two each 110 watt bulbs in a garage that is 24x46 with 14 foot ceilings.

They do a wonderful job in my honest opinion.

I have two rows of 6 each on a 20 amp breaker with 20 amp switches on them as well.

Looks like a football stadium in there at night /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Inspector507 · Feb 12, 2003

Tim,
Could you possibly take the reflectors of the old 4 footers and make them work on the 8 footers?

Schultz · Feb 13, 2003

I'll have to look. It certainly would reduce their garage sale value much.

Soundguy · Feb 13, 2003

I used 6 500 wat floods to light up my 60x80 riding areena.

I have also started retrofitting those 500 watt floods in the barn as my flourescents die.

The flourescents were nice.. but just can't survive the elements. The 500watt jobs from home depot, or lowes.. are something like 9 bucks a peice... a put out some good light!

Soundguy

Hoeman00 · Feb 13, 2003

The quartz lites make lots of heat as anybody that has one
knows, so watch combustibles around them.
They are sensitive to being level or bulb life will suffer.
I still prefer 6 4' lites to one 500w. quartz.