So what would you have done different with your new shop?

[flingwing1969]

Personally, I like switches at all of my doors where I come and go. I have three in my big shop that is undergoing a transformation and will (soon hopefully) be much better illuminated than it is now with only 4-150w drop lights. There was only one light in the shop when I bought it because the original owner experienced a personal tragedy as he was in the process of commissioning it and he lost interest in the project and soon moved away.

Anyway, I rented the place for a year and a month and the renters needed lights to I slapped in four gang outlets onto the trusses and installed the four drop lights plugged into them. I installed three wireless switches - one at each man-door and one at the front and they work well enough for now. When I get the mezzanine build over a third of the shop, and the ceiling installed in the remainder, I will install proper lighting with proper switches at each point of likely need. I suggest breaking up the lighting and installing three-way and four-way switches for each lighting zone. My shop is divided into purpose built zones and one need not light the whole shop when only using the welding area, for example.

 

[Budweiser John]

Boy a 3phase would be very nice. I don't think we can get it in our rural area. But there is so much heavy duty shop equipment for dirt cheap because of 3phase..

I also looked into a 4 wire 3ph service and our local power co op wanted 40K to run the third wire about 3 miles. Needless to say my response was screw that.
Purchased an Arco Rotary Converter for around $2500 scanvaged up some used disconnects and have been making dust and chips for the last 30 years. My biggest motor is 20hp on my 36 Timesaver Sander.
No issues whatsoever.
B. John

 

[Budweiser John]

Wiring (conduits) in the concrete floor are essential for shop equipment located away from side walls or to service walk around island work stations as is piping for compressed air.
Pre planning of equipment layout in the design stage and stubbing up electrical and air will save tripping over cords and hoses for ever.
B. John

 

[bcp]

Or bring it down to islands from above.

Bruce

 

[Budweiser John]

Or bring it down to islands from above.

Bruce

Yes, that works too sorta...
My shop is mainly dedicated to wood working and the less clutter dangling around the better when wrestling plywood panels and long ripping’s. Plus, it’s a much cleaner look overalll.

B. John

 

[woodlandfarms]

So I am continuing to pencil designs, lets talk lighting.

I am in a 45X45 shop, 18 to the eaves. I was thinking of 6 200watt LED Warehouse lights. I am a big believer in that you never have too much light but working with LED lights of this size (20K lumens I beleive) I am unsure if I am headed for happiness or depression. Not cheap, basically 1K to just put lights in this one area....

 

[bdog]

6 lights is no where near enough to eliminate shadows. My 50x50 with 14’ sidewalls has 24 13,000 lumen led fixtures. It is just about perfect and wouldn’t want much less.

 

[TMGT]

6 lights is no where near enough to eliminate shadows. My 50x50 with 14’ sidewalls has 24 13,000 lumen led fixtures. It is just about perfect and wouldn’t want much less.

What type of fixtures do you have? I've found the ufo type led high bays seem to do a much better job at eliminating shadows compared to tube type fixture.

 

[flingwing1969]

6 lights is no where near enough to eliminate shadows. My 50x50 with 14’ sidewalls has 24 13,000 lumen led fixtures. It is just about perfect and wouldn’t want much less.

What bdog said.

 

[bdog]

These are what I have http://www.cooperindustries.com/con...s/highbay_lowbay_industrials/led/_889189.html

There are about a million different options mine are the 2x2 high bays with 13,009 lumens and 100 watts.

 

[MossRoad]

So I am continuing to pencil designs, lets talk lighting.

I am in a 45X45 shop, 18 to the eaves. I was thinking of 6 200watt LED Warehouse lights. I am a big believer in that you never have too much light but working with LED lights of this size (20K lumens I beleive) I am unsure if I am headed for happiness or depression. Not cheap, basically 1K to just put lights in this one area....

Don't forget you can put in spotlights to illuminate corners, workstations, etc... to augment your standard lighting.

 

[TMGT]

In my uncles shop he ran 8ft fixtures along the walls to help fill in for the high bay lights. Worked pretty well for seeing under hoods.

 

[bdog]

Lighting seems simple but is very complex. The only way to properly measure it is foot candles at your work plane. The light output in lumens from a fixture doesn’t all make it to where you want. The positioning, style, specs of your fixture and the reflectivity of your walls, floor, and ceiling all come into to play. There is computer software that can model it.

For a quick and dirty estimation unless your lights are mounted extremely high 100 lumens or more per square foot in a typical shop should give you good light. You can see and work with much less but if you want it bright and don’t want to constantly be needing a drop light or area lights where you are working then aim for 100 lumens plus per square foot. I have 125 per square foot and it is great. Almost like being outside.

Be careful getting fixtures that are too bright. Mine are 100 watt and 13k lumen. If you look directly at them it sort of blinds you. I wouldn’t want any brighter with my ceiling height. You don’t want to go to far in the other extreme but generally speaking the more lights the better as it distributes the light more evenly. I have 24 of the 13k lumen lights. I am happy with it but I bet 48 6.5k lumen lights would give me better lighting as it would be distributed better and wouldn’t blind me as bad when I looked up.

Obviously you have to find a balance in the middle but definitely don’t go throw one or two ultra high lumen lights in a shop and think it will be good. I have approximately one light per 100 sq feet and it is good.

 

[dragoneggs]

Don't forget you can put in spotlights to illuminate corners, workstations, etc... to augment your standard lighting.

Yep, don't discount spot lighting on specific work areas. I bought a couple of these versatile LED portable lights and they are great to put on tools where you need some precision lighting. Magnetic so you can easily move and position exactly how you want and plenty bright! Here, lighting up my knife sharpener and grinder.

 

[aczlan]

So I am continuing to pencil designs, lets talk lighting.

I am in a 45X45 shop, 18 to the eaves. I was thinking of 6 200watt LED Warehouse lights. I am a big believer in that you never have too much light but working with LED lights of this size (20K lumens I beleive) I am unsure if I am headed for happiness or depression. Not cheap, basically 1K to just put lights in this one area....

I might just go with 100W 6500k lights such as: GLORIOUS-LITE LED Flood Light, 1W(5W Halogen Equiv), IP66 Waterproof Outdoor Work Lights, 65K Daylight White, 8lm, 11V, Outdoor Floodlight for Garage, Garden, Lawn and Yard - - Amazon.com
We got some of those in at work and two of them light up a big room better than the two previous 400w Metal Halide fixtures did...
I have 4 similar lights, but 50w each and when mounted in the rafters (12' up) on a 10'x12' grid they light up the pole barn very well.

Aaron Z

Aaron Z

 

[grsthegreat]

I bought some brand new Continental 5/8" water hose for the barn. The rats ate through the hose in a few weeks time. They did not have a hankering for the vinyl hose we had been using the past 15 year. They also ate through the plastic wheelbarrow. I suppose I will need to replace our 30 year old wheelbarrows sometime in the next few years.

All the wiring in the barn is in EMT conduit except the feed from the house which is in grey plastic conduit. While my mind does not do bends well with add 5 inches, subtract 5 inches, I still like running conduit. I have added circuits to existing 1/2 EMT. 3/4 inch EMT would have been handy in some places.

If you run water pipes under the slab, run insulation around it. Nothing more annoying than water pipe that is earth bonded so it take time to warm up the earth before you get hot water. Also that insulation maybe a little fudge factor that allows the pipe to expand and contract without tearing up.

all my outbuildings are emt...and my house was wires in MC cable and steel flex. im a semi retiring commercial electrician. i personally hate romex. worse invention ever. if you were to see the number of repairs ive had to make over the years to find rat and mouse chewed wires in walls you'd hate it also.

personally im surprised they dont burn down. what is it about mice and other rodents. heck, one ate thru my plastic diesel tank on my tractor.

in my house ive actually have modified some circuits over the 22 years that ive lived here...and love the fact that i could simply snake another wire thru the conduit and not have to open the wall.

all my wires running to outbuildings are in conduit. years after i built the barn, the wife wanted to be able to turn on the lights from the house to be able to check on horses at night, or to light the way to the barn (usually to turn off the lights when she noticed them left on when getting ready for bed). i simply snaked a 3 way circuit thru the 300' of conduit (i ran 2 empty conduits along with the circuit) and now i can control the barn lighting from house.
i also decided on running a WiFi circuit extension out to shop and barn. each building is approx 300 feet from each other. the empty conduits came in handy. i didnt have to redig anything. i now have wifi throughout major section of property.

i run my business off of a iPad that is WiFi controlled. its nice not to have to hotspot my phone to conduct business.


remember, the most expensive part, both in time and equipment cost, is the underground trenching and compaction/landscape part. run extra conduits. think about future changes

 

[Budweiser John]

A couple other things come to mind in the shop design and creature comforts department.
WiFi has already been mentioned to which I would add a sound system. Classical, hard rock, or EZ listening, weather or sports my radio/sound is the second thing turned on after the lights.
A refrigerator for your soda, beer, and fish bait
A fire proof file cabinet for manuals, records, and the like
A dedicated locker for flammable, paint thinners, and gasoline cans
An alcove for a sit down desk with office supplies as needed
Plenty of heavy duty shelving or pallet racking

B. John

 

[woodlandfarms]

Its a real astute point to mention that these new 200Watt fixtures are brigth to look into. Never really thought of that.

Futureproofing is such a nightmare. This barn is going in next to the house, and so the electricity and plumbing are right there. But in a year or so the new house is going in, at least 500 feet away. And in a different direction than the current power. It is going to take some real thought on all of this to make sure I don't put myself into too deep of a corner.

I found in my neighbors shop that is all metal that his cell phone will not work. Guess that is an issue with metal buildings. We no longer have land lines, not worth the cost, so will have to figure that issue out.

 

[GLyford]

I think you can get repeaters to bring cell signals inside metal buildings.

 

[MossRoad]

If you have good signal outside, then a passive antenna/repeater through the wall would probably work fine to give you signal inside.