I am almost done building my shop. Its 30x40 enclosed, with a 20' lean to on each side. That makes it 70x40x14' ceiling. Anyway, I am trying to figure out what kind of lights to put in it. Anyone have a good suggestion?

I attached a pic. Since that one was taken, I have closed the rest of that end off, and put on the trim. I still have to put on the roll up doors..

later.
Phillip

 

I have a shop about that size, and it has probably 7-10 lights in it, and its really bright. Lights aren't that pricey either that i have. Ill have to check when i go back over there tomorrow on the brand.

 

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/li...oom-d_897.html

Your 1200 ft^2.
what are you planning on doing in your building? I would recommend atleast an area over your work bench that is over 6 Watt/ft^2.

I recommend either florescent or mercury vapor. Dont get cheap and use incandescent bulbs. If your ceiling isn't very high, go with the florescent for the lower profile and less heat.

edit: I see your in texas, so the long florescent would probably be a better choice since heat will be a problem more often than not.

 

My shop is 36x16 enclosed with 14' ceiling and I have 1 300W bulb on each end and a big light (one of those that takes a few minutes to get fully bright - like in Wal-Mart) and can see like Superman. I think the big lights are @ $80...IIRC.

 

the lights at walmart are mercury vapor. nice white light, long lasting, but can put out some heat and is pricey to replace if damaged.

 

No more Mercury vapor lights after the first of the year. But in my opinion it is a junk light with poor quality.
I put T-5 florescent in my shop, awsome light and take less juice then a regular florescent. Metal Haloid (spelling ) Is another good light.

 

I second the t-5's or maybe even the t-8's. You may find that your local utility company will give you rebate for buying either one of those.

 

My old shop had a dozen or so 8' fluorescents. My opinion, fluorescents are the best all around choice for a shop. Halogens need warm up time and are pricey albeit nice. You can also put a few fluorescents over workbenches and such if you need more direct lighting.

Nice looking shop by the way. Can't wait to move back out of town and build another shop.

Have a good one.

 

My shop, 40 X 60 with 12 foot ceilings. I used 18 lamp bases and currently have 13W CFL's in there. I split it up on 2 switches so I can inly run 1/2 if I want.

Plenty bright and only uses 234 watts at full bore.

My shop is white inside though....... Just a thought.

 

I have 12 HPS lights 150 watt each in my 1600 sf garage.They give off a little bit of a yellowish light but are bright as H**l.And I got em off the bay used for $10 each.Way better than forescent in my opinion.They start alittle slow but they start the same no matter what the temp. is.

 

I am also building a shop (same enclosed size) and was wondering about this.

Are the T-5 and T-8s a different bulb or a different fixture?

And patdaly, how long are your bases? I like the idea of using the CFLs.

Thanks

 

We run fluorescents in both our big shop and the basement, 8 ft single pin bulbs in the big shop and a mix of 4 and 8 footers in the basement. In the big shop the ceilings are 15', so the lights are suspended down to about 8'. In the other area I have a couple of high pressure sodiums about 15' up in the ceiling that throw plenty of light. Plus 4 halogen work lamps that travel around to different jobs.

 

We got a deal on some old gas station lights for our shop. The kind that light up the pumps at night. Very bright and not blinding.

 

T-5's and T-8's are both flourecents just different bulbs and ballasts.

The T-5's are awesome with 4 4 bulb fixtures in the middle and 2 on each side you would be able to perform surgery in there. They are kind of spendy though around 120 each with bulbs.

Might look for some 8' T8 tandem fixtures (two 4 footers end to end all in one fixture) they are a little cheaper and almost as efficent

I would stay away from metal halids and high pressure sodiums as they are spendy to buy and operate.

 

nirion, I just used the cheap 1.29 porcelain bases and mounted them to a deep box, I needed that to clear the ribs on my metal with the conduit.

I will try and take a picture and post it tomorrow.