Low Bay Lighting

[chaco]

This is my first post. I have a question concerning low bay lighting. I work in my garage on motorcycles and cars and was wondering what do you recommend for low bay lighting. I need it to be rather bright as I sometimes work on rather small parts. My garage is 35' X 35' and the ceiling is about 9' high.
Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Drewfus2101]

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100626328

While LEDs would be cool, for such a large room, I think some form of high intensity discharge would be more practical. I've got the above light still in the box waiting to be installed. You could install a few of those and have more than enough light.

Although.....the super practical guy is thinking flouresecent tubes.

 

[superjoe83]

some T8 48" tube fixtures would probably be the best and most economical choice, here is a sample, 20,700 lumens!!
http://www.1000bulbs.com/400-Watt-Equivalent-Fluorescent-Fixtures/31078/

 

[blasterman]

I think some form of high intensity discharge would be more practical

Hmmmm....not for such a low ceiling. The problem is that HID / metal halide is very specular and you'll tend to have the area it's pointed it be very bright while the other areas will have harsh shadows. Gives you a headache after awhile and is tough to work with. HID really works the best with high ceilings and many of them so they can fill in the gaps. Aka warehouses, etc.

However, one trick with HID that works really well, but nobody ever thinks about it except me, is bounce it. If you have low ceiling such as the case here, and it's painted white, then flip the HID fixture around so it floods the ceiling. A couple of them at opposite sides of the room will produce a diffuse light source coming from the entire ceiling that's easy to work in.

Either do that route, or just opt for a couple big shoplight fixtures as mentioned above.

 

[precisionworks]

Most industrial/commercial users are moving away from HID and using the new, high efficiency flouresecent fixtures.

T8 lamps have a better price point today, T5 are more efficient.

http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/NLPIP/lightingAnswers/LAT5/pc1.asp

 

[blasterman]

I did some consulting work for a couple companies last summer that upgraded their production plants to state of the art T5 bays, and they really, really looked good. They were using high CRI 4100k fluorescent T5 tubes, and the light quality, even for high ceilings, was excellent with superb coverage.

Yeah, T5 is da bomb' for this kind of application. But, the entry price is steep for really good fixtures with efficient reflectors and good ballasts.

HID is a different animal, and given the intense but specular light source really needs to be optimized for the specific application. HID is making a comeback in specialty track fixtures at sub 100watt levels, and I'm starting to see them, in of all places grocery stores over the food aisles using parabolic reflectors. 10 years ago it was 180 degrees the other way.

A good T5/T8 fixture is the defacto 'can't lose' light source for a work area. However, like I mentioned above, HID works wonders under a low, white ceiling if you bounce a few of them and in some cases work better because that will yield wider, more diffuse coverage where you'd otherwise need four or six shoplights. It all depends on the application and where you need the light.

 

[chaco]

Thanks everyone for the responses. Therre was some really good info included. I'm leaning towards the T5 fixtures in the middle of the shop with the HID fixtures in the corners reflecting up and towards the center of the shop.

 

[2xTrinity]

Thanks everyone for the responses. Therre was some really good info included. I'm leaning towards the T5 fixtures in the middle of the shop with the HID fixtures in the corners reflecting up and towards the center of the shop.

I woudln't bother with the HIDs. They are less efficient to begin with -- and even moreso if you're doing ceiling buonce like that. If I were you I'd just spread a few different fluorescent fixtures around, and perhaps include some undercabinet types to fill in any "gaps" in lighting where the ceiling light doesn't reach.

 

[brickbat]

...
However, one trick with HID that works really well, but nobody ever thinks about it except me, is bounce it...

Nobody but you? Hardly. Two rooms in my house are lit with 70W PAR30 CMH lamps in that exact configuration. My favorite is a normal mild-mannered table lamp, modified with the aforementioned CMH lamp, activated with a pull chain. Most of the time, we just use the common 13W CFL in it, but when we need extra task lighting, we just switch on the CMH. It points straight up through the top of the lampshade at the white ceiling above.

Still, I wouldn't recommend it for a shop, where 4 foot T8s are so darn effective, cheap, efficient, etc...

 

[yuandrew]

My friend had a similar situation as well and had considered some self ballasted mercury vapor lamps or a metal halide but I decided to convert an old fluorescent light in the middle of his garage to an electronic ballast and used GE F32T8 Premium Cool White lamps in it (rated 2950 lumens each according to the package) It's now two times brighter than the original magnetic ballast and 34 watt lamps that were in there. I still need to convert the other light over the workbench as well.

I couldn't really do the "bounce" thing with the metal halide floods effectively as his garage is unfinished. The electronic ballast and F32T8 lamps can be easily found at Lowes. I did also stop by an electrical supply house and looked at a 4 lamp T5 fluorescent fixture which was even brighter but was very expensive (quoted $136 for it)

Also consider having a "drop light" on a retractable cord for your closeup or task lighting.

 

[blasterman]

Another suggestion I've seen, although a bit 'ghetto', is to string half a dozen or so large CFL reflectors from the raftors of you garage. Not exactly high tech, but large, 23watt CFL reflectors throw a lot of light where they are pointed at. Plug them all into a power strip, blah, blah, blah.

The bulbs will likely not last as long as high quality T5/T8 tubes, but you've easily got 5000+ lumens that you can spread around where you want and not cofined to a single, hulking shop light.

As for T5/T8 efficiency vs HID, these studies are almost always based on best case scenarios for T5/T8 (reflectors polished like telecope mirrors and worst case for HID (low CRI bulbs, budget housings/ballasts from Walmart) . Also, every modern office / engineering lab I've been in lately has moved to indirect/bounced lighting as either main or supplimental light source.

 

[SafetyBob]

We have about the same space. I used T8 fixtures with I believe 5600K bulbs. Three rows, spaced about 4 to 5 feet apart. I have no problems seeing anything anywhere in the illuminated areas.

I only have about 2/3s of the garage done. The areas where I have not put lights are very unplessant to work in. Nothing beats light....and plent of it.

Each bank/row has it's own light switch. Just look around and find any cheap or used 48 inch fixture. Go to your local electrical supply house and get some good GE T8 electric ballasts and rewire yourself. You can do this on the cheap but you need to luck out with fixtures.

I even converted a 4 light drop ceiling fixture to work kinda on the ceiling with extra frame I made to "drop it". Looks kind of nice too. No more problems seeing what's happening around the Bridgeport now.

Bob E.

 

[purduephotog]

I actually have an 8 ft light in the garage, purchased from HD, that has been in use for 8 years with the same tubes and the same ballast. It cost under 50$ for everything and was rated for 'cold weather'.

Now whether or not they're still making this quality equipment or it is all cheap and poor (as in I've replaced my SunPak ballast 3x and the bulbs 2x in the kitchen) I don't know. But those nice long 8 foot tubes make for great even light- I'd consider adding a second one if I didn't already have a 4 foot light right over my work bench area.

edit:
By cold weather I mean Rochester, freeze your arse off, cold weather. I've gone out and worked when it's sub-zero (-10) in the garage with no heat- the light flickers and 'barks' a bit as it tries to warm up... and when it does it's nice and solid clean light. Without going out to look at it I remember the tubes have the green ends and are of the standard thickness (not the tiny thin ones)