Need some advice on shop lights

[chrisd]

Here's the shop. It belongs to my wife's grandmother and she told me I could use it (rent free, no bills) after her son died. Problem was, it literally took me a year to get it this clean and clear. It was a maze to get through, but I got it this far. It's 30x60 feet. Plenty of space, but lighting sucks. I bought some fluorescent lights, but the roof is high plus the bulbs have burned out in a year. I don't want to put a lot of money into the lights because when she passes (she's 95 now) the rest of the family will swoop in and either sell it or sell everything around me and I'm out of here. Any thoughts? And thanks for all the thoughts

 

[WileERobby]

White. If you can, paint the walls/ceiling all white. So, whatever you do for lighting, it will increase effectiveness.

 

[69L48Z27]

Portable halogens or buy a few of the 4' LED lights and Sams Club. They install fast and aren't that expensive, relatively. When it comes time to move out you'll grab them and go.

 

[khryslerkid]

The cheapest to buy and the easiest to take with you in a hurry are the 8' florescent. Hang them on chains down where they can do some good. Get the cold start, single pin ones. I see you already have some. The don't use much electric either.

 

[chrisd]

I'm not familiar with the 4'leds, so I'll check them out. I put the florescents up, but I should have lowered them. they will require a little work to remove them though wiring wise. white sounds like a good idea. I've thought about painting, but it's always been down the road.

 

[Mike67]

We built a 30x60 a couple of years ago its 14' at the walls. I installed 6 of the t-5 fluorescent and they are awesome...not real cheap but economical to operate. Most big box stores carry them now..
Just space equally and hang from the bottom of the rafters as not to get shadows.

 

[WileERobby]

Mike67 's is a great example of economical, efficient lighting, along with white walls & ceilings. The white reflects & diffuses the light all around, creating a brighter environment.

 

[chrisd]

Thanks everyone. sounds like I just need a few more lights and lower all of them. Then paint the inside. The shop was used for farm equipment when they grew cotton here, so the ceiling is high

 

[khryslerkid]

I rented a big shop once. Rented a electric spray paint setup that you place a 5gal bucket under it. Made quick work out of painting that shop.

 

[Mike67]

Not sure what part of Tx youre in but your welcome to come by the shop to check it out...
I can't remember if I put up 2 lamp or 4 lamp fixtures but I'm thinking they are 2s.... Flu d these 4 pampers for $65..
https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/1...BaseShopping&gclid=CMXotJ3qvdACFdKGfgodLJsD6A

 

[conv67bdere]

T5 are really the way to go . . . they are much more efficient than the T8 and T12 . . . and the light is much brighter !

I've upgraded all my garage T12 to T8 ( need to buy new ballasts to do this ), and bought a T5 for the shop . . . I think that I'll stick with the T5 as I really like the way they light up the area much better than the others . . .

 

[bm02tj]

Wire a plug in and hang your lights and plug them in
Write your name on them so every one knows they are yours and being plugged in not wired they are not part of the building

 

[747mopar]

The local electric company started offering programs to promote businesses to upgrade their lighting around here and we switched to all T5s, amazing amount of light! I think my new 30X34 garage with 13ft ceilings can be lit up with just four fixtures easily. I'd love to learn more about the LEDs though, they seam to be the most efficient on power just haven't seen them used to light up larger area's yet.

 

[493 Mike]

You might buy some used 400 watt mercury vapor fixtures from a salvage company and hang 3 or 4 in the shop. They put out a lot of lumens. For temporary use it would be pretty easy.
Mike

 

[Mike67]

Its just my opinion but the led technology isn't quite there yet. They do have a use but light diffusion from say 12' & up isn't that good yet. It can be done but the size/cost of the cells needed to produce the same light outweigh their benefit.
I think a t5 ballast pulls about .18 of an amp, which is negligable...

Found a pic of the shop right after I installed the lights

 

[747mopar]

Its just my opinion but the led technology isn't quite there yet. They do have a use but light diffusion from say 12' & up isn't that good yet. It can be done but the size/cost of the cells needed to produce the same light outweigh their benefit.
I think a t5 ballast pulls about .18 of an amp, which is negligable...

Found a pic of the shop right after I installed the lights

View attachment 374384

Cool I can see my estimate of 4 looks about right. How many bulbs per fixture are you using? We've got 2, 4 and 6 bulb fixtures at work, 6 bulbs is like a tanning bed!

Don't mean to hijack on the thread I just happen to be looking into lighting as well.

 

[Mike67]

I want to say they are 2 but might be 4.... I'll be at the shop tommorow and can tell you for sure.
In an earlier post I found the 4s online for $65...I think we played close to $90 @ H-depot a few years ago..

 

[mmissile]

If you can afford them...I'd go with lots of LED's. I'd have to replace 16, 8-foot fixtures....so I don't see it as an economical option for me.

 

[chrisd]

So who has used LED's? Florescents don't use that much electricity, so are led's really that much brighter? plus cost is a factor here. I'm not sure how much longer I'll have this shop

 

[Mike67]

Like I said earlier, the quantity of LEDs needed to get the same amount of light at floor level as a t5ho does not justify the cost in my opinion.
I've installed led pole lights at my hospital and am not impressed. The light "density'", if you will, diminishes the farther it goes from the source which ultimately requires more lights ( more foot/candles).
I believe the t5 ho puts out 5-5k lumens on a 4' fixture where a comparible led puts out about 4k... The LEDs are 2x the $.
Energy consumption is irrelevant , the main benefit of LEDs is service life which can be >2x the hours of a fluorescent.