Shop lighting

What's the best all around(cold start, good light, longevity, efficiency, etc.) available today?

I have the fluorescent T8's in my shop. I have been very happy with them. I keep it above 40 degrees in there. You can see them in he picture attached. Of course you have to have the correct density of lights in your building. If you want a fixtures per square foot calculation let me know. I am satisfied with my result. Ceiling height will be a factor. My ceiling is 11'. Paul

Like Paul said, the t-8 fluorescents work well and are supposed to start down to 0°. If your ceiling is over 14' tall then look onto t-5 high bay lights. They are supposed to cold start down to -20°. For price however it is hard to beat an incandescent bulb.

My sparky talked me into high output fluorescents! Installed in fall of '06, have not replaced a bulb yet!

While High Intensity Discharge (HID) lights are more efficient (more lumens per watt), their higher initial cost, time delay (absent additional features), potential re strike issues, mounting, extra weight. etc. etc. makes the readily available, relatively cheap, good color rendition (subject to bulbs), easy bulb replacement strip fluorescent fixtures attractive for many shops.

Id go with Fluorescent but that"s not to say depending on the shop design and ceiling height and color and the fixtures used, HID might be a better choice over the long run. A lighting engineer would need all the physical info and your needs before making an informed professional choice.

Its been years n years since I attended General Electrics Lighting Institute at Nela Park, but do recall some basics. The general rule of thumb when computing how may lights/fixtures are required at a given location, is Foot Candles = Lumens X Coefficient of Utilization (CU) / Area. In an office environment with a white low ceiling and reflectors, a CU of 70% + may be attainable as I best recall (NO Warranty Billy Bob so dont have a calf) while a higher dark colored ceiling like in a shop with dark floor the CU would be muchhhhhhhh less.

Things such as a white reflective ceiling and good reflectors improves the CU and while you might (depends on your use and needs) get by with 50 or 60 Foot Candles or less in a shop 100 would be nice, but again the ceiling height and color and reflectors and fixtures used make the difference.

DISCLAIMER this is merely an opinion and like all others here it may be right and it may be wrong, I"m NOT saying if it is or it isn"t, take it or leave it, your choice.

John T

I have a 40 x 60 building..12 foot "ceiling" meaning 12 foot to the bottom of rafters. I put 6 8 foot florescents three down one side spread evenly and 3 down the other side (60' way).. with reg bulbs down the middle on each rafter. Use 75 watt bulbs down the middle and 35-40 on the florescents.. When cold the Flors come on takes about 5 minutes to get brightest but when all are on its like daylight in there.. Been 10 years now and havent replaced a florescent yet.

The brighter the better --- I went with T5 High Output 6500K Fluorescent In a 30' by 30' garage - 2 overhead garage doors.

What I used ---

Lithonia Lighting 6-Light T5 High Output White Fluorescent High Bay ---- Model # IBZ 654 --- 3 units evenly hung from the roof rafters about 5 ft in from the back wall

and

Lithonia Lighting 4-Light Fluorescent White Strip Light Fixture Model # TZR 2 54T5HO MVOLT 1/4 GEB10PS ----- Hung so the bulbs are just below the overhead garage door supports --- 3 units one on each end and one between the doors --- so you have light with the doors open --- Just in case I installed the wire protectors so I don't break the light by mistake - saved me twice already

No regrets and highly recommend this as its great to see what your working on anywhere in the garage.

Good luck

Also should have included

About 3 years now and no problems with the setup.

They start right up on the coldest day.

Overkill - yes - but again it's great to work in a bright shop

a kinda 2-stage lighting system helps sometimes.
I have dozens of the old 4' fluorescent fixtures
from back when they were cheap.
After warm-up, the shop is pretty bright.
I also mounted a bunch of outdoor halogen light fixtures
up there that are controlled by a different switch.
I only flip those on too when I need extreme light.
saves me money and 90% of the time the fluorescent lights
are enough.

Led covers (cold start, good light, longevity, efficiency, etc.) available today. Cost to install is greater. Don't need ballast and if you already have fixtures just clip them out and trash them. Most can run on 120 to 208. Instant on and off. I have 1 that's been on for 4 years 24 hours a day. Will cost less to operate that any other lamp I know of. Leds put off very little heat and with the ballast gone there's a lot less heat. They run cool.The tube is made of abs plastic I think. So if you drop on it doesn't shatter.

If you'd like a link I'll post one. Most folks see input cost and say no way. But the savings over time is the payback.

My company just installed T5 high outputs in a John Deere dealership. These will light down to -20. The employees say these are much better than the previous lights.