can't see my tractor! high bay fluorescent shop lighting?

John_PA · Feb 24, 2014

I visited a local farm recently, and he had some t5 hi-output high bay 6 fixture florescent lights in his shop. There weren't anywhere near what I figured would be adequate to light the whole building, but it did and there were no shadows. His ceiling was a vaulted 16 foot, similar to mine, except mine is flat.

I checked on a few of the big box stores' web pages and found some Lithonia fixtures with the same aluminum reflectors, and the same bulbs.

Has anyone used Lithonia fixtures? I don't know what prices these things usually bring, so the $200 per fixture price doesn't say much to me. Any thoughts?

I think I might buy 2 for now, see how they act, and if they are ok, buy more. Unless of course, anyone has any other recommendations. It's hard to see what I am working on, and I have been dragging a trouble light around. Spring is just around the corner!

oj · Feb 24, 2014

Can't remember what brand of T5 we used in our shop, 16 ft high, 40 x 40, we have 9 6 bulb units, white tin on walls and ceiling, very bright inside, makes the old shop (which we joined to with a breezeway) seem very dark. We paid about $200 a unit iirc

Steve@Advance · Feb 24, 2014

I put T5 drop in fixtures in a drop cieling in our
inspection room at work. I'm well pleased with
them, been in about 2 years now and no bad lamps or
ballasts. Don't remember what brand, Lithonia is a
well known name brand, but I've never looked for a
name in light fixtures, just what can I get the
best price on.

I see Ebay has them for $160 with lamps, not a bad
price.

Bob · Feb 24, 2014

Lithonia is a well-known brand, been around forever.

That being said, I am done buying often short-lived mercury-containing fluorescents and am phasing in LED's.

John_PA · Feb 25, 2014

Bob,
Can you put the LED lights in the old fixtures? how are they for brightness, and are they overly "blue?"

John_PA · Feb 25, 2014

Sounds like your shop is like mine. 40 foot wide and 16 foot ceilings. I am 104 feet long, so maybe 36 fixtures instead of 9?

Do you have them staggered or in 3 lines?

Not sure what to do. I definitely feel inspired to buy them.

John_PA · Feb 25, 2014

Steve,

How do they do when really hot or cold? What is your ceiling height? If you were to do it again, would you change anything?

FBH44 · Feb 25, 2014

I made my own, Bought 5 or 6 light fixture sockets, mounted them in scrap 6" x 6" x 4' channels I came across, wired them up, and have lights! I can screw in LEDs, or regulars, or CFC's or whatever I can scrape together. No cold weather problems at all, they all fire right up. cOST very minimal.

Formerly PaMike · Feb 25, 2014

We build a new machine shop at work in 2006. Put in T8 lights. The shop is heated and cooled, so conditions are ideal. We had the lights on 5 days a week for 6 years before we had ANY failures. Since 2012 we have been replacing maybe two ballasts and two sets of bulbs a year. Probably 40 ballasts in that shop.
In December my shop at home needed new lights. I had OLD T12 that wouldn't come on if it was under 30 degrees. The ceiling in this shop is low, only about 7 1/2 ft. I installed Lithonia L232-MW lights. Got them through work at wholesale for $44/each. I too was concerned about cold starting since they aren't rated for low temp. I have had ZERO issue and we have had a super cold winter in PA this year. The shop is unheated, and I went out one morning when it was 5 degrees and flipped on the lights. It took maybe 2 seconds, and they came on. They ALL came on, and they were all bring. Not like the old T12 where the bulb would just kind of glow a little.
My buddy installed T8 in his 14 ft high tractor shop, and he loves them. He went with 4 bulb per fixture with chrome reflectors. Really lights the place up. Just make sure you stick with brand name fixtures, there is probably a lot of junk coming from China...

Sparktrician · Feb 25, 2014

Those T5 6 lamp fixtures are the best thing going. I have some in my shop and have put A LOT of them in for others. Find a actual electric supply house. 200/fixture is a lot. You should be able to get the fixture for about 95, and the lamps for 4 bucks each, so $120/fixture.

That's what I paid for the last ones I got, and they are full frame type, not the cheesy "I beam" type.

Bill(Wis) · Feb 25, 2014

Put skylights in your next shed and eliminate the need for artificial lighting during daylight hours.

Greg K · Feb 25, 2014

Those are just what you want in there.
Lithonia is a good brand. $200 seems a bit
high, I can buy them with bulbs at a
wholesale house for about $140 and
Menard's has a Metallux brand on sale once
a year for about $89 without bulbs. For a
lighting layout you may be able to find a
place on the internet that recommends the
spacing.

oj · Feb 25, 2014

have 3 straight rows of them, running lengthways, centre row on centre line, outer rows about 16 inches closer to the walls than they would be on equal spacing...

Samuels68 · Feb 25, 2014

Lithonia is as good as any lighting brand. Having installed thousands of T5 high bay fixtures (spent 2 years doing warehouse retrofits) I can say they put out much more light than you would think. Also check with your power company. When we were doing all the refrofits it was because the power company was offering a $120 per fixture and $4 per lamp rebate.

greygoat · Feb 25, 2014

I buy my lighting products from TEK SUPPLY.
I've been happy with product and price.
I like their 55 Watt fluorescent bulbs, compare
to a 200 watt incandescent, and start right up
in an unheated shop at 20 below zero.
They are rated for 6000 hours. I'm replaceing 1
of 4 this week, after 10 years.

fixerupper · Feb 25, 2014

Econolite is where I got my 6 tube t5's. They have so many choices and price variations it makes my head spin. The ones I chose added up to around $180 each delivered to my door. After I got them I noticed they had cheaper ones on their website that look exactly like mine. The T5's Econolite sells are the higher wattage tubes, I think 54 watts if my memory serves my right. The residential t5's you buy at Menards are lower wattage, something you have to watch out for. Jim

dr sportster · Feb 25, 2014

Lithonia is a popular brand. All these fixtures have gotten cheaper in quality over the years. You can specify a welded end fixture so it is not so snap together cheap . That only helps the ease of installation and once they are hanging you will not care that they snapped together instead of being screwed or welded.Two hundred a fixture seems high --is that for an 8 footer, high output ballast?

Bob in WY · Feb 25, 2014

Last year we had the shop upgraded to the T5 lighting. The power company had a deal going that they (government) paid 50% to change it over so you might check into that. The total bill was about $20k so the incentive really helped.

I don't know what brand was put in but the new lights really helped. Its a lot brighter but not blue.

rrlund · Feb 25, 2014

I've got a mercury vapor yard light in mine. It's on a switch so I can turn it off and on. I only use it when I need it. That thing will just about burn your shadow in to the wall.

Steve@Advance · Feb 25, 2014

I didn't think about the cold temps.

I was looking at the spec charts and the lowest the chart went was -4F. I think that is a lamp issue, not the ballast, as in they will light but not full bright until the lamps warm up. Might want to Google T5 lamp specs and take a look around. They do appear to be better than the T8's though.

My ceiling height is 9 ft., but that is inside a clean white room, about 20 x 20 with 6ea. 4ft 3 lamp fixtures. There is minimal shadow, plenty of light, no complaints.

When I install shop lights, I like to drop them as low as possible without them being in danger of getting hit with normal shop traffic. I would go with the 6 lamp fixtures in a shop though, not near as much reflective surface in a shop.

Smalltowner · Feb 25, 2014

The brand of the electronic ballast is more important than the tin fixture, and 2nd is the lamp. Advance are the best ballasts in my experience. Phillips makes the best lamps, Sylvania is 2nd and probably the best value, GE the worst and cheapest. I was purchasing agent for a large company maint dept, and had a lighting company of my own for many years. I did studies and kept records to find the best products. The T5 ballasts have improved in quality since they first hit the market but there are still cheapo"s out there that will reach a 20% failure rate or worse within the first year running 24/7. Same old story, you generally get what you pay for.....
Just my 2 cents. Meanwhile I use T8 4 footers in my shop but have low ceilings.

Brad Buchanan · Feb 25, 2014

High bay fixtures are designed for 18'+ ceilings.
You would probably do better with low bay as they
put more light out to the sides.

Brad

can't see my tractor! high bay fluorescent shop lighting?

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