[Shop-talk] Lighting

[Gil Fuqua]

Take a look at T-8 fluorescent fixtures.  I had old 8' fixtures in my
shop that I supplemented them with 400 W metal halide ones.  The metal
halides are good and put out a lot of light, yet they have 'issues'.
They are slow to come on, they are a very bright point source of light
(don't look up at them), and they dim over time.  They put out about 60%
of the rated output as they age.

The T-8 lamps have a 20,000 hour average life.  They come on instantly
and work in cold weather.  Their light output drops only about 2% over
their rated 20,000 hour life.

I replaced the metal halides with fixtures that have 6 bulbs that are 4'
long.  The fixtures have a chrome reflector behind the bulbs that boosts
the light output.  They provide a much more even light than the metal
halides and are much easier on the eye.  Another benefit of the T-8
bulbs is the availability of different color temperature bulbs.  I like
the daylight balanced bulbs in my shop. I bought the fixtures at a local
industrial supply shop for about $120 each with the bulbs.

They are very energy efficient and that's why a lot of the big box
stores have replaced the metal halide fixtures with either T-8 or T-5
fixtures.  The T-5s are somewhat better for the various specs but tend
to cost more, especially for the replacement bulbs.

Gil Fuqua
Nashville

-----Original Message-----
From: shop-talk-bounces at autox.team.net
[mailto:shop-talk-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Galt, Stuart A
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 9:46 AM
To: shop-talk at autox.team.net
Subject: [Shop-talk] Lighting

Sorry for asking a shop related question...

I have a garage with 13.5' ceilings and am currently lighting it with
cheapo 4
ft fluorescent lights.  The problem that I have is that as soon as  I
get down
off the ladder from replacing a tube I need to move the ladder somewhere
else
and replace another one.  I need to find a different lighting option
because I
cannot keep up!  My ideal alternative would provide lots of light, not
cost an
arm/leg to run, be heat/cold tolerant (garage is not heated) and not
require
me to spend all my time going up/down a ladder.   I have 18 light
fixtures on
4 different circuits (the garage is 2400 sq ft).

Would LED lighting be useable for this?  I know it would be expensive
but I
would hope that they would last long enough that I would not be spend
all my
time on the ladder.  Also I would expect it to tolerate the cold and the
lights would come on when it is below freezing in the garage.  Would
better
fluorescent fixtures solve my problem?

Stuart.
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