Lighting question for garage

[woodlandfarms]

So, I have 2 - 4' flourescent arrays with 2 X 40 Watt bulbs. They have never worked well since the beginning so I am pulling them down and putting up compact flourescents.

My question is a technical one. Each long bulb is rated at 40 Watts. That is 40 watts of use, not light, right? If my 23 Watt compact Flourescent is 100 watts in the amount of light it puts out (I guess this is relative, more a sales term than an actual proven term as the amount of light produced by a bulb is not related to its wattage consumption).

Anyway... I guess I am trying to ascertain roughly how many bulbs will equal the light coming out of 4 4ft flourescents rated at 40 watts each.

Carl

 

[VA_Joe]

The 100W comparison is versus incandescent (i.e. a 23W fluorescent puts out as much light as a 100W incandescent). A 40W tube will tend to put out more usable light than a compact unit (at the same wattage) because it is more spread out. The problem with your existing lights might be due to the ballasts. If they are the $9 home depot (or Lowes) shop lights - throw them out (junk) and replace them with the $40 units (also available at HD and Lowes). The $40 units won't die after a year or two of use.

I've noticed from my location that the $9 shop lights tend to die after a winter or two of use (its the low temp usage that seems to kill the ballasts). I've been using the more expensive units in my garage for many years without experiencing the same problems as I had with the $9 shop lights.

My two cents.

Joe

 

[RalphVa]

Think the only difference between the tube lights and the CFLs is the ballast device to start/run the tube lights. Except for the small amount of wattage consumed by the ballast, the wattage draw would be the same.

So, if you have 4 x 40 watts of tube lights = 160 watts. If you use 23-27 watt CFLs, this would translate to 6 to 7 CFLs to give about the same amount of light.

I put some sort of compact fluorescents in regular light sockets around the walls in the basement of my carriage house. These are now about 6 to 7 years old and aren't as good technology as today's CFLs, and I don't recall what wattage they are. The approximately 5 to 6 lights do not provide that much light. If I wanted to make it a real workshop, I'd mount maybe 4 more CFLs distributed in the ceiling. Didn't do this originally because it's tougher mounting them up there: big I beams that hold up the floor of the upstairs truck/tractor garage and steel deck above the I beams.

Ralph

 

[DRL]

CARL, You are correct, the watts is the amount of electricity used. If you look on the bulb or package it will give the lumen's. That is the amount of light. Joes is right about the 4'ers spreading out the light. I like the compact fluorescents because the fixtures are so cheap. Just a box and a keyless and the bulb. You can buy 6 or 8 of them for the price of the good 4'ers.
BTW I have 8 23watt CF's in an oversize double garage(28x24), and its like daylight.
DRL

 

[woodlandfarms]

Thanks for the info guys. In my business the lights we use range from 600 watts to 18,000 (and then the crazy Xenons).. I completely brain faded on asking about Lumens....

 

[rayh76]

Hey DRL, what type of fixtures do you use for your CFL's? Do you have a cover for them?

I currently have the cheap Home Depot lights in my garage (plus the garage opener lights that I have CFL's in now). So far the cheap ones are working ok and they made it through their second winter. I don't use them much in the winter so that is probably why. They are LOUD though.

 

[DRL]

rayh76, no covers(check you local codes). I just used keyless lamp holders on the electrical ceiling boxes. One thing that helped, my garage is finished with sheetrock and I painted that gloss white. With the bulbs right below that big reflector, white ceiling, they put all the light down where you need it.
DRL

 

[Chuckatuck]

I second the motion to put up "H.O." ballasts. I have one side of the 2 car garage with h.o.'s and the other with standard ballasts. Guess which ones come on everytime without fail? The H.O. cost more both for the ballast and bulbs, but it sure beats falling in a dark garage taking the trash out!

 

[HarryVanderpool]

Have you looked into T-5 ?
We took down our HOs and recycled them.
The T5 is the best light I am aware of.
VERY energy efficiant also.