Shop light suggestions

[shibaura_4043]

Finally finished my 40x60 shop and now I'm trying to decide on what to do for lighting. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I was thinking about 6 of these lights

 

[sw99]

Finally finished my 40x60 shop and now I'm trying to decide on what to do for lighting.

+1

My 30x54 will be done in a couple months so very interested in this.

 

[kenr74]

I just built a 30x60 and went all LED. I went with a work light that I had in the truck that I picked up from Lowes. I got the one below on sale for about $15 each. Have a total of 21 in my shop and it is almost too bright. Mounted them in the rafters.

Not sure it was the cheapest route up front but at only 10 watts each they won't cost much long term.

Shop Utilitech Pro 1-Light 1-Watt LED Portable Work Light at Lowes.com

 

[Raspy]

I highly recommend the 4' long double LED fixtures from Costco. They are very bright, no noise, draw very little power, instant on and are only about $30. for the complete fixture, lamps and cord! I put 5 of them in a row in my shop and love them. No more fluorescents for me. As the remaining fluorescents fail I'll replace them with these LEDs.

 

[shibaura_4043]

I just built a 30x60 and went all LED. I went with a work light that I had in the truck that I picked up from Lowes. I got the one below on sale for about $15 each. Have a total of 21 in my shop and it is almost too bright. Mounted them in the rafters. Not sure it was the cheapest route up front but at only 10 watts each they won't cost much long term. Shop Utilitech Pro 1-Light 1-Watt LED Portable Work Light at Lowes.com

Thanks for replying , I, leaning towards LED as well. I added a pic to my original post of a LED light I was considering. Do you have any pics of your shop lit up and how you mounted the lights?

 

[shibaura_4043]

I highly recommend the 4' long double LED fixtures from Costco. They are very bright, no noise, draw very little power, instant on and are only about $30. for the complete fixture, lamps and cord! I put 5 of them in a row in my shop and love them. No more fluorescents for me. As the remaining fluorescents fail I'll replace them with these LEDs.

What size shop do you have? How many do you think I'd need for my 40 x60 ? They will be hanging at approx. 18ft.

 

[Raspy]

I'll jump in.

I have steel trusses on 12' centers in my shop/garage. I screwed two 10' lengths of 1 1/2" IMC conduit and slipped them through two of the trusses. 12' between and about 4' overhanging beyond each truss. Then I hung the LED fixtures on the conduit, placed end to end. Five, 4' fixtures end to end. They mount up just like you might do with fluorescents, mine hang on short chains that go over the conduit. This gave me a 20' long light that does a big section of the shop. It is up at about 14' or so. These lights are about twice as bright as fluorescents.

 

[Raspy]

What size shop do you have? How many do you think I'd need for my 40 x60 ? They will be hanging at approx. 18ft.

My overall building is 60X60, but my garage is about 900 sq ft of that. I have some older fluorescents that will be replaced when they die and the LEDs I mentioned. Plus a very bright LED spot hung over the workbench. I want to make one more row of the LEDs hung on conduit as I described to replace all other light sources except the spot. So, for a very bright shop, I'll end up with about 10 of the 4' LED lamp, in two rows about 14" up, and that will be like daylight everywhere in there. It's really more than you might need per sq ft, unless you want a very brightly lit shop, like for a machine shop or electronic fabrication, etc.

I really recommend these lights. You may want to get a few and see what they will do for you. Also, I sheet rocked and painted the whole shop and ceiling white. It makes a big difference. I have a couple of dim lights near the entry doors that I turn on at night if I just go in to get something. But I can do anything I want there, even at night, with the LEDs on.

 

[airbiscuit]

These look interesting.

This Upgraded 150W LED High Bay Light is an ideal lighting fixture for your warehouse, factory, workshop, plant, supermarket, basement parking or other commercial places. Its high stability current and superior LED chip will provide your working place with stable and sufficient brightness.
Features:
Superior LED chip
Long-lasting using: 60,000Hours longer life span
High Lumens, super bright: 16,000LM
Durable construction
Die-casting aluminum housing makes a smooth exterior
High efficient heat sink for extending service time
Scratch and fade resistant
Recommended Height: Within 16-3/8ft to 19-5/8ft height above ground
Specifications:
Power Input: 111V-245V,

 

[RNeumann]

Finally finished my 40x60 shop and now I'm trying to decide on what to do for lighting. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I was thinking about 6 of these lights

View attachment 504091

Six total lights or six 5 packs of lights for a total of 30? The 10k lumen output isn't a lot for a big shop with high ceilings and a dull and or dark finish. Google lumen requirements based on task and determine what you are comfortable with.

The "UFO" style high bays are popular. Their is a post with several pages of data that occurred a few months back.

 

[DJ54]

I also agree on the 4' LED's. I've got 15 in my 30'X32'X12' shop hung end to end. I mounted 2 X 4's to the metal ceiling, as I'd planned on fluorescent strip lights. I put receptacles on the side of the 2 X 4's, and plug 2 lights into one. They ae not direct mount, but cut the chains down to 2 links, and hung from screw eyes. If one ever goes bad, just unplug, unhook, and replace.

I have 30" light panels at the top of the siding, and even on bright sunny days, with the OH door open, they still brighten it up in there. The only problem I have noticed is, I have to shade over my Jackson Auto Darken welding helmet, to get it to lighten up. At first, I thought the lens I'd replaced a year ago was going bad already for some reason. When I looked down, it lightened up. When I looked straight ahead, it would darken. I shaded over top of the lens with my hand, and it lightened up again. Other than that inconvenience, I love them.

I got the 5,000 lumen LED's at Rural King. I had to order them, and they run them on sale every now & then for $19.99 + shipping.

 

[shibaura_4043]

Six total lights or six 5 packs of lights for a total of 30? The 10k lumen output isn't a lot for a big shop with high ceilings and a dull and or dark finish. Google lumen requirements based on task and determine what you are comfortable with. The "UFO" style high bays are popular. Their is a post with several pages of data that occurred a few months back.

I was hoping for 6 total one between each section of the beams on both sides of the ridge

 

[RNeumann]

From my recollection that would be enough light to find your way around but not enough for tasks. That's only 60,000 lumen total.
Their are better resources but this is a start-
How To: Calculate Lumens Required for Any Room | The Lighting Blog | Lighting by Lux

 

[kenr74]

Thanks for replying , I, leaning towards LED as well. I added a pic to my original post of a LED light I was considering. Do you have any pics of your shop lit up and how you mounted the lights?

No pictures. To mount them I just drilled two holes in each mounting bracket them screwed them into the beams.

 

[s219]

Yeah, 6 lights is not nearly enough in a 40x60. Use the calculator to figure out the right number.

I put in four 3800 lumen LED lights in my 20x20 barn, and it's just perfect for shop type work. My lights are about 12' off the ground.

Those were 4' fixtures. The size doesn't really matter, but the configuration might. Since I was mounting to the bottom chord of the roof trusses, the 4' fixtures were a good match.

So ballpark, that's about 38 lumens per square foot. For a 40x60, I would have needed 24 of those lights to get the same level of illumination from the same height.

 

[orangeandgreen]

Just has a 30x50x12 built and used 4' LED lights from Rural King.

 

[airbiscuit]

If you search Ebay for 150W LED High Bay, you can find some for around $85

1��W 15�W LED High Bay Light Bright White Warehouse Factory Industry Lighting

Can't vouch for them, but you could buy one as an experiment (both for placement and light).

A lot of people vouch for the Costco 4 footers.

In my 30x40 building, I have 12 old school ceramic fixtures with 100W LED bulbs (1600 lumens each), and 7 4' three light T-8 fixtures, with a couple of floods shining up at the ceiling. Nice and bright, but the RF interference blocks my radio and wireless garage door signals.

I think a year from now we will have more/better/cheaper LEDs as options. I have good light now (about 70 lumens per square foot), but I might be upgrading in a year or two.

 

[kenr74]

Not a very good picture but this is what my shop looked like right after the floor was poured. I'm building a work bench now and may put some lights right above it depending on how everything looks once the shop is full. Right now it is very empty and very bright.

I have the 48x30 enclosed section of my shop covered with 21 of the LED lights.

 

[shibaura_4043]

Not a very good picture but this is what my shop looked like right after the floor was poured. I'm building a work bench now and may put some lights right above it depending on how everything looks once the shop is full. Right now it is very empty and very bright.

I have the 48x30 enclosed section of my shop covered with 21 of the LED lights.

thanks for the pic.. what type of LED lights do you have?

 

[woodlandfarms]

Just FYI, I bought 6 200 watters of this style. Hung them face down. Bright as a noon sun... For about 4 months.. then they all burned out.

1W 2W 3W 5W 1W 15W 2W 3W 5W LED Flood Light Spot lights Garden Lamp | eBay

Manufacturer replaced all of them but I am not hanging them up. Turns out (in my opinion) that these type of light are no good for face down work. The LEDs heat up the circuit board and fry them out.

My neighbor who is an EE is going through the boards now, and we will get them back and running (I did not have to return the burned out ones so either I have 6 large boat anchors or I scored).