Shop Lights

[BSims66173]

Hi friends, I am building a new 40 x 60 shop and am wondering what is the best lights to put in it. Would 400 watt halide grow lights work. Guy on ebay is selling them and I was thinking about bidding. Also was considering dusk to dawn type lights and bypass the photo cell. I want something that puts out good light but not too expensive. I can get some 125 watt dusk to dawn lights at Home Depot for about fifty bucks apiece. Do you think six of these lights will give me enough ligh to work by. Thanks for your insight

 

[Anonymous Poster]

If You happen to have a good Electrical Supply or lighting Supply close . Some will have a computer program to figure out How much and what type lights that will do what You want to.


When I put lights in mine I had this done for no charge..and It really did work out well for me,I am totally satisfied with the results.

All they will need is Your dimensions and ceiling height .

Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I would not recommend using the dusk to dawn lighting. I tried them in my 40' x 50' shop (trying to save a few bucks) the problem was that they had a blue cast to the lighting, making red colors (tool box) a purple in color with lights on.

I went with two metal halide (closest thing to actual sunlight) 400 watts each hung in the center about 15' from each end. Ideally 6 lights would have been much better, but I never had a problem of not having enough light.

 

[Inspector507]

Just keep in mind, any type of HID lighting takes a few minutes to come on. And if the power flickers, they'll go out and stay out until they cool down.

 

[OkieG]

You may want to consider a couple switches for your overhead lights. One switch turns on enough bulbs to give adequate lighting. The other turns the rest on for when you need extra light. A supplemental 60w incandescent at each work station can work wonders when you don't want or need your whole shop lit brightly. Also, windows and skylights can help a lot with daytime light.

OkieG

 

[Hoeman00]

Grainger has layouts in their catalog to show where and
how much to use.
The large metal halide light come in 'low bay' and 'hi bay',
this has to do w/ reflector and lit area.
400 watt lites need to be atleast 15' from bottom of lite
to your work plane (work bench or tractor hood) for
proper lite distribution.
Some of these large lights are 220v and up so u can use
smaller wire but need mag starter to turn on.
I run lots of 4' fluorescent lites and each row on seperate switch, plus a couple of nite lights so I don't have to turn
on whole row to grab something.

 

[jimgerken]

Be sure to ask what temperature the lights will start up in. As for florescents, most will not fire below about 45 degrees F. The ones that will are called High Output, I think. In my area, Menards Home stores now carry dual-tube eight foot High output Florescents for 25 bucks without bulbs. They're tough to beat for even bright light, and will fire in temps to zero.
Also, consider wiring whatever you use in groups to illuminate specific areas, so they don't have to be all running at once. Some guys wire them in long lines across the shop but really if you are working in one area, maybe you want half of two rows running. I wired six dual-tube eight footers in groups of two per switch. So most of the time, one switch is used to fire up two fixtures which illuminate the primary bench area I am using.

 

[Hoeman00]

I keep my shops heated ALL the time so I don't have to
worry about cold start ballasts.
It makes it great to work in too.

 

[rdbrumfield]

I use some cheap portable halogen shop lights. I run some recepticles along the ceiling and plugged them in. I have a switch for each bay that have 3 500watt lights. I driled the stands that the lights come with and screwed them to the ceiling joists. They give out a bright light and are adjustable on one axis.

 

[BSims66173]

KiotiDK35, Do you keep your shop heated? If not have you had any problems with the halide lights starting up when it's cold. Living in Alabama, winters are not to bad but we do have temps in the teens quite a bit. I am not planning on heating my whole shop, so startup is a major consideration for me. Thanks to everyone for their replys. As of right now I plan on going with four metal halides on two circuits and use quartz halogens for workstation lights with each having its own switch.