Workshop lighting

Status
Not open for further replies.

hymie123

Jim
Corporate Member
I've just about completed my pole building that will house my shop. The shop area is about 24' X 24' with several windows for natural lighting. I am wondering what would be the best lighting options and how many lights will I need to adequately light 600 SF?

Jim
 

Phil S

Phil Soper
Staff member
Corporate Member
First thing you need to do is talk to me. I just happen to have spare lights that need to go.. They are 3 tube t8 from a 1st class office, I think I have six or seven. PM me if you could make these gone this week, they are in downtown Raleigh. PM me. I forgot cost to a NCWW member is a cold beverage
 

Roy G

Roy
Senior User
Jim, those fluorescent lights will be good for general lighting, but you will probably want task lights at your bench and stationary tools, like a lathe. You will also need a strong light when you are finishing, to check for sanding scratches and finish coverage.

Roy G
 

merrill77

Master Scrap Maker
Chris
Jim - if you need more lights than Phil has available, I have several I will be happy to get rid of. I got them from Phil originally...probably a very similar 3xT8 unit. As it turns out, they're not going to fit in my space very well.
 

fulldec

Don
Corporate Member
Jim, Roy and Phil,

I am building a shop this Fall/Winter and will need lighting as well. If there is a surplus of fixtures, I could productively use them.

Thanks,

Don
 

Phil S

Phil Soper
Staff member
Corporate Member
Jim, Roy and Phil,

I am building a shop this Fall/Winter and will need lighting as well. If there is a surplus of fixtures, I could productively use them.

Thanks,

Don

I will put you on my list
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
My new shop will be 14x24 with a 8 foot or a little higher ceiling. Ceiling will be 5/8 fire rated drywall painted white. Walls will be 7/16 waferboard skim coated with joint compound and painted white. I told the electrician to wire me 4 lights, two at each end of the shop. I was planning double 4' flourescents in each spot but started thinking about using inexpensive round light fixtures that take 2 bulbs. With either CFL or LED bulbs they would looke better and be better protected but would they provide enough light? I guess I need to do the math. I probably ought to use the 8 tube florescent bulbs.
 

timf67

New User
Tim
I am in the process of building a 24'x24' shop and I had it wired for 8 fixtures. They will be techbrite model number is T844T81MRNQ0000. They are 8' fixtures with 4x4' T8 bulbs and a mirrored aluminum reflector. They will be equally spaced down the middle of each side/bay (think 2 car garage). They are actually being installed today. I'll post some pics if I get a chance.
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
My shop is ~14 x 22 and I have three of the 3xT-8 4-foot fixtures up so far with three more standing by till I get time to install them.

I believe when I get all 6 up the shop will be almost bright enough. Problem is I have a roll up door at one end and can't put any lights there.

8 fixtures in that space would be ideal, of course additional spot lighting is already there.
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
Calculating the lumens per square meter isn't very hard. Figuring out what is enough isn't so easy, however. If I use 8 23W CFLs (100W equivalent) in my little 14x24 shop, I get about 400 lumens/m2. That is a little less than recommended for an office (500) and well under what is recommended for a mechanical workshop (750). If I use 8 32W tubes (4 foot), I get almost 700 lumens/m2. It seems like office level lighting wouldn't really be that bad in my shop.

So just for grins, I calculated the lumens/m2 for our great room. It is a large high ceiling room with one chandeler in the center with 6 60W bulbs. I got 65 lumens/m2. Recommended normal house level is 250 lumens/m2. I've been thinking a fixture with 4 of the 32W CFLs might be enough in there but they aren't. I'm going to have to hang a couple more fixtures (joy of joys, it means working in the attic 16.5 feet off the floor below).

But back on my shop, do you guys happen to know the lumens/m2 for your setups?
 

Phil S

Phil Soper
Staff member
Corporate Member
Calculating the lumens per square meter isn't very hard. Figuring out what is enough isn't so easy, however. If I use 8 23W CFLs (100W equivalent) in my little 14x24 shop, I get about 400 lumens/m2. That is a little less than recommended for an office (500) and well under what is recommended for a mechanical workshop (750). If I use 8 32W tubes (4 foot), I get almost 700 lumens/m2. It seems like office level lighting wouldn't really be that bad in my shop.

So just for grins, I calculated the lumens/m2 for our great room. It is a large high ceiling room with one chandeler in the center with 6 60W bulbs. I got 65 lumens/m2. Recommended normal house level is 250 lumens/m2. I've been thinking a fixture with 4 of the 32W CFLs might be enough in there but they aren't. I'm going to have to hang a couple more fixtures (joy of joys, it means working in the attic 16.5 feet off the floor below).

But back on my shop, do you guys happen to know the lumens/m2 for your setups?

My shop can be fairly bright if I turn all the fixtures on high. 24 x 28 shop lit by 13 6 tube t5 high bay fixtures with HO lamps, each fixture puts out 30,000 lumens on high. Sure glad I switched them to allow low-medium-high and each of five rows are independent - but if I need a lot of light, I really have enough - I think that calculates to over 4000/m2
 

timf67

New User
Tim
The calculation isn't as easy as using the bulb lumen rating unfortunately, you also have to consider the efficiency of the fixture. My fixtures use 4, 3100 lumen t8 bulbs and even with a polished aluminum reflector, the fixture is only rated for 11,800 lumens (and that's assuming 100% lamp output which won't be the case as they age). So in my empty shop with equal light spacing and no obstructions like DC pipe, lumber racks, clamp racks etc I would be at about 1700 lumens/m2. I haven't seen them installed and lit yet, but I will let you know if it is too much light (though I'd rather have too much when working with power tools).
 

hymie123

Jim
Corporate Member
A huge Thank you to Phil S. and Chris. I have a nice set of lights to illuminate the shop. My next challenge is to get Duke Power to hurry up and run the power to the building.

Thanks again for all the advice!!

Jim
 

09woodie22

New User
Gabe
Getting a little "light-headed" reading all of this!!! Just a few thoughts -- my shop is similar sized and a contractor put in basic fluorescents for general lighting. In four areas I had him put in suspended halogens, and then add two "solar tubes" for solid sunlight in the shop. Very happy with the results after working two years in the shop with those arrangement. :eusa_danc
 

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
I have four fixtures up so far and they have made a world of difference. I have two more that need ballasts and then they will go in the back of the little shop.

image.jpg
With the lights off in bright daylight.


image.jpg
With all the lights on.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Premier Sponsor

Our Sponsors

LATEST FOR SALE LISTINGS

Top