# shop lighting



## kbsparky (Sep 20, 2007)

6-bulb 54T5HO fixtures should do the trick.


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## jwjrw (Jan 14, 2010)

I would use the 4 bulb 8 ft t-8's you don't like. Best bang for the buck. It's a shop...who cares what the lights look like as long as you have good light?


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## ampman (Apr 2, 2009)

kbsparky said:


> 6-bulb 54T5HO fixtures should do the trick.


 i thought about these but how would you space them out


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## ampman (Apr 2, 2009)

jwjrw said:


> I would use the 4 bulb 8 ft t-8's you don't like. Best bang for the buck. It's a shop...who cares what the lights look like as long as you have good light?


 this is my own shop i have to make it look good


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## jwjrw (Jan 14, 2010)

ampman said:


> this is my own shop i have to make it look good



This is JMO.....T-8's look good to me. Great light and reasonable on price. I like the T-5's but IMO you need high ceilings or they are a waste of money. JMO...


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## ampman (Apr 2, 2009)

jwjrw said:


> This is JMO.....T-8's look good to me. Great light and reasonable on price. I like the T-5's but IMO you need high ceilings or they are a waste of money. JMO...


 how high it 15' already


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## jwjrw (Jan 14, 2010)

ampman said:


> how high it 15' already


15 is probably the minimum for sure. Usually 25 to 40 ft is the norm here.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

jwjrw said:


> 15 is probably the minimum for sure. Usually 25 to 40 ft is the norm here.


 
Yuo can get some descent parabolic reflectors to make 15' work for t5's. I'm a fan of (2) tube 8' t8's 6500 tubes


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## jwjrw (Jan 14, 2010)

mcclary's electrical said:


> Yuo can get some descent parabolic reflectors to make 15' work for t5's. I'm a fan of (2) tube 8' t8's 6500 tubes




Yea I'm sure you could. But for less than half the cost the T-8's with those 65k bulbs would be just as good. They work well in my shop anyway.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

jwjrw said:


> Yea I'm sure you could. But for less than half the cost the T-8's with those 65k bulbs would be just as good. They work well in my shop anyway.


 
AMen and that's why I don't install t5's unless spec'd. T8's are the best bang for the buck, as you said:thumbsup:


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## Ima Hack (Aug 31, 2009)

ampman said:


> i thought about these but how would you space them out


This program is free from Lithonia, it's called Visual Basic, simple to use.
http://www.visual-3d.com/Software/Basic/Default.aspx?SessionID=0



Cooper Lighting also has one that you don't have to download, you just go their website select a fixture, click on the IES file of the corresponding fixture then click on "Calculate selected files". It's very self explanitory.
http://www.metalux-lighting.com/com...me=Metalux&category=Industrials: MBF&id=14951


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## sparky970 (Mar 19, 2008)

kbsparky said:


> 6-bulb 54T5HO fixtures should do the trick.


That would be some spendy lighting.


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## Ima Hack (Aug 31, 2009)

I'm bored, snowed in today so I thought I'd show you this. 

This layout from Coopers site took about 5 minutes to do. This layout will give you about an average of 40 footcandles. Probably good enough for a shop, as a comparison your average office is about 50 + - footcandles.

I use this all the time for design builds.


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## kaboler (Dec 1, 2010)

I like Orion fixtures for shops. THey're high output flourescents made in the USA. They probably have a website.


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## backstay (Feb 3, 2011)

ampman said:


> ok so i have a new shop and i want to install lights. i have a 8' t8 that looks good but all i see latley is 8' with 4-4' t8 (dont like these) so i tried a 300 w cfl don't like it either,the shop area is 40x48 with 15' ceilings please help


Sure is a lot easier to handle and store the 4' bulb, that's what I push.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

backstay said:


> Sure is a lot easier to handle and store the 4' bulb, that's what I push.


 
not me. I hate 4' tubes. If I'm gonna put my name on it, 8' or nothing

























These babies are putting 65 FC at working height throuhout this factory wall to wall.


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

mcclary's electrical said:


> not me. I hate 4' tubes. If I'm gonna put my name on it, 8' or nothing


You are dinosaur.:laughing:

8's suck to handle and store, do your customers a favor use 4's.


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## Jlarson (Jun 28, 2009)

Eww 8 foot lamps. I personally find waving a 8 foot, mercury filled, glass tube around to be a bad idea.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

mcclary's electrical said:


> not me. I hate 4' tubes. If I'm gonna put my name on it, 8' or nothing
> 
> View attachment 5717
> 
> ...


 Looks good mcclary i like it...:thumbup:


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

BBQ said:


> You are dinosaur.:laughing:
> 
> 8's suck to handle and store, do your customers a favor use 4's.


 
(4) 4' T8's have less FC than (2) 8' t8's. I've mocked it up and checked it


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## Hairbone (Feb 16, 2011)

sparky970 said:


> That would be some spendy lighting.


We use the F-bay fixtures wherever we can and have done many projects with them. 

The boss has them in his shop Now that you point it out it is some spendy lighting


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

Rab has a really nice 6 light T-8 fixture for about $80 with lamps. No picture but its a Rab RB6T8. These would do a great job and look good.


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## backstay (Feb 3, 2011)

sbrn33 said:


> Rab has a really nice 6 light T-8 fixture for about $80 with lamps. No picture but its a Rab RB6T8. These would do a great job and look good.


My supplier's price is $110 w/out lamps


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## Missouri Bound (Aug 30, 2009)

4' T8's are the only way to go. The technology is superior because they are the most popular, and therefore have gotten the benefit of extended research. There are several fixture manufacturers that have reflectors designed for optimal light output at different ceiling heights. T 5's are also well researched, but as mentioned in other posts they are best used in 23' to 30' ceiling heights. All you need to do is determine how bright you want the shop, then calculate the quantity based on footcandle performance.


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## Electric_Light (Apr 6, 2010)

Why settle for 8? They do have F120T12/HO 135W 10ft for electric signs.


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## Ima Hack (Aug 31, 2009)

mcclary's electrical said:


> (4) 4' T8's have less FC than (2) 8' t8's. I've mocked it up and checked it


A big advantage of 4' vs. 8' is lamp life. 

I just looked through a Sylvania catalog and an FO96 XP is average rated life of 18,000 hrs @ 3hr start.
The same lamp in a 4' @ 3hr start is 36,000 hours.


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