Shop Lighting Options

[Mr_Mac]

Has anyone here ever found a good, inexpensive (yeah, at times those terms are mutually exclusive, I know) shop lights that don't burn out the ballasts after a year or so? I have a pair of dual tube shop lights in there already but it just doesn't seem bright enough for these old eyes.

Recently I've been rethinking my lighting design and am now thinking of some inexpensive can lights filled with 100W equivalent CFL spots (up to six @ 23W is still cheaper than two 100W incandescent bulbs).

Has anyone else gone to this type of lighting and, if so, how did it work for you?

Mac

[vectorit]

Good question for me right now, since I have been trying to decide myself.

My garage is all finished out and painted, being painted white the walls and ceiling reflect the poor lighting I have currently pretty well. Though I'd like a nice ceiling of light fixtures, and to do a two tone paint scheme on the walls with a darker paint on the lower half to hide the dirt and a lighter one on the top half.

Had an electrician over to talk about this, since I thought flush mounted 4 tube florescent lighting fixtures would look good and not be in danger of getting smacked with something causing a mess of glass showering down on me. He hemmed and hawed at that idea, being that those light fixtures I wanted are more for a "suspended ceiling" rather than one that is sheet rock and beams.

He was trying to sell me on the canned lighting fixtures, but I am thinking they wouldn't provide the light I want and on top of that look kinda funny.

So I am curious myself as to what others would do!

[ETsC10]

Good question for me also.
I have a 14' height. The PO's placed 4' fixtures screwed to the walls, some hanging and incandescent
fixtures waaay up on the ceiling where I can't get to them. Spotty at best.

Subscribed..

[Mr_Mac]

Interesting point about finishing the walls. We just received some old kitchen cabinets (base cabinets only) that I'm going to install this weekend and we'll also finish out the walls but with plywood versus sheet rock so I can hang tools from the walls and not worry about finding a stud. We'll also paint it all a light color so as to reflect some of that light back into the room. I know that will help along with some sky lights and new windows for daytime ops.

[cdowns]

i have an oversized two car garage with 9' ceilings painted mostly white . for lights i've got ten industrial twin four foot flouresants spaced equally around the ceiling.. have had no problems with anything in ten years. theres a big difference in the quality of these fixtures over the rockbottom cheapos and a real saving in the long run

[red69ss]

cdowns is right there is a big difference in the quality of the 4 foot fixtures ,the new t8(I believe) small bulbs are much brighter I placed a good fixture with them over my work bench after one of the $6 cheapo fixtures ballast burnt out and its worked great for years.I have nine 8 foot flourescants in the rest of my shop and the lighting is adequate. but inexpensive is going to be hard to find.

[my67chevytruck]

I currently have two 8 foot fixtures with the T8 bulbs. I have a 16 x 32 garage and will probably add a couple more. They have been installed 3 years with no issues....

[truckdude239]

at work we have 8 foot lights witj the 5000k bulbs in it its 78 buxs for a box of bulbs but they are bright

[Mr_Mac]

That would be sweet if I had 277 volts coming in to the house!

[chickenwing]

I bought a pick-up load of 4 tube 4' t-8 fixtures salvage for $5 a piece. Bought GE ballasts on ebay for $14 ea. Not bad for a $60 fixture at the depot. I did kinda skimped on the ballast though, they are not residential rated so emit a lot of emf/p "noise". So I cant use my stereo. I'll live. Shoot, I still use CD's anyway. Least thats 2 steps up from 8-track!
You can take a flourescent fixture that is meant to be suspended and make it a troffer. Just cut out the drywall in the ceiling and box out the rafters with 2X. Run wire, re-skin the trough with drywall (if u prefer) and install the suspended light by screwing through the fixture into the 2X's that u installed.

Edit: So consider just replacing with quality ballast. If you want no radio noise ya gotta pop for a ballast that is rated "FCC Part 18 Class B". The Class A is what I have.

[mbgmike]

Lights you get what you pay for. I don't waste my time buying the shop lights any longer. They don't last. Even had one melt. We have commercial(true Commercial) lighting in 4ft and 8ft. I still have some of the cheap ones which have managed to hang on. some lasted only 2 years

[chipflyer]

8 years ago I bought the 8 foot florescent lights at Lowes with the cold weather ballast. Installed 5 fixtures with 10 bulbs and to this day I am still using the original bulbs. They don't buzz make noise or flicker in the cooler temps.
Spend a little more and you won't have to spend more over time.

Jeff

[chickenwing]

For those of you with higher ceiling heights... I used 1/2" conduit to drop my lights down to about 13'. Just used compression fittings through the knock-outs on the fixtures. I've got 2 lights in each 10'X18' bay. Wouldn't quite call it department store bright, but it's close. Oh, the GE ballast I bought are 0 degree starting temp. They dont flicker when its that cold but do take a few minutes to reach full brightness at lower temps.

[lilred67]

if you go with flourecent bulbs buy 8' HO commercial fixtures. they are around $50-60 each. if you go to a electrical supply house you might get a better deal. i have 8 of these fixtures in my 30'x40'x12' shop since 2002 and i have only had to replace 1/2 the bulbs and no ballast. as a electrician i have installed 100's of these fixtures and i feel the are the best shop light for the money.IMOP........rusty

[BarryB]

For guys with high ceilings I will suggest T5 bulbs. They are as bright has those metal halide lights, but only use half the electricity. I swapped out a bunch where I used to work. the ones I hung had 8 bulbs per 4' fixture.