# shop lighting



## jrthekid (Nov 1, 2015)

I'm thinking of led soft white roll lighting in my 12×20 shop, 6' walls 8' peak 24"on center studs, For safety and being able to see what I'm working on, if any one has tryed this. would 1 line fron top of wall to peak down other side every other stud (5) do good or 2 lines, or would it be better in between every stud(10). or maybe just 4- 4' flors lights right down mid do just as well, also thinking or power bill and heat


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## TinWhiskers (Oct 17, 2015)

LEDs


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

A bit more information would be helpful on the shop itself. 6' walls with an 8' peak makes me think shed. A big shed, but a shed none the less.

Is the ceiling finished?

Those LED light rolls that I have seen anyway, don't cast useful light very far.

Having said that, I would not go 48" between light strips, but rather on 24", and paint the bottom of your roof / ceiling bright white to help act as a reflector.

I get the advantage of them though, trust me, low profile lighting especially given your low ceilings, and low power usage and heat output are certainly things to be desired.

Will be watching this, my eventual hoped for goal is a 12×24 shed / shop so that I can actually use my garage for something silly like, a garage…


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## builtinbkyn (Oct 29, 2015)

I put a few of these up and I can't say enough about them. They throw off plenty of light with a good color spectrum. They also can be linked in series - I think up to 9 fixtures. Each fixtures comes with a 14" link cable. Longer cables can also be purchased.


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## TinWhiskers (Oct 17, 2015)

At $40 those are a bit pricey. Got any used florescent fixtures? LED tubes can be had for $10. Check out 1000bulbls.com


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## HarveyM (Nov 11, 2012)

I recently went with Philips LED bulbs in their 4 foot fluorescent Intsafit style and the cheapest Lithonia Lighting T8 fluorescent shop light fixture. Total cost (US) $36 for 4200 lumens (claimed). It's not as nice as Bill's choice, but I'm happy with them. 
In contrast, superbrightleds claim their 197 inch (36 LEDs per foot) tape produces 3720 lumens at $105.


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## builtinbkyn (Oct 29, 2015)

I didn't have any T-8 fixtures or really and old fixtures to retrofit. Thought these were the best solution at a reasonable cost. No bulbs to purchase/replace either. I have 4 of them. Hung 3 and there's plenty of light. I held on the the 4th, not knowing where I'd not have enough light and would use it there. Can't say enough about them. Very bright, white light with instant on and no ballast buzzing. 










OK no comments on the curtains :O They were there when I got there. 



> At $40 those are a bit pricey. Got any used florescent fixtures? LED tubes can be had for $10. Check out 1000bulbls.com
> 
> - TinWhiskers


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## jrthekid (Nov 1, 2015)

dbhost yes it is a shed and the ceiling and walls are not finished all bare studs, I agree with you about painting for more reflection. sounds good thank you. TinWhiskers i came up with this after seeing on youtube (was that you?) they payed $40 and did 3 rows in rafters like i have and looked pretty bright, because of the low ceiling i shyed away from the florescent lights, because if i get dstracted and shing a long board and hit one i.ll be in a lot of bad stuff. i think there will be shadows also. buitinbkyn the lights you have are safer but still my be to low. i got the shed at a auction it was for storage so has wide doors and a small window on each side the back is very dark i'm putting a big window in there where i'll have me workbench, Thank you all for you input.


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## conifur (Apr 1, 2015)

I had twin tube 48" florescent and looked at the pricey led replacement tubes about 18 months ago, now the price may have come down from then, but lumens were 1/3 less on the leds then the fluorescent .
So I went with 250 watt equivalent CFLs $8.00 and a $8.00 Breeder lamp for the reflector and cord, x 6= $100 with sales tax.


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## builtinbkyn (Oct 29, 2015)

They can easily be surface mounted or just hang them from the ridge beam. The chains are 12" and can also be shortened if necessary. Put them end to end and you will probably have ample lighting. or run two rows across the rafters at 7' or so. They have a plastic diffuser and the risk of breaking it are minimal I would think.


> dbhost yes it is a shed and the ceiling and walls are not finished all bare studs, I agree with you about painting for more reflection. sounds good thank you. TinWhiskers i came up with this after seeing on youtube (was that you?) they payed $40 and did 3 rows in rafters like i have and looked pretty bright, because of the low ceiling i shyed away from the florescent lights, because if i get dstracted and shing a long board and hit one i.ll be in a lot of bad stuff. i think there will be shadows also. buitinbkyn the lights you have are safer but still my be to low. i got the shed at a auction it was for storage so has wide doors and a small window on each side the back is very dark i m putting a big window in there where i ll have me workbench, Thank you all for you input.
> 
> - jrthekid


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## splatman (Jul 27, 2014)

There's also the option of putting the lights in between the rafters. Fasten to the sheathing (Make sure your fasteners are no longer then your sheathing is thick!), or fasten to wood blocks construction-adhesived to the sheathing (prop with long sticks during the drying stage), to give more material for the fasteners to bite into, or mount to the rafters (improvise brackets), or to a rafter-mounted hinged board that lets you flip down the light to focus in a particular direction, or to a rafter- or sheathing-mounted board on a pivot that gives you up to 90 degrees rotation each way.


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