# Shop lighting recommendations



## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

Hi, I recently moved into a house that has a mostly unfinished basement which I will convert into a shop. I think I have most of my requirements figured out except for lighting. I have searched and read a lot and think that I will be best served by using T8s with 5000K tubes. The space has an 8' ceiling and measures about 19' by 27'. My thought is to install 6 4' double tube fixtures that will be in 3 rows of two with the outside rows 3' from the long side walls and 6' from each of the short walls. I will paint the walls a very light tan color to match the saw dust. 

My questions are: Will the proposed layout provide adequate lumens for aged eyes? I think I read that 100-150 lumens at the 3' work surface would be best. Is this reasonable/realistic? Should I go to a lighting store to have them determine what I need or can I get it from the borg? Any guidance will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!


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## Grumpymike (Jan 23, 2012)

Hi Art,
When I built my shop last year I was going to use the T8 fixtures and the electrician that did the hot hookup for me said that they were fazing out the T8's (the 1 inch tubes) and going to a T-4 tube.
After some research, I found that the smaller OD tubes still run at 5000K and use less power to provide the same amount of light. 
They work well for me.
The down side is that they are a bit more spendy right now with the prices falling, ... and a bit less power consumption? I'm all for that.


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## Blackie_ (Jul 10, 2011)

Art, I just replaced all of my Fluorescent lightning with LED lighting they come in different varieties you can buy them to fit your existing light boxes or you can install new light boxes they kind that clamp to Sheetrock are fine no need for studs, they are recessed lightning so there's nothing hanging from the ceiling, you get the 670 or higher brightness warm lighting you'll really like it, if you want to see what the look like you can look through my shop addition blog and you can get an idea.

LED lighting uses half the electricity that fluorescent lighting do and they last years longer


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## Grumpymike (Jan 23, 2012)

Good point Randy, When I did my shop the T-4's were $48.00 a piece and the LED's were well over $100.00.

I may replace mine some day but not this year.


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## Blackie_ (Jul 10, 2011)

LEDs have come way down now, you're looking at between $35.00 - $40.00 a pop now.

These are what I have in my shop, these are for cans.
http://t.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-5-in-and-6-in-2700K-White-LED-Recessed-Trim-with-90-CRI-CER6730AWH27/204726945/

These are for existing or for new light boxes 
http://t.homedepot.com/p/Halo-5-in-and-6-in-Matte-White-Recessed-LED-Surface-Disk-Light-80-CRI-3000K-SLD606830WHR/204732243?keyword=Sld606830whr

Both of these are what I am using just make sure they are 670 or 675 brightness.


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## Vest (Dec 15, 2013)

Art something for you to check on. Google search Big Ass Garage lights. They are the best you can get . 1 of these will put out more light than 4 of the regular shop lights, they last longer, and are cheaper to have on. They are kinda high but well worth the money.


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## Grumpymike (Jan 23, 2012)

Is that per tube ? or with the fixture and two tubes … mine are the four tube fixtures … lights me up pretty well.

I will go shopping this week and see what the prices are at BORG


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## Vest (Dec 15, 2013)

With the fixture and 2 bulbs. I had the old type that had 3 bulbs. Got 1 of these. Amazing. No comparison .


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## Heywood (Jun 8, 2014)

I will 2nd what vest has suggested. You might as well spend a few dollars more initially and pretty much be done forever. The LED is much easier on the eyes, nothing is as bright. I doubt you would ever replace a bulb. Much cheaper to run and no heat. Plus the fixture is really awesome.


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## Vest (Dec 15, 2013)

I plan on getting 3 more over the next couple years. Just can't do it all at once.


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## timbertailor (Jul 2, 2014)

Just some food for thought. It is not only the intensity of the light source, but also the color temperature, usually given in Kelvin. Now a lot of the reported color temperatures are pretty optimistic but they do give a decent indication of what kind of light they will put out. The lower the kelvin, the yellower the light is. The higher, the more white\blue spectrum becomes prevalent. It is something you really need to sort out for yourself because it can be really important when doing stain work, painting or anything color related.

So, yes, lumens is important but it should not the only consideration for some of us. Personally, I like the higher color temperatures for their whiter light.

P.S. LOTS of number games played in this area of lamp kelvin temperatures so take them with a grain of salt. One mfgs 10,000K is nothing like anothers so don't buy just on numbers. This is one of those things you may want to go see in person at a good light store to see what you are getting and compare.


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## TheFridge (May 1, 2014)

I'd go with 4000k. 5000k will have bright blue light. 4000k is as close to daylight as it gets. T8s aren't getting phased out, t12s are. T5s are nice but I wouldn't put them in a shop with a ceiling lower than 9'.

Edit: sorry, I wouldn't use T5ho. Regular T5s might be fine but I've never used them but have put up a hundred plus T5HO high bays and strips. The high bays are awesome. If you have a ceiling tall enough for HID highbays (HPS, Mercury vapor or metal halide) then converting to a T5 fixture will pay for itself.


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## Blackie_ (Jul 10, 2011)

After reading the others comments it was sorta of a lesson learned for me and after more research sounds like the 4000 - 5000K T-8's or T-5s are the way to go, I understand that the LED's run cooler, my shop has 8' ceilings, I don't remember which Fluorescent bulbs I was running in my fixtures and they did provide quite a bit of light but I had them all over the place hanging from the 8' ceiling they made the shop look very cluttered, they were dust collectors, plus they lowered my ceiling, I found that the universal LED kits that retro fit into the existing boxes were higher powered and produced 670 at 3000K which in my case were actually brighter then the Fluorescent's plus I have a much higher ceiling now without all the clutter and ugliness, four of the LEDS are 650s at 2700K which are new construction can trim kits the rest are the universal kits, I have a total of 13 lights and I've lost no quality in lighting and have gained in some areas and my shop looks much more attractive with the recessed lighting, it was a win - win for me and I doubt I'll ever have to replace them in my life time and the energy cost will be a savings.

Here are the before and after pictures in my blog.

Before

After


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## smokie (Dec 29, 2012)

Morning Art. I did a quick sketch of your basement. If I drew it right ,You will have 6' between each fixture a, 6' from each end wall and 3' from each side wall???
The 2 end walls I would see as concern. With a basement having no out side light, relying strictly on overhead lighting you may have shadows,dark areas. Especially if your bench is against one of the short end walls.
My garage is 11×26. I have a total of 6 4',2 tube fit. +2 windows. Not bad during the day, but just adequate at night.
Can you provide a separate clean circuit just for lighting. Up here we can load a circuit to 80% of its capacity.
15A circuit @80% = 12 amps. How many fixtures can you put on a 12 A circuit.
My walls and ceiling are flat white. The dust doesn't show to bad. 
All things said and done, at the very least I would add 1 more on each end sorta centre by centre. 
If you look in the SHOPS tab on the web site you might get some ideas. Hope it all works out .
Cheers.


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## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

I just installed 5 revamped fixtures and revamped another 4 fixtures, in my 13' x 19' shop.
It is a simple "rewiring", to remove/bypass the ballast, to use LED tube lights.
I also have replaced all CFL/incandescent bulbs with LEDs.

LED Tube Lights:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FILEG2E?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

LED Bulbs:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J9OP1NY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

The Home Depot has a less expensive A19 Bulb, made by Cree.
Cree is made in the good old US of A….
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cree-75W-Equivalent-Daylight-5000K-A19-Dimmable-LED-Light-Bulb-BA19-11050OMF-12DE26-1U100/204730892


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## Dark_Lightning (Nov 20, 2009)

> Just some food for thought. It is not only the intensity of the light source, but also the color temperature, usually given in Kelvin. Now a lot of the reported color temperatures are pretty optimistic but they do give a decent indication of what kind of light they will put out. The lower the kelvin, the yellower the light is. The higher, the more whitelue spectrum becomes prevalent. It is something you really need to sort out for yourself because it can be really important when doing stain work, painting or anything color related.
> 
> So, yes, lumens is important but it should not the only consideration for some of us. Personally, I like the higher color temperatures for their whiter light.
> 
> ...


Yes! If you stain under the color in the shop, it may look strange when illuminated in its final place. If you think that the end user has different lighting, it would be good to take a sample in that lighting for your use in the shop when staining or painting.


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## isotope (Dec 14, 2013)

Just want to mention another option for you. You can LED strip lighting that is very bright, runs on 120V directly and is quite inexpensive. The primary advantage of going this route is that you virtually eliminate shadows. I really like the one I installed in my basement. However, as mentioned, the hue of the light can be important in terms of picking finish colors.

.


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## Luthierman (Jun 4, 2015)

As already mentioned, you may have some dark spots or shadows. What I ended up doing is using large fixtures for most everything but would install lights above for certain tasks. Like my table saw or sharpening station gets a dedicated source of light. I say start with your idea and tweak it as needed once you're up and running.


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## Pezking7p (Nov 17, 2013)

I have 6 of those fixtures in my 15×20 shop and I wish I had 2-4 more fixtures. I would recommend at least two more fixtures, and mount them very close to the wall, within 2-3 feet.


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

I thank everyone for their thoughts and suggestions.

Mark, you are correct that I left too much space at the ends of the runs and the ends of the room would have been dark. I fixed that by adding 3 additional fixtures so I will have 3 rows of 3. Thank you!

Vest & Heywood, the Big Ass Garage lights look like they would be too bright because I would need 4 of them to avoid working in my own shadow and they would cause glare or I would need to wear sunglasses when working. 

Brad & Dark, I usually make finish samples so the client & I have a good idea what the final product will look like.

Blackie, you have done a great job with your shop expansion. Getting the fixtures out of the way really opens up your shop making it feel bigger than it is.

Fridge, I thought 5600K was noon day sun, but maybe that is where trying differing temperatures comes into play.

Mike, do you have a link to the fixtures you bought?

Again, my thanks to everyone.


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## DBordello (Jan 16, 2015)

Costco has Feit LED lights for ~$35. I installed 11 of these in my 25'x25' garage and love them. They throw plenty of light, and were easy to install.


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## JayT (May 6, 2012)

When considering light color, there are two factors. The color temp is one, the other is CRI (Color Rendering Index). A bulb with a higher CRI will give more true to life color, regardless of color temp. CRI is listed as a percentage of true color, so a bulb with a CRI of 87 shows color 87% accurate to what it would look like in daylight.

Current federal standards require higher CRI's on most fluorescent bulbs, so the color temp is less a factor on how fluorescents show color in an object than it was just a few years ago. Color temp does play a factor in how much strain is placed on the eyes and perceived light output. Soft white (2600-3000K) is easiest on the eyes and great for things like reading, cool white (3500-4100K) is what is usually used in office environments. It is great for task lighting, but can be a bit harsher on the eyes. Daylight (4500-6000K) is harshest on the eyes and can be difficult work in for extended periods, but will give the highest perceived light output. Because of how our eyes work, even if two bulbs have the exact same lumen output, the one that is higher on the Kelvin scale will be perceived to be brighter.

Summary: Color temp is what the bulb looks like, CRI tells how true to life the color of an object under that light will look.

LED vs fluorescent. There are pros and cons both ways. Yes, LED's use less energy, but at the current time they also don't produce quite as much light. In order to get the same light output as fluorescent, you end up needing more fixtures. LED's, to me, are best for three tasks:


cold areas-LED's work better in cold, whereas we are all familiar with flourescent "warm up" 
hard to change-the longer life makes it worth it to not have to get out a ladder or lift
places where the physical temperature is a concern-for instance I have LEDs in the task lights on my drill press, bench grinder and reloading bench so that if I accidentally touch the lamp I don't get burned.

At the present time, T8 fluorescent is still the most economical way to go for new installation when you consider all factors-price of fixtures & bulbs, light output per watt, options & availability of bulbs and light quality. I fully expect LED to overtake fluorescent in the near future (prob 3-5 years), but it's not there yet. They are, however, a great option where there is already an incandescent fixture and you are just replacing a bulb. I prefer LED's to CFL for that application.


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## Sawdust4Blood (Feb 16, 2010)

I also have a basement shop with 8' ceilings and did my shop lighting with LEDs. I'm very happy with the illumination that I get both in terms of intensity and color temp. One other advantage that I like about the LEDs is that my shop is pretty cool in the winter and I hated the way that flourescent lights came on dim and had to warm up before you got full brightness.


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## Woodbum (Jan 3, 2010)

I recently re-lamped my shop with 6500K daylight fluorescent tubes. These bulbs give me great bright light, and the color temp is for me, the best that I have used. I have had no problem working in this light environment, and have the 4' fixtures positioned so that there are minimal shadows. I also use task lighting at my drill press, lathe,
bandsaw, scroll saw and my two stationary sanders because even though my eyesight is still good, I like a LOT of light. I re-lamp my shop every two years and have been considering LEDs, but have yet to research them, and then bite the bullet. I just completed two construction projects for my Company, and I spec'd LEDs and the customers are very happy with them. I may have to suck it up and spend the dough before I retire.


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