I'm constructing a new room in my barn for a nice woodworking bench area, and for smaller machines like cutoff saw, bandsaws, drill presses, etc.
I am strongly considering using a bunch of CFL bulbs rather than normal fluorescent fixtures. I've really gotten sick of trying to keep FL fixtures running. I'll turn the lights on one day, and one fixture is out. So, I begin the bulb swap game. Is it the bulb, or the ballast, or maybe the connector? I'm just sick of it.
With simple screw-in CFLs, if one burns out, you screw in another. Done. And they have gotten very cheap, and you can get pretty big ones now. I think an array of the 17watt ones will work great with a white ceiling.
I'm just wondering if many of you folks use these for your shop lighting.
I've not yet done the watts/lumen calc to compare CFL with tubular FL. But- the up front costs will be lower- I already have tons of screw-in sockets, so no fixtures to buy.
Another advantage I see of using screw-in bulbs is that when LED bulbs get cheaper, I could use them too.