New shop lighting

[John A. Scott]

I'm finally going to build my own shop, rather that using the local Art Center's woodshop. The existing 2 car garage (vintage 1920, in need of major repairs) will be replaced with a 2 1/2 stall garage with an attached 18'x24' shop. The shop will have a cathedral ceiling sheathed with drywall, and the attic over the garage will be accessed from the shop and used for wood/junk storage. I'm just in the early planning stage and I'm sure I'll have many questions as work progresses. Here's the first: Would recessed, enclosed fluorescents in the ceiling be preferable to hanging fixtures. Although the light would not be direct and changing bulbs would be a pain, if they were recessed they wouldn't be dust collectors and the inevitable buzzing would be dampened. Here's some preliminary drawings, any thoughts? Thanks.
Elevation 2.jpg
Floorplan 2.jpg

[Jim Becker]

Considering that modern fluorescent fixtures don't need a huge amount of maintenance, I see no real issue with using recessed fixtures. It makes for less places for fine dust to settle, too. Be sure to use T8 fixtures (not the older T12) and a higher color temp...even daylight...bulbs for good color rendition. I've been considering moving to recessed myself when I eventually put in a "real" ceiling to my shop...someday.

[Ben Cadotte]

Couple of points from me.

I have the new cheap electronic ballast 4' lights and there is no buzzing at all ($9 a fixture from HD).

I also have recently installed can lights in my kitchen. At first I was hesitant about installing them as I wanted to use CFL's in them (look bad). But I found some CFL's in the flood light shape. I have 6 for a 16 x 14 area. I was a little worried that I would need more. But the coverage worked out great. The entire area is nice and bright (even with CFL's).

As for your new shop I have a question. I think can lights would work fine at an angle in the ceiling (need to be sealed units since insul would be around them). I would go with maybe 9 to 12 lights though (using CFL's less with regular flood bulbs). I like my shop bright. You can get reflective baffle rings and even get the ones that can be aimed. And just aim them down.

But also you will need some colar ties for your rafters. At a min 8' but your area may need to be every 4'. You could mount regular 4' or 8' fixtures to the colar ties.

Congrats on the new shop.

[Mike SoRelle]

I'm not sure there would be a big difference other than the dust issue, I'm using hanging lights just because the ceiling was already finished and I didn't want to mess with installing any trays, but great advice on the use of high color temp bulbs, I've got a bunch of T8 fixtures running with 6500K daylight bulbs and it's really nice to have the accurate colors, the only problem I've had is when I open the door from the house to the garage and see the light coming around the corner (there's a short hallway into the house) I often wonder if I left the outside door open because it's that realistic.

Good quality electronic ballasts shouldn't have much buzzing or induce any flickering, I used to have problems with that until I quit buying the cheapest fixtures I could find and went with lower level commercial fixtures.

Mike

[Jim Becker]

One other reason for using high quality fixtures is so that they come on when it's cold in the shop...most of the inexpensive fixtures don't work well at low temps and since the plan shows a wood stove, "cold" could be part of the environment. (The OP's profile doesn't show a geographic location.

[Bryan Rocker]

When I did an update to my kitchen, it had standard recessed cans with floods. I replaced the 5 floods with 4 CFL floods and have MUCH better lighting. Yes they take a few seconds to get up to full brightness but they reduce heat significantly and save energy. ON an a sorta related note I am doing a term paper on work shop lighting for my human factors graduate class......

[Craig Summers]

I added the hanging electronic (cold rated) flourescents from the Borg. I remember paying $20 each last year, and put in 5 of them for a 20x24 garage

Also, remember to paint your walls/ceilings a light color. When i bought the house, the floor, walls, and ceiling were a nice dark battleship gray/blue, and 4 bare incandescent bulbs barely lit the path at night. I painted the ceilings and walls with a stain hiding (Kilz) white primer.

[Jack Lindsey]

A standard enclosed troffer will actually be more of a dust collector than a suspended, ventilated industrial or a strip, and are much harder to clean. If you really want to use a troffer special gasketed fixtures are available but they are quite pricey.

[John Keeton]

Get the high output fixtures if available in the style you end up with. The extra light is much needed, and doesn't cost much more. I used hanging 8' strips, T8, high output. Don't recall the cost, but the available light was nearly blinding compared to my previous shop.

[Bob Herpolsheimer]

John,

I would stay with an open fixture (easier to clean) but John Keeton is correct. Get a a high output fixture. If you get one with a ballast that has a high ballast factor you can get a T8 lamp that will produce about 95 lumens per watt. The other good thing is that reduction of light over the life of the lamp is minimal. At 8000 hours you still will get about 95% of the original light output. There are sevaral companies out there that produce these fixtrues with a wide price spread. Get away from the Borg and talk to someone that specializes in fixtures. They can help you get the most out of a fixture as well color light that best works for your application.

Bob

[John A. Scott]

Thanks to all for your help and suggestions. Looks like I'll flush mount enclosed T8, high color temp, high output fixtures. The older I get, the dimmer the lights seem to be. I hope to have enough light to divert traffic from Indianapolis International in poor weather

[Ray Phillips]

I used the high output flourescent fixutures from Lowes when I built my house and shop in 2002. The high output lights are great for my old eyes. I have not had to change a bulb so far and they are now 6 years old.

[John Keeton]

Ray

That is where I got my fixtures and bulbs. Built the shop in early 2004 and no replacements yet! And, the extra light is fantastic. At 59, I need all the light I can get. It is funny though to watch my 36 year old son walk in the shop and squint his eyes from the brightness! Those light cones in the eyes start dyin' off pretty quick!

[Peter Quadarella]

Yes, you will love those things. I added 4 double fixtures last year and put 2 4' T8s in them, they are great. And I cannot detect any buzzing either.

[Victor Stearns]

As you are still in the planing stage, find an good electrical/lighting supplier. Give them a copy of the floor plan and they usually will quote you the proper lighting and the correct number of lights. We installed 8' flush mount floursent lights. For a 26x32 shop we installed 6 units. I think that since installation I have replaced on 2 bulbs, mostly due to some board finding it's way to the light.
Good Luck, nothing like a good shop building project to keep one busy.
Victor