Hi-bay lighting

[Philip Berman]

Home Depot has a 6-bulb fluorescent fixture which is labeled as 'hi-bay'. It uses regular 48" T-8 tubes, but has a mirror-like reflector. I was thinking of buying one to put directly over my main workbench which is sitting in the basement under an 8' ceiling. Is there any reason not to install it in a regular 8-foot ceiling application? Seems to me that the light output would make simple work of seeing a scratched-in line and otherwise doing very delicate work such as fitting joints. OTOH, I don't want to have to put on SPF45 just to work in the shop. Thoughts? Has anyone actually done this? Seems like a cheap way of getting a lot of light concentrated in one area. Is it possible that this will be too bright?

Thanks,

Philip

[Dave Gaul]

I'm thinking this might be too much light for what you are proposing, well, maybe not too much, but much more than what you'll need IYAM. I'm thinking a two buld fixture would be plenty for a over-the-bench light... IMHO...

[Matt Meiser]

High bay lighting is intended for really high ceilings--20' or so. When I bought my place there were 4 high bay HPS fixtures installed from the 12' ceilings. The previous owner took off the reflectors, because with them there were 4 cones of light in there. Even without, the lighting was really wierd and kind of disorienting. NOT something you want in your shop!

I had a local lighting shop design my shop lighting using commercial grade fixtures and while expensive, I have no regrets and no service issues at about 7 years. It is getting to be about time to relamp which will be a couple hundred bucks.

On the other hand, we installed some Big Box fixtures in our basement and 2 are dead and lamps don't last as long.

[Lee Schierer]

Hi Bay lights are generally designed to be installed at 15-30 feet above te floor. You'll likely need sunglasses if you mount it 6' above your work bench.

[Dave Houseal]

I went cheap but effective on my lighting....CFLs in a porcelain single bulb fixtures. At about $5 per fixture including bulbs I mounted 12 in my 24x24 shop. It is very well lit and quite efficient too.

Unless you're planning on getting special bulbs so you get true color at your workbench, I think you'd be quite happy and have some extra cash in your pocket if you mounted up 2 single bulbs with CFLs.

[Philip Berman]

with 6500K lamps. Perhaps I just need to adjust its location, cause I still have problems seeing some lines as well as seeing into mortises.

Thanks for all the input and in saving me some $$.

Philip

[Don Jarvie]

More lighting thoughout the shop will help just as much or maybe get a dentist light so you can pull down the arms and focus where need be.

I have 10 - T8s in a 20X20 shop and they provide plently of light and my eyes aren't the best. The lights are evenly spread out.

[Johnnyy Johnson]

My workshop is 14'X40'. The ceiling is A frame and at the top is maybe 10'. I have 10 4' lamps down the center. The way I have it wired is, flip one switch and 2 of the bulbs out of 4 per fixture come on. Flip next switch and all lamps come on. They are T-5 with electronic ballast. I like them better than T-12 or T-8, because they are brighter. They are HO