Workshop Lighting Questions

Might seem like an odd topic but it is my rocket workshop and I know there are a lot of smart people here. And maybe even a lighting expert.

I'm finishing off a workshop in my new house, in currently unfinished basement space. About 16' x 21' open floor space with some large storage closets already framed in. There are windows along one wall and outside access. Ceiling is about 10'.

Everything is cool except I'm not sure how to do the lighting. I'll have at least 16' of workbench surface on one end, a radial saw w/ workbench on another wall, plus table saw and other power tools on wheels on the floor. I can post a floorplan if that would help.

From what reading I have done I think I want about 75 candlepower at the workbench surfaces, and about 50 candlepower at working (tool or table) level elsewhere in the shop.

One contractor said he would put up 5 8' high power fixtures and I would have "plenty" of light. But I am also afraid of sunburn. Too little light would be just as bad as my eyes aren't as young as they used to be.

So the question is, how do I calculate proper lighting levels at my work surface or tool levels? And how do I determine type and optimal placement of lighting fixtures? I'm thinking of using some of those 2x4 4 tube T8 surface mount fixures for the main shop, and perhaps some lower hanging 2 tube T8 or T40 (I hear T8 is better) fixtures over the workbenches for additional lighting that I can also adjust up and down.

Any thoughts? :tomato:

I think your idea of some general lighting plus some task area lighting is in the right direction. Think about where you will be working, where you will be standing, where shadows will be cast (from you), and where you'd want the light. In my shop, I have 2 bulb shoplight fixtures over each workbench and the tablesaw, where illumination is critical, and then a few more scattered around to fill in the shadows and bring up the overall light level.

As I sit here in the office, looking at the ceiling which is at about 10 feet, I see 2X4 fixtures at 8 ft centers both side-to-side and end-to-end. It seems like plenty of light for general shop lighting. The addition of a few task area lights would be a good solution. For workbench lighting, put a single tube fluorescent parallel to the bench either above your line of sight or below it with a valance so that you aren't looking at the bulb.

I can't imagine getting sunburned by the amount of light in your shop, but I guess it is possible, so you'll have to answer that one yourself through research if no one else chimes in.

If you can afford it - put in more than you think is necessary. If too bright, just unplug a few lamps and you are okay. As a general rule of thumb, I have found that when building a shop (and I have built two), things seem to be way too bright in the beginning. But add some dust, a couple of machines and a truck load of the usual old junk that any shop hold after a while, you will be glad that you got plenty of light in there.

Remember to put in plenty of wall sockets! You will find that a good spotlight in the right place will do the trick!

I have a row of four 4' 2-bulb (32W T8) fixtures over a 20' line of workbenches, and I have 2 4-bulb fixtures in the middle of the room. The total area is 420 square feet, and it is very bright. The only areas that could use more light are the fiberglassing stand since it is farthest from any light fixture, and the soldering bench because you can ever have too much light for soldering.

I used T8 bulbs because they are instant-on, they last longer and are more efficient than T12, and since the ballasts are electronic not magnetic they don't hum or flicker. The fixtures do cost more, but if you can afford it, I highly recommend them.

I used this to get a rough idea of how much light I needed.
https://www.gelighting.com/na/busin...n_resources/tools_software/toolkit/layout.htm
I don't remember the number I used for footcandles. 4' T8 32W fluorescent tubes are about 3000 lumens. I think the calculator recommended 20 bulbs, but I went with 16 because there is one side of the room that I don't use.

I don't know squat about professional lighting design, so I turned over the placement and selection to my electrical contractor when we built our house in 2005-2006. My space is 15 x 26, only slightly smaller than yours, and I have a total of eight, four foot fixtures, each with two florescent tubes.

Here's a series of pictures of the "Mythical Field Rocket and Airplane Works, M. Bundick, Proprietor". Sorry for the mess, folks, but I've been doing a LOT of building the past two months!

And I thought my workshop was messy!

Ha! You should see mine! At least I am in good company. Well actually, check it out below. A few corners anyway. All temporary and only one electrical outlet in the whole room. Can't wait to finish it off.

Thanks for the input. I knew I was asking in the right place. It's all good information and helps to confirm what little I have already worked out. I like the idea of being able to take out a tube or two to adjust lighting. And I think I will stick with my plan to have workbench task lights that I can raise and lower a bit. I'll definately use the T8s even though they do cost more. Yeah, and a whole bunch of outlets fed from a new sub-panel is already on the plan. Even have outlets in the ceiling.

I'll post some pictures when the work is complete. Won't be until after the holidays though.

If you believe the GE calculator and input your 75 candle power requirement and 340 square feet, the calculator recommends 15 dual bulb fixtures if you use Ge 47869 – F32T8/CIN55 GE covRguard® Showbiz® Starcoat® T8 - Stage & Studio Lamps. This is a full spectrum lamp with a 5500K color temperature and a CRI = 96. They have a 20,000 lifetime as well. The bulbs are sold in boxes of 36, so you would have 6 spares. If you use the room 1000 hours a year, you shouldn't need to buy new bulbs for two decades.

https://genet.gelighting.com/LightP...scent_Straight Linear_T8&SearchFieldCode=null

If I really wanted this level of lighting, which is really bright, the above bulbs I recommend will illuminate the shop with a sun light equivalent spectrum, so the colors you see will be the same as you get outdoors in sunlight.

Put the fixture in 3 sets of 5 (20' long) with the middle string in the center of the room and the other two parallel space 5' apart. Wire each string with two separate switches: One turns on lights 1, 3 and 5, and the other lights 2 and 4. This will allow you to adjust the light levels to suit and minimize your operating costs.

Alternatively you can have 5 sets of 3 lamps separated by ~1 ft. (14') with each row spaced by about 4'. Similarly you may want to have multiple sets of switches to adjust the lighting level and reduce your electric bill. The power consumed will be about 1 KW. Over the life of the bulbs, you will be consuming ~20 MW-hr of electricity costing about $2500 at todays rates.

This is a much better solution than 5 high intensity lamps in terms of uniformity and operating costs, but probably more expensive to install.

Bob

I'm really cheap, I guess, when it came to lighting my workspace (which is considerably smaller than what you describe.)

Mine's in the basement, so unfinished ceiling (floor joists and stuff.) I got one of the 4' long, 2 bulb flourescent fixtures from Wal-Mart with a pull chain. Hang it from the rafters (so to speak) and plug it in. Great area light. Then I clipped a pair of those clip-on, plug-in shop lights from the cheap bin at the hardware store. You know, the ones with the stainless steel bowl type reflector and a scissor-type clamp. I put Halogen bulbs in them and mounted them over the bench for spot lighting. Works great for me!

Another thing you can do to make your light work better for yourself as well is to paint everything White. It really helps reflect the light in all directions and makes a big difference. If your really crazy to you can even paint the concrete floor White and believe it or not this works great, it reflects light and makes things much easier to find as well. In my main motorcycle repair shop now I painted the floor with white epoxy paint and besides the light advantage it's very easy to clean as well. I've dumped gas, oil, brake fluid ( very caustic) anti-freeze and even little bit of mercury from my carb sticks. Nothing soaks in to it and even the brake fluid didn't hurt it.

Yes, indeed. That's one of the reasons why I am finishing the space with drywall and all that. partly to look nice, but also to lighten up the room. The floor I am leaving bare for now, but eventually a light high-traffic type vinyl tile will be nice. Thanks for your comment!!

bobkrech said:

If you believe the GE calculator and input your 75 candle power requirement and 340 square feet, the calculator recommends 15 dual bulb fixtures if you use Ge 47869 – F32T8/CIN55 GE covRguard® Showbiz® Starcoat® T8 - Stage & Studio Lamps. This is a full spectrum lamp with a 5500K color temperature and a CRI = 96. They have a 20,000 lifetime as well. The bulbs are sold in boxes of 36, so you would have 6 spares. If you use the room 1000 hours a year, you shouldn't need to buy new bulbs for two decades.

https://genet.gelighting.com/LightP...scent_Straight Linear_T8&SearchFieldCode=null

If I really wanted this level of lighting, which is really bright, the above bulbs I recommend will illuminate the shop with a sun light equivalent spectrum, so the colors you see will be the same as you get outdoors in sunlight.

Put the fixture in 3 sets of 5 (20' long) with the middle string in the center of the room and the other two parallel space 5' apart. Wire each string with two separate switches: One turns on lights 1, 3 and 5, and the other lights 2 and 4. This will allow you to adjust the light levels to suit and minimize your operating costs.

Alternatively you can have 5 sets of 3 lamps separated by ~1 ft. (14') with each row spaced by about 4'. Similarly you may want to have multiple sets of switches to adjust the lighting level and reduce your electric bill. The power consumed will be about 1 KW. Over the life of the bulbs, you will be consuming ~20 MW-hr of electricity costing about $2500 at todays rates.

This is a much better solution than 5 high intensity lamps in terms of uniformity and operating costs, but probably more expensive to install.

Bob

Click to expand...

Those bulbs have about half the light output of regular T8 bulbs (Full-spectrum would be nice though). If you use standard bulbs (~3000 lumens, 30,000 hours), you will only need 8 2-bulb fixtures, and you will save almost $2000 in electricity over the life of the bulbs (30 years)

m85476585 said:

Those bulbs have about half the light output of regular T8 bulbs (Full-spectrum would be nice though). If you use standard bulbs (~3000 lumens, 30,000 hours), you will only need 8 2-bulb fixtures, and you will save almost $2000 in electricity over the life of the bulbs (30 years)

Click to expand...

Matt

My bad. You are absolutely correct about the lower lumens per watt for the full spectrum lamps. I really looked at the CRI and didn't notice that the lumens pe watt number was so low.

Reducing the number of fixtures from 15 to 8 really reduces the installed cost as well as the electric bill. Using a 4 x 2 array with 4 switches will also greatly decrease the operating costs if you don't need to light the whole shop to maximum intensity, and will really reduce the HVAC bills. Indeed the electric bill for running all the lamps (~512 watts) for 1000 hour a year is only $64 assuming a $0.125 KW-hr electric rate. Comparing this to 5 x 300 watt quartz halogen bulb that last ~2,000 hours tops is an eye opener.

To get the full advantage of the superior lighting obtained when you do it right I would suggest that folks actually order the appropriate bulbs instead of buying any old bulb. As can be seen by my mistake, you can get better lighting and reduced power consumption by doing that. The initial cost of the bulbs may be higher, but you are paying far more for electricity over the life of the bulb than you are for the bulbs themselves. I'd suggest selecting T8 bulbs in the 3000 lumen range with a CRI > 80 and possibly with a shatter proof coating if you are using uncovered fixtures.

Another place not to be overlooked is the ballasts for the fixtures. High efficiency electronic ballasts will significantly reduce electric bills over time and will priovide better lighting without flicker.

It's probably going to cost you about $1000 or slightly more if the lights are professionally installed, but the results will be worth it, and you won't have to do much of anything for the next 20 or 30 years.

Bob

We have been changing our shops over to LED's. If you can afford the higher cost I would go with LED.

I would vote for LED lighting as well. Half the price of fluorescents to run (I have just upgraded mine a little while back) for identical illumination.

Also not to be underestimated is the fact that the lights just come on when you hit the switch. No stuffing around with flickering while they get started. Bring your lighting into the 21st century

Post #14 looks like a spammer. Let's see, first post, check. Ten year old thread, check.