Backing plate on flourescent light?

[Perferd]

Yes I did a search and yes I know there are 30849038409 threads on garage lighting but....

I am not asking you what lights I need or what you have. I just want to know if the backing plate is important or not...

Went to home depot today to research me some 4' flourescent shop lights. They have 2 different ones I like but I need some help on picking which one. One is $16 looks perfect but it doesnt really have a curved backing plate to I guess reflect the light downward. The bulbs are more or less just exposed if you know what I mean. The second one is $36 has a pull cord looks a little bit nicer and has a big backing plate that would reflect the light down...


My question is do I need to fork out the dough for the one thats twice as much cause of the backing plate or not?


My garage is 11'x20' and I will have 4 of these 4' flourescent lights hanging. Two will be in a row on one side and the other two in a row on the other side...


Thank you

Oh and the cheaper one can use T12's and T8's the expensive one only takes T8's. I plan on using T8 natural light flourescent bulbs but they do have some T8 daylight delux bulbs that I am trying to figure out the diff. I still dont know what the color temp numbers mean yet or the light output numbers mean as in high is better or low is better....

EDIT: Figured out What light output (lumens) CRI (color rendering index) and Color temp are...

Thanks again lol

[artm3]

what color is the ceiling? is is finished or open joists?
how far below it are they hung? or surface mounted?

if hung or not finished/painted white, I'd spring for the reflectors...