Affordable lighting solutions

[alexxxx89]

Hey all,

So Ive been working with a rep from a local electrical supply company to come up with a design for lighting my 2 car garage (20x20x8) with fixtures/bulbs specifically for detailing.

His first quote was 14 of these



priced at $234 a piece! I was floored. Then he worked with an engineer at the company and provided me with this



after explaining he switched to a three bulb fixture. These are priced at $260 each. Plus $4.15 per bulb (27 total)

I cannot possibly justify to my wife $2500 in lights before installation costs.

Now, I started looking into alternatives; portable shop lights among other things. I found a sweet 40W LED Oracle shop light that unfortunately I cannot find a distributor for.

However, my interest into LED lighting has been piqued. I started looking into LED fixtures, and turns out they are priced comparably to the halogen fixtures without the additional cost of bulbs and eventual HVAC and power costs.

These Commercial grade Pixi 1x4' LED Flatlight fixtures are where my plans are right now.





$189 each, 4000K, CRI: 83

I do not think I will be using 9 fixtures. I will probably do 4-6 on one side (whichever my shelving and supplies are) for the 12x20 feet of workspace. The other 8x20 is used for storage and does not warrant high speed lighting like this.

Suggestions?

 

[Stokdgs]

I always hang 14 - 4 foot - 2 tube T8 fixtures in a 2-car garage, hang them, wire them myself, run 2 new 20amp breakers for either the lights and equipment, or just the equipment..

I Buy the Lithonia lights and fixtures at Home Depot and think at best, it cost what - around $500 + USD..

I believe there are more efficient light fixtures out there as perhaps these you posted are, but Im not sure the huge amount of money is really going to get you that much more light... But if it does and it fits your budget, then go for it..

I have used portable LED lights in the Shop and the light is definitely different and makes paint look different as well... However, anything that can come close to sunlight but not that close and not over, I think would probably be ideal..

Anything else you can do to help distribute the light will be good before you start - painting the entire room white will help reflect the light for example.. Get the ceiling finished and painted white as well... This includes the back of your garage door/s which should be insulated too if possible...

And if you get to close up the ceiling, you should probably consider putting in a folding stairwell, put 5/8" - 3/4" Plywood on top of the Rafters, and set it up with electrical and lights, so you can enjoy the benefit of having a huge storage area up there.. Your better half will probably really like that to put all that stuff you need once a year and never, up there and out from inside the house, shed, storage unit, etc...

And if you are going to go that far, be sure to Insulate all walls especially the outside walls, run all kinds of extra wiring for electrical, Cat-5-6 wiring for Internet, and good 12awg wiring for your killer Stereo and TV combo someday...

If you are really interested in doing this with a lot of lights, then you need to plan on installing several long fixtures in the walls at a lower height so you can see the sides of the cars you are Detailing better, or do what most of do instead..

Get portable fixtures using halogen (hot temp output), or newer LED versions that of course put out so little heat if any... Or a combo of both types...

No matter how many lights go up high, you still need lights from the sides to really see what you are doing if you are going for really good clarity in your correction...

Good luck with this !
Dan F

 

[spcrhaviland]

Thanks Dan. I always appreciate your input. The walls and ceilings are all painted flat while. The door is white too. I am looking into rubber flooring panels, so hopefully I can find a light color. Also, sealing an insulating the walls are my first big project. I don't want to duct the joint, but I need ac in the swamp. I found a place rated portable ac at Home Depot for $400. It's a haier 12,000 btu cool and dehumidifier (100 pints/day) good for 500sq ft. I plan on routing the exhaust through the open cinderblock that all garages have down here.

I am looking forward to hanging and wiring my future light setup, even though I am a rookie and deathly terrified of getting electrocuted.

Also just realized my tapatalk and computer are logged into different accounts. Whoops.

 

[XxBoostinxX]

If it were me I would buy these: https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/93840/BSS-HB4T8.html. They are less then $60 a piece, t8's, and are mirrored to distribute more light. I'm sorry but local businesses are sometimes not the most affordable.


I just re-read your original quote. Those are for t5 fixtures. That is a significant price increase over t8's. To be honest, I would use t8. Mainly because t5 are so much more expensive and really aren't that much more energy efficient or brighter. Plus you will pay significantly more for t5 bulbs.

Here is a snip of an article regarding the two:
Do T5 and T8 Bulbs Cost The Same?
A standard 4 foot T8 lamp costs between $3.00 and $5.00, and a standard T5 lamp costs between $5.50 and $12.00. That is why you must carefully consider what is the best application so that you aren't spending 2x more than you have to.

The T5 does cost nearly 2x more, but that same margin cannot be applied to performance. The T5 does not outperform the T8 by the same margin. In fact, in many low level interior applications, the performance differences are negligible.

Both the T5 and T8 lamps have a general life expectancy of around 36,000 hrs. at 12 hrs. per day burn time. (http://www.hoveyelectric.com/hovey-...ow-Do-You-Know-If-You-Really-Need-T5-Lighting)

 

[XxBoostinxX]

Some other facts regarding t12, t8, and t5 bulbs:

T12 = old and inefficient
T8 = higher efficiency
T5 = highest

T8 = $3.00 - $5.00
T5 = $5.50 - $12.00

T8 = roughly 20% more expensive than T12
T5 = 2-3 times the cost of T8

Quality: CRI = Color Rendering Index
Quantity: LPW = Lumen's per Watt

CRI Levels:

T12=62 CRI

T8=85 CRI

T5=85 CRI

LPW Levels:

T12=78 LPW

T8=90 LPW

T5=99 LPW

(http://www.hoveyelectric.com/hovey-...12-As-Outdated-As-Your-Granparents-Bingo-Game)

So when you look at the LPW you are not really gaining much more light per bulb and you are paying 3 times more.

The biggest question is the price difference worth it to you? From your previous post concerning price, I'd say no. Go with t8's and save the rest for detailing stuff.

 

[adama31]

If it were me I would buy these: https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/93840/BSS-HB4T8.html. They are less then $60 a piece, t8's, and are mirrored to distribute more light. I'm sorry but local businesses are sometimes not the most affordable.

How do high bay fixtures differ? Does the manufacturer design the reflector with 20+ feet of distance below it in mind? With an 8 foot ceiling, getting a pretty wide spread of light seems important.

 

[XxBoostinxX]

How do high bay fixtures differ? Does the manufacturer design the reflector with 20+ feet of distance below it in mind? With an 8 foot ceiling, getting a pretty wide spread of light seems important.

Not exactly sure. One thing I have noticed is all high bays have a reflector in them to redistribute light. I'd like to think an 8 foot ceiling is high enough to use these. The manufacturer could possibly give you a definite answer.

Something else I would consider is angling a few fixtures down the side of the garage like Don recommended. Except I would use fluorescent fixtures and buy a husky led worklight. Something like this....

 

[XxBoostinxX]

I just bought a 4 lamp T8 high bay with bulbs for $45 from a local lighting shop today. I'll post some before and after photos for you to get an idea of it. My garage isn't very tall. I'd say maybe 8-9 foot tall.

 

[mnehls86]

That seems like a very good price.

 

[KillaCam]

Subscribed.

 

[Stokdgs]

Love that Fixture !!!! 4 feet with 4 tubes for 45$ - wow - really great deal !

When I had my shop in WA out of my 2-car garage, people used to drive by and say that it was bright enough in there to land aircraft from Sea-Tac airport...

You really cant have enough lights if you want to really see everything really good the first time around...

Let us know how that killer fixture works !
Thanks for posting it up -
Dan F

 

[XxBoostinxX]

That seems like a very good price.

It really was too good to pass up. Especially since the cheapest I can find it online is $57 without bulbs.

Love that Fixture !!!! 4 feet with 4 tubes for 45$ - wow - really great deal !

When I had my shop in WA out of my 2-car garage, people used to drive by and say that it was bright enough in there to land aircraft from Sea-Tac airport...

You really cant have enough lights if you want to really see everything really good the first time around...

Let us know how that killer fixture works !
Thanks for posting it up -
Dan F

Thanks Dan . I have been eyeing these for a while and when I heard the price I had to jump on it lol.

I'm right there with you on never having enough light. I am currently running six 2 lamp fixtures on both bays of my garage and constantly finding myself pulling out worklights when I go to polishing.

I already hooked up the fixture, and the photo doesn't do it justice! (Fyi, the height of my garage is right at 9 feet)

Before:

After:

I will be adding at least 3 more of these. I also plan on adding a rope to it so I can angle it towards my car while I polish.

 

[Stokdgs]

Wow ! Love the light fixture improvement !!! That looks great !!!

My idea is to get it as close to the Sunlight at noon, right overhead, in the garage...
Then, you can see about everything... And without the heat ...

Your Saleen S281 is absolutely Stunning !!!!
DanF

 

[XxBoostinxX]

Wow ! Love the light fixture improvement !!! That looks great !!!

My idea is to get it as close to the Sunlight at noon, right overhead, in the garage...
Then, you can see about everything... And without the heat ...

Your Saleen S281 is absolutely Stunning !!!!
DanF

Thanks bud. It really is going to make detailing sessions easier on me. I hate fighting work lights and cords! Lol

Heat definitely can be killer. Especially when you have two or three halogen lights blasting at you.

Thanks for the kind words Dan. The Saleen is always a work in progress . Hopefully I can get it polished up and re-coated one of these days.

 

[dblearon]

I have t5ho in my garage, 8 bulbs total (2 x 4), 12' ceilings. One is in the little nook and one is by the garage door motor. I have one more I need to put up just above the garage door frame. I put these in to replace two old t8 units that didn't give me the output I wanted when I moved in.

This is with the door open, thus blocking some of the light from the unit by the motor, with the door closed there is more spread.

Here is a picture of a corner area, looking at the ground (and some buckets) as you can see the light output is great.

Both these photos were taking before finishing the exposed walls, now that those are done the light reflects even more.

Here is the unit:

Hope this helps, if it's your own house and you're staying for a bit I think it's worth the investment in the t5ho. Tell your wife it is going to improve the home value....to other car guys that is.

Adding the third unit will really be the perfect set up as I am going to angle it slightly for a better throw.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Sleper]

The latest are LED florescent lights. They are the same size but have a bunch of little led in a row. They say one is brighter that 2 regular but I hear they are expensive

 

[Setec Astronomy]

To the OP, a couple of things I have learned about lighting--one is that those Lithonia fixtures can be very expensive to buy out in the wild. However if you can use what they sell at Home Depot, they are much cheaper due to whatever deal Lithonia has with them.

Those Pixi lights have a 50,000 hour life IIRC...after that you will be replacing the entire fixture (as I understand it), not a bulb.