Lighting for a basement workshop

[Estrogen Hostage]

I have a basmeent workshop. It's about 600-700 square feet, and mostly long but somewhat oddly shaped. Ceilings are 9' tall, but there is a TON of mechanical stuff in there. Fully half the ceiling is occupied with ductwork, beams, plumbing, vents, heater, etc. None of these things hang below 8'.

The original plan was to do can lights but now that I look at it I think the shadows are going to be terrible. At my last house I installed a bunch of ceramic fixtures and just had a ton of lights in there so it was bright and shadows were not a problem. What was a problem was breaking bulbs. Granted, that ceiling was 7' tall and the bulbs were like 6'6" off the ground.

I have a bunch of these in the barn and am considering hanging them from the ceiling:



I think I can get 8 of them installed in there, about 8' from each other. Maybe install a 36 watt LED in each so it's plenty bright.

What I can't decide is whether it would be better to install it high and possibly have shadows or drop it down to about 7'6" and be more likely to hit it with wood.

Florescent could work, but that would make the shadow problem worse, and some decent parts of the shop don't have enough open space on the ceiling for a 4' fixture.

[EricU]

I have fluorescent lights surface mounted on my 8' ceiling, and have never managed to hit them with a board. And I'm the type of person that hits things with boards. I think that 4' LED fixtures could probably take a hit pretty well. I keep looking for a reason to swap the current ones out, maybe when the ballasts go.

[Cooler]

EricU said:

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If the fixtures are free, then that alters the equation. Use bright LED bulbs (daylight balance) and go for it. Keep the lights close enough to get a good, bright light. If you run out of fixtures add the LED shoplights from Sam's Club (Lights America).

I have fluorescent lights surface mounted on my 8' ceiling, and have never managed to hit them with a board. And I'm the type of person that hits things with boards. I think that 4' LED fixtures could probably take a hit pretty well. I keep looking for a reason to swap the current ones out, maybe when the ballasts go.

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About 10 years ago I had three full banks of 4' two tube florescent fixtures installed in the basement. It is approaching daylight levels of light with T8s. If I were to do it today I would use the cheap LED shop lights that they sell in Sam's Club for $35.00. I bought one of them and the color is daylight, the light is not harsh at all and it is brighter than the T8s. (And they use less electricity.)

[daddo]

Although I succumbed to using two 4' fluorescent lights with 4 tubes each for serious work, I still prefer the warm glow of incandescent light in my old shop. I collect and use old table lamps for the most part, positioned in strategic locations combined with drop lamps, I get good lighting.
Last year I strung up a bunch of left over white Christmas lights around the perimeter of the shop for the joyous occasion. I found out they did a great job of illuminating the shadows- the lights remain.

But as I said, for serious lighting, the fluorescent lights flood the shop with bright shadowless lighting that is almost blinding.

[dg152]

I think the shadows will be too harsh if you use the fixtures that you provided an example of. At the very least I would get as many florescent light fixtures as I could afford/fit into the space. They will provide a nice even, soft light. If you've got the bucks, go to Sam's Club or on-line and get as many LED shop lights as you can afford. The light is bright, even and is daylight balanced.

[Estrogen Hostage]

dg152 said:

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I think the shadows will be too harsh if you use the fixtures that you provided an example of. At the very least I would get as many florescent light fixtures as I could afford/fit into the space. They will provide a nice even, soft light. If you've got the bucks, go to Sam's Club or on-line and get as many LED shop lights as you can afford. The light is bright, even and is daylight balanced.

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I might have to do a combination of the two if I go that route. I can only install flourescents on one side of the shop.

[Terry W]

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[/blockquote]

If I were to do it today I would use the cheap LED shop lights that they sell in Sam's Club for $35.00. I bought one of them and the color is daylight, the light is not harsh at all and it is brighter than the T8s. (And they use less electricity.)

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[/blockquote]

This. I just installed them in my shop and I couldn't be happier. Low power draw and tons of light with no harsh shadows.

[Cooler]

dg152 said:

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I think the shadows will be too harsh if you use the fixtures that you provided an example of. At the very least I would get as many florescent light fixtures as I could afford/fit into the space. They will provide a nice even, soft light. If you've got the bucks, go to Sam's Club or on-line and get as many LED shop lights as you can afford. The light is bright, even and is daylight balanced.

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The other advantages of the LEDs is the daylight versions represents finishing as it will appear in daylight. Very accurate.

And if you are one of the people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as SAD or "winter blues" the full spectrum of the LEDs will go far to eliminate that issue.

Of course T8s use less electricity than T12s and both are more efficient than incandescent bulbs. And the LEDs beat them all in efficiency (and put out very little heat).

[Axehandle]

I ended up with these for my garage.

Nice little cage over them that may or may not protect them. I think they would fill your application nicely.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Ligh...RD-RE/202968125

Got them on sale for 40 each.

[messmaker]

I saw 60 watt equivalent bulbs at Lowes for $1. I am not sure it would not be cheaper to just wire in a bunch of utility fixtures. If you need more light in a particular spot, use stronger bulb and or use a y(twin bulb) screw in adapter.