Tips On Shop Lighting

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member
I have a 30'X30'shop just finished and I need advice on how best to light the shop.It has 11'walls with 14' to the peak of the top,open ceiling.It has 2 south facing 10'X10'overhead doors,when sunny days and weather permitting,let in plenty of light to work by.As you know,not every day weather permits this and also I want to work at night,especially in the summer as it is hot as you know where here in Mississippi.

I was thinking of hanging a couple of fixtures from the roof ridge and use some fixtures I can hang on the walls that can be moved if needed.

I would appreciate if some of you could tell me your set up and how it works for you.

Thanks,Andy J
Small-aperture Air-Tight Non-IC Remodel Housing provides accent and task lighting for remodel applications and is ideal for those who do not have easy access above the ceiling. Use with a variety of trims and finishes to create different lighting effects or match any decor.

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/how-to-wire-a-shop.5/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/shop-lighting.1408/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/shop-ceiling-fans.4865/
grey-lithonia-lighting-strip-lights-1284grd-re-64_145.jpg

when I built my shop I installed 4ft long 4 bulb florescent fixtures about every 10 ft so on a 30x30 shop that would be about 4 fixtures arranged in a square or 9 arranged in three rows of three where each fixture was 10 foot from the next one and 10 ft from any wall or next to the wall and I put a motion sensor dual light about every 15 ft so in your case in the center of each wall at about 8 ft height

on my 80 ft x 36 ft shop is three rows of 7 fixtures or 21 lights on the ceiling and about 8 motion lights on the walls
black-defiant-flood-lights-df-5416-bk-a-64_145.jpg


the picture below was taken before the motion lights along the walls were installed,
and only the first of three rows of fans was
installed, there's a 60" fan next to each florescent light fixture

garage20.jpg

the combo of motion sensor lamps on walls and over head florescent fixtures makes the area easy to work in
 
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So when are you going to yank those electric guzzling florescent lights out of there are
replace them with LED ?
 
I have found that if you find old 4' florescent fixtures that have been discarded for bad ballasts " chinese junk " you can remove ballast and wire 110 direct with wire nuts and use straight line led tubes. Wiring diagram comes with each led bulb, very easy conversion. Here in St. louis 2 led tubes are cheaper than a cheap florescent fixture and will never have the ballast go bad and work in all temperatures.
 
I did the changeover in my shop I had 9 3 tube 4 foot fixtures in my 24 x 24 shop I replaced each fixture with 2 4 foot LED tubes eliminated the ballasts and now I have twice the light I wish I would have done this before I restored the vette
 
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