[finster]

fellow electricians. I'm looking for recommendations on garage lighting. Said garage is used as a workshop and the owner is looking for something that will be plenty sufficient for seeing lines on a tape measure and grains of the wood, etc. The ceiling is about 11 feet off the ground. Currently he has 8' t12 with non electronic ballasts that struggle in the cold. He keeps it at about 45 degrees in the winter. Unless I see any suggestions as being better than tandem 4' t8 fixtures I will do that. There is already strut mounted where the old fixtures were so any recommendations for fixtures with high heat wouldn't be an issue. Thanks

 

[Bbsound]

I did a wood workshop for a retired hobbyist, but he had the lathe, planer, joiner, dust collection, the whole bit.
We installed 8' long T8 (4' tubes because 8' is stupid) fixtures end to end making a 16' long strip, and we mounted 4 rows of them in a 2car garage on 2 switches.
He also painted the ceiling and walls gloss white.
Ray Charles could have read a tape measure in that place.

 

[union347sparky]

45 degrees is warm enough for t-8. That's the route I'd go. The strip lights mentioned before is the right choice. Go with a higher output lamp. Advantage 850 by Phillips is a great lamp.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I use the 4' tandem 8' fixtures with T-8 bulbs often. They are well worth it IMO.

 

[BBQ]

45 degrees is warm enough for t-8. That's the route I'd go. The strip lights mentioned before is the right choice. Go with a higher output lamp. Advantage 850 by Phillips is a great lamp.

I agree but will add that some T8 Ballasts are rated for colder temps than others.

In my own garage I used ones rated for 45F and six out of eight of them gave up pretty early. I have since replaced them with lower temp rated ballasts. My garage is unheated and detached so it gets as cold as outside, in the teens at night is not odd.

 

[finster]

As far as the high output bulbs go, are you referring to the basic bi pin sockets or the high output sockets where the pin or pins are concealed and one end of the the fixture is spring loaded? Also as far as selecting a bulb, I'm assuming in fluorescent lighting higher wattage equals more lumens. Am I wrong? Enlighten me folks. I'm doing this job for a friend and want to make sure he gets the most suitable product for this application. Brighter is better. Thanks

 

[Service Call]

Make sure you get 6000k lamps. Or as close as possible.