Lighting the studio

[Pete VanderLaan]

We have finally closed in this building after 83 inches of snow so far this season. I have a pitched roof that is 18 feet at the ridge and it tapers down to 12 feet at the two lower pitches. The thing is built with four steel trusses spanning 36 feet and I am trying to figure out a decent way to light it. It is 40 feet long.

In the past, I have used fluorescents and they have never worked well. It just gets too hot up in the upper reaches of the span and according to the literature, fluorescents don't function well above about 110F. They failed quickly and the old studio felt more like a cave most of the time. At the same time, I don't want mercury vapor lights since I hate both the light and the pounding glare of the things. Incandescent seems to be really expensive with KWH rates here at 20.5KWH. I also think that lighting bonfires on the floor is out too. I am very open to suggestions.

[Rosanna Gusler]

wont your heat issues be less now that you are in yankee land? anyhow, i got hi intensity (performance?) or somesuch name flourescent fixtures and 110 watt bulbs in mine. love the light and they perform well in hot AND cold temps. the bulbs have ends that are different than most flourescents. anyhow home despot carries them. i just replaced my bulbs for the first time in 4 years. rosanna

[Doug Chaussee]

Pete,

We did go with the very narrow fluorescent bulb fixtures made by Ruud lighting here in town. We have measured temps of over 130 at ceiling level in the summer and have not replaced one single bulb in almost 3 years. The lighting in the studio is great with even distribution. I'll look for the info on the specs for the lights when I go down there later today after digging out from our 15" snow yesterday.

[Steve Stadelman]

I put t-5 fluorescents in my shop and love them as far as to how much light they put out, they are a tad expensive initially but have really low watt draws.

[Jeff Mentuck]

Could you hang the flourescents on chains so they are out the peak and down in a more temperate climate?

[Kenny Pieper]

Pete my hot shop portion of the studio is 40'x40' with 18 ' eve heights.I have six of the metal halide lights which I think is the same as Mercury and I don't find them offensive at all. They are 400watts each. I also have 9/ 5'x5' windows along the eaves on top that let out the hot air and light in. Its really quite pleasant. My 2 cents

[Eben Horton]

Originally posted by Jeff Mentuck
Could you hang the flourescents on chains so they are out the peak and down in a more temperate climate?

thats what i did and it works great. Also, if you hang one above your bench, it will help you see if your piece is off center
;)

[Brian Gingras]

same here....$9 lights from home depot, going on 4 years now...one blinks off occasionally.

[Wallace Venable]

I like old-fashioned 40 fluorescents in my shop area, but in my unheated non-glass shop they are had to start in winter. My new coil bulbs are also dim when starting with the house at about 55 F. Fluorescents seem to like to have the temperature above 60.

None of that should pose a problem while you are running a glass furnace, but if you shut down for cold work ....

[Brian Wong Shui]

How about Solatubes?

Solamaster (http://www.solatube.com/commercial/solamaster.php)

That way you don't have to run the lights all the time.

And High Bay Fluorescents on Chains when you do.

Lithonia Lighting High Bay (http://www.lithonia.com/products/groups/Fluorescent/I-Beam/default.asp)

The high bay fixtures are more optically efficient than the workshop lights that you can get from home depot.

Lighting uses more power than you think.

[Tom Fuhrman]

do as Steve suggested and get the new fixtures with the T-5 fluorescents with engineered reflectors. Fixtures and lamps are little pricey but they take small amounts of energy to run for the amount of light you get from them. You can get more light out of a 4 lamp fluorescent, about 175 watts than you get from a 400 watt metal halide fixture. The new electronic ballasts run much cooler as well. definitely check them out. They will pay for themselves in energy usage in a year or 2. There are couple of new auto repair shops in my area, 6 -8 bay, that have installed these and are very pleased with their operation and light output. With the cost of electricity up your way it will pay for itself rather quickly. they can be chain suspended or hung on conduit to whatever height you desire.

[Bruce Harris]

Originally posted by Brian Wong Shui
How about Solatubes?

Solamaster (http://www.solatube.com/commercial/solamaster.php)

That way you don't have to run the lights all the time.

And High Bay Fluorescents on Chains when you do.

Lithonia Lighting High Bay (http://www.lithonia.com/products/groups/Fluorescent/I-Beam/default.asp)

The high bay fixtures are more optically efficient than the workshop lights that you can get from home depot.

Lighting uses more power than you think.

We just installed 6 solatubes in a friend's windowless offices.
A painting contractor was running around the rooms trying to find the light switch to turn them off. They appear to be a bright light fixture!

[Steve Stadelman]

Plus the new electronic ballasts are not pickey at all as to what you feed them with. Anything from 110 to 277 volts without any adjustment at all.

[Marcel Braun]

I absolutely love my 400watt MH fixtures. The light is very clean and they seem to be lasting pretty good.

I got them from a recycle yard with bulbs and reflectors for 75 each.

Maybe a lot of energy but the light is the best I have ever had.

[Doug Sheridan]

Our shop is lit with rectangle skylights. When we put the new roof on the hot shop we installed as many as structurally possible and I can't say enough about their value. We never have shadows and fluorescents are there just for cloudy days and even then it's hard to tell that you've turned them on. I'm not a fan of the blue haze from them either. I've used the full spectrum fluorescent bulbs and they are nice because colors are unchanged, quite expensive though, but for the extra $200 to light the entire shop, you get four years of warm, not cold lighting.

[Pete VanderLaan]

well, here they would be cloudlights or snowlights or leaklights but not skylights. I can't take the roof off now. I agree that the blue tone from fluorescents is gross but I am not hot for metal halide either.

[Steve Stadelman]

Well, next sunday you can see my lights for a comparison.

[Pete VanderLaan]

and I am actually waiting to buy the lights until I do see yours.

(We're gonna party in Portland where it has rained for fourteen days in a row.)