best style workshop lighting fixtures

[billfrommich]

I have decided to use 4 ft. fluorescent lighting fixtures for the basic lighting in my basement shop, which has an unfinished joist ceiling about 7ft above the floor. There are three basic fixture styles under consideration: 1. plain striplights with exposed bulbs. 2. "shoplight" type fixtures with exposed bulbs and a reflector. 3. enclosed fixtures with a reflector and wraparound plastic diffuser.
I am hoping to get somes opinions as to which works best in a woodshop environment. I am not so much concerned with their light output and distribution as I am with their functionality in a dusty workshop environment. Are any of the above fixtures particularily easier or more difficult to keep clean (remove dust from)? Would exposed bulbs at such a low height be prone to accidental breakage? Do the clear plastic protective tube covers really do much to protect the tubes from breakage, or just reduce the cleanup after a breakage? I am incilined towards the use of style 3 fixtures but am concerned about dust. Any advice on this matter would be much appreciated. Thanks and Happy New Year!

[Hellrazor]

I use the 4' t8 cold start fixtures with the wire cages on them.

http://contractorservices.homedepot.com/StoreProducts/ProductInfo.aspx?cid=853209&pid=3c7cf5e9-f35f-4601-95d8-569e1a62a74f

Model HBSL-25G
SKU 140870

[steve-norrell]

When we remodeled the contractor put in the four-foot fixtures with reflectors, but not diffusers. The ceiling is white and does provide some reflection of light. We thought we put in enough, but (as is almost always the case) we were wrong.

Since your ceiling is unfinished, the reflectors become somewhat more important and extra lights may be appropriate.

If I were to add any fixtures in my shop, they would be aim-able flood lights that I could focus on various work areas. You might find this more effective than additional flourescents.

Regards, Steve

[LinuxRandal]

The tubes add a very limited protection from breakage, but mostly easier (less dangerous) clean up.
The reflectors DO make a difference.
As to the diffuser, my brothers old house, they had enclosed the area with them and made a removable lens as a defuser (also easier to replace then the ones that come on the fixtures).

While the ones with reflectors give you more to dust (unless enclosed), the reflectors on some of them hang down equal/ or close to the depth of the bulbs (extra protection).

The biggest problem with low ceilings (6'), for me (5'10 before sneeze), is it limit the usable lumber indoors.

[Black wallnut]

FWIW aviod the cheap fixtures. I installed a bunch of them in my shop and the ballasts do not seem to last. It may be that my mounting method causes them to overheat.

[dkhoward]

I use the cold start fixtures with wire cages mentioned above. I got rained on by glass shards once to often. I also have several clamp on aimable desk style lamps that I move from tool to tool for job lighting. I use 250 watt clamp on halogen spots when I need a really intense light source (sanding, finishing, spraying). THese are my most expensive lights as they are sealed, explosion proof so I can use them in confined spaces if I am spraying laquer.

[Hellrazor]

FWIW aviod the cheap fixtures. I installed a bunch of them in my shop and the ballasts do not seem to last. It may be that my mounting method causes them to overheat.

I am willing to bet those recessed areas are the hottest part of your shop. How much air space do you have inbetween the top of the light and the ceiling? Most of those lights are not supposed to be flush mounted, they want a few inches of air space maintained.

[Jim Carson]

I too have a 7' open joist ceiling and went with the wraparound diffuser style. They have a lower profile so I didn't lose much head room screwing the fixtures directly to the joists.
They also seem to stay cleaner, as the dust doesn't settle on the lamps like my old open reflector style fixtures did, just on the tops of the fixtures. The protective sleeves only contain the broken glass, at least in my case the few times I forgot and turned a piece end for end.

[Parkingmeter]

One other thing to think about is using full spectrum fluorscent tubes with your new fixtures. For the shop, cool white bulbs really don't cut it, especially so in a basement shop, where you have no source of natural light. The full spectrum lights, at $7-$8 each, are three times the price of cool whites, but if you were to put full spectrum and cool white in fixtures next to another, you will see the very big difference and start replacing the cool white bulbs.

[rja]

I use ordinary 4 ft. florescent fixtures in my wood and blacksmith shops. However, for the fixture over the wood lathe I bought two clear plastic tubes that slip over the florescent tubes so in the event that a launch from the wood lathe shatters one or both of the tubes, the glass shards are contained in the plastic.