Shop lighting Options

[LCHIEN]

My 22x22 garage shop with unfinished (no sheetrock) walls and ceiling...
I have 4 twin 48" T12 fixtures, and one more over a bench on the side, total of 5.

One fixture has gone bad, only one lamp lights, its not the lamp.

I still have 6 new T12 lamps, for spares.

Its Houston, the temperatures rarely go below freezing and I generally won't work in the shop if its that cold (much below about 40, anyways). So I know that the new T8 fixtures start at zero, mine buzz and complain for a while at cold but eventually warm up and work OK (buzz just a little) at my coldest working temperatures.

Plan A - cheapest: I'm contemplating replacing the bad fixture with a new T8 fixture and bulbs. Cost about $29 for fixture and lamps

Plan B: Or, maybe I should spend the bucks and replace all my fixtures? Cost: about $145 for five fixtures and lamps
Presuming the light output would be the same, but save 20% power I would go from 400W to 320W. Economically speaking this goes from 40 cents per day to 32 cents per 8-hour day at 12 cents per KWH, not much of a financial incentive, saving 8 cents per working day. And I would be throwing away a lot of good lights and new bulbs.

Plan C: My other thought is that by some standards my lighting is insufficient. I could install new fixtures in parallel with the old and see how much better it is. That would raise a days electricity cost from 40 cents to 72 cents-but i'd have twice as much light and when the old fixtures failed I could replace them as I saw fit at that time. Electricity cost aside, it would cost the same as plan B. If I worked one full day every weekend the extra electricity cost would only be about $15 bucks annually. $145 for the lights and new lamps.

Plan D: do plan C but only half way. replace the bad fixture and put in 2 more parallel fixtures just to see how it is... If I like it I could go to full plan C. Cost about $87.

What do you think?

[rcplaneguy]

Once you add more light, you will never want to go back. Go with the T8. The difference in start time and lack of buzzing and flicker is remarkable. For my 24x30 garage I have two 16' rows of two (16-48" tubes), and I wish I had more.

[woodturner]

My 22x22 garage shop with unfinished (no sheetrock) walls and ceiling...
I have 4 twin 48" T12 fixtures, and one more over a bench on the side, total of 5.
...

Why not install recessed fixtures between the rafters (because they are cheap - less than $10/fixture) and then use A10 base CFLs? With CFLs being nearly free or actually free, depending on the area and utility subsidies, this seems like a great option to me. More light, lower cost, no startup issues at all.

I'm planning to do this in my home shops, basement and garage.

[wardprobst]

I went with Plan B and got lower noise, better light and color matching and cooler running.
DP

[Tom Slick]

You could also retrofit T8 ballasts and bulbs into your existing fixtures as needed. I'll bet once you install the first T8 setup you'll want to replace the rest of the T12s for the reasons wardprobst mentioned.

[LCHIEN]

Even if it were possible to just swap ballasts, it Hardly seems that it would be economical choice over just buying new T8 fixtures. Repair parts usually cost more than half the replacement cost plus the labor would be extensive compared to just hanging new fixtures. Some of the old fixtures are electronic ballasts integrated intot he housing (not replaceable modules) so they can't even be replaced, probably.

I suspect also the sockets for the lamps need to be changed, both ends, four per fixture. In the end nothing is saved except the housing, a few pieces of wire, and the power cord, if it has one.

[Tom Slick]

Just the ballast has to be swapped, the tombstones are the same between T12 and T8.
$20 for a good ballast or $30 for a fixture with a cheap ballast. Depending on how your fixtures are mounted it can be easier to swap ballasts than install new fixtures.

I prefer 5000k bulbs for shop lighting.

[LCHIEN]

Just the ballast has to be swapped, the tombstones are the same between T12 and T8.
$20 for a good ballast or $30 for a fixture with a cheap ballast. Depending on how your fixtures are mounted it can be easier to swap ballasts than install new fixtures.

....

Really? I'll look into it.

OK, here's what I found: Fixtures with traditional magnetic ballasts can swap ballasts fairly easily as you say.
I have some (probably very cheap, about $10) shop lamps by Lights of America which have some unique circuitry with electro-magnetics in the end caps, but not a traditional ballast.
They take only T12s unlike later modelswith electronics ballasts they made that take either T8 or T12. So, its replacement time.

Should I totally avoid $18 dual lamp 48" T8 shop lights as too cheap/unreliable? How much for good ones? How can you tell so I just don't buy cheap ones that someone slapped a $40 price tag on? (Much better in my book to pay $18 for a product worth only $10 than to pay $40 for the same product worth only $10.)

[parnelli]

I prefer 5000k bulbs for shop lighting.

Just recently picked up some 5000k bulbs. Wow. What a difference!

It looked "weird" for the first day but now it's like working in daylight.

[Hellrazor]

I would retro the fixtures to t8 if you are happy with the fixtures. Make sure you buy a quality ballast.

I was buying 80-100 78108706912 Advance ICN-2P32-N ballasts at a time at work to retro troffer fixtures. Pay $225-250 installed to replace a fixture or pay for 2 ballasts & 4 bulbs for an in house project.

Amazon has them for $15.59 with prime. You can find them cheaper online but shipping costs will push the price up.

[LCHIEN]

they can't be converted, they don't have a normal ballast. They have a shallow wiring channel down the middle and some electronics and transformers in the ends which are about an inch thick integrated behind the "tombstones". They're really cheap fixtures. There's no place to put a ballast like I saw in the U-tube videos.

This would be ugly to try and convert.
The present fixture hang on chains, I can change them in 1 minute after I get the ladder set up. I'd have to take them down either way (swap or convert). Postmortem pictures below (click to view larger). The little electronic modules (3rd pic) are in the dead center of the fixture (first pic). The end caps have a choke and a capacitor (I think). Broke off the locking tabs (no screws) to get it apart so it probably won't stay together real well if I reassemble.

Yeah, CW, those are $8 or $10 Lights of America (LOA) fixtures model 8040 from the box stores a few years back. These only take T12 bulbs according to the CSA certificate online. Later versions model 8040xx 8045 and 8055 can take both T8 and T12 bulbs.

[cwsmith]

Your fixture looks a lot like the Lights America (Assembled in U.S.A.) fixtures that Walmart sells. Here in NY's southern tier those sell for about $10 a piece.

I had my 100 amp service ran out to my detached garage a little over a year ago and the electrician told me that I needed to put in "really good" T8 fixtures, as they were what was required for an unheated garage. Plainly, that simply was beyond my budget and certainly beyond my reasoning.

I installed the Walmart 2-bulb T-8 fixtures ($10 each), where I've plugged them into HF surge protector strips ($4 on sale). We're in the middle of the second winter now and those lights work flawlessly.

Primarily my choice for using them out there was that I've replaced all the old buzzing florescents in the basement (shop and laundry room) with those Walmart lights about five years ago. That's six fixtures in all. Admittedly, I did have one failure the first year because of a bad electronic ballast. But that was replaced under warranty.

I read somewhere that much of the failure of electronic ballasts are possible voltage surges. You may well know more than I about that. In any case, all these fixtures come with cord plugs, and I've wired outlets at every installation. So when and if a failure should occur, it's a simple matter of unplugging them, and unhooking the mounting chains (included) and I can swap out a fixture in about 15 minutes. Except for the one noted failure, that has not been necessary.

Happy New Year to everyone,

CWS

[LCHIEN]

...
I read somewhere that much of the failure of electronic ballasts are possible voltage surges. You may well know more than I about that. ...

Happy New Year to everyone,

CWS

CW, I'm going to mention this: if you have 6 fixtures in parallel, then they would have all have seen the same surges, So if they were surge sensitive then all 6 should have failed. I would chalk the failure up to marginal design or cheap components and workmanship leading to random failures. Looking at the LOA lamp I just dissected, its the cheapest, crappiest type of everything in that lamp bought from the lowest bidder in large quantities, I'm sure. Soldering and crimping is just plain ugly. How they can sell it for $10 (which means they must make it for less than $3) is amazes me.

If they have UL or other EC certification then they would have had to have passed surge testing (my stuff does) which verifies the design is adequate to withstand surges but the UL and EC certification just says it will not cause fires or electrocution hazards. To be sold it also has to pass RFI radiation and susceptability testing. But none of the required tests guaranteee a reliable design or workmanship! Or even that it works.

[woodturner]

Looking at the LOA lamp I just dissected, its the cheapest, crappiest type of everything in that lamp bought from the lowest bidder in large quantities, I'm sure. Soldering and crimping is just plain ugly. How they can sell it for $10 (which means they must make it for less than $3) is amazes me.

Says something about labor rates, too, when it's cheaper to hand stuff a through-hole board that machine assemble a surface mount board. I can't remember the last time I saw a board like the ones in your photo.

[Hellrazor]

Beware of what fixtures you buy. The box stores carry Lithonia lighting which is utter crap. I have those fixtures in a garage and every last one had the ballast fry within 2 years.

I have been buying SimKar wrap around and wire cage fixtures with some good luck at work. We were installing them in closets, storage areas, etc. Columbia lighting is my preference for commercial troffers for offices or hallways.