workshop lighting

[leverb01507]

What lighting do you use in your workshop. I was thinking of having four 4' strip lights evenly spaced with a couple of extra pendants hanging over my bench and machines or maybe spot lights. The shop is about 10' x 20', does this sound about right as i spend most time in my shop of an evening.

 

[shipbadger]

You've probably got it covered when you say individual lights for machines but it's worth reminding folk that flourescent lights shouldn't be used over rotating machines such as lathes as they can make the machine appear stationary at certain revs.

Tony Comber

 

[OPJ]

I think four sounds good for that size of workshop. Depending on your roof or what you'll be fixing them to, if at all possible, orient them so that they're parallel to the longer walls and length of the workshop. I think that would work best.

If you wanted to work at one of the narrower ends walls, you could always add extra lights later.

 

[Boz62]

I've got two 5ft 58W HF single tube fluorescents in my 10' x 8' workshop so you should be fine doubling that up for twice the size. That is with white painted walls and ceiling however - makes all the difference! As long as the fluorescents are HF (or "electronic ballast") then the freezing rotating things bit does not apply.

Boz

 

[flying haggis]

If you search this forum for lighting there are numerous threads regarding the subject, but a general good idea that crops up it to use 'daylight' tubes ie

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/LAFL58DL.html

and they are not too expensive either

 

[matt]

My lighting consists of whatever I could get on Freecycle at the time. Surprising how many flourescent lights and bulbs were available - I even have a spare light and bulb.

 

[9fingers]

You've probably got it covered when you say individual lights for machines but it's worth reminding folk that flourescent lights shouldn't be used over rotating machines such as lathes as they can make the machine appear stationary at certain revs.

Tony Comber

Modern fluorescent fittings run between 100 and 150kHz so the strobe problem is no longer an issue.

Bob

 

[Jake]

Re daylight tubes, to rehash a couple of posts from over there to save me typing it all again:

[post 1]

The brain/eye interface is interesting re colour temperature, the brain adjusts its perceptions according to light levels. There's a scientific name for the 'curve' but I can't remember what it is. Anyway, having just installed a bunch of dimmable fluos, including a set with a 'cool' and a 'warm' channel, to mix colour temps as well as light levels, I can confirm that it is definitely the case. The higher the light levels, the more 'cool' the colour temp has to be for the light to seem neutral.

Anyway, this basically means that in order for daylight colour temperature to look neutral (rather than very cold and blue), you have to get the light levels up to daylight levels. This basically would mean covering every inch of the ceiling in tubes and using a small power station to fire them up. Just to finish things off, daylight tubes are also much less efficient than tubes with a more normal colour temperature.

I don't know what you were comparing them with, ie what you had before, but a possible reason they may seem much better is that compared to old fashioned tubes, modern tri-phosphor tubes have much better colour rendition (i.e. a more even spectrum). This makes them much easier on the eye, and more accurate at rendering colour. Tri-phosphor is definitely a good thing.

I wouldn't go above a colour temp of 3500 (standard office quite cool white) or 4000 at a push. You need a lot of light to make 4000 look neutral.

Honestly, buy some good tri-phosphor 3500 tubes and swap them over, I'll bet you it will be more pleasant to work in (and the colour rendition will be just as good).

[post 2]

... there is no demand for daylight tubes, because no sane lighting designer will use them except for very limited special purposes. They sound like a good thing - daylight must be good - but that's an enticing fallacy.

Honestly, what you like about them will be the high CRI compared to old fashioned single phosphor tubes, not the colour temp which is way too cold.

HF fittings good, triphosphor tubes good, but colour temp needs to be matched to your lux levels. The brain is a finely tuned thing and adjusts its perception of colour to match light levels - it is adapted to brighter, colder, bluer (higher colour temperature) light at midday, and dimmer, warmer, yellower (lower colour temperature) light at either end of the day. If you have a dimmer high colour temperature light, the brain will see it (and the stuff it is illuminating) as colder and bluer than it would do under the colour temperature it is evolved to expect to receive from the sun at the level of illumination you are achieving http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruithof_curve

Remember that feeling you get from going from somewhere shaded into mid-day sun in the summer, when your eyes have to squint while getting used to the light levels? That's the sort of level of luminance you have to achieve to make a daylight tube the right choice of colour temperature. In the real world, that isn't going to happen.

High frequency electronic switchgear is important (and you need to look, old fashioned stuff is still about), and so is a good quality tri-phosphor tube as they have a much better CRI and give a much more pleasant light than the fluo lights of old. Definitely go for a 3000k-3500k colour temperature.