Adding to and upgrading shop lighting

Elcam84 · 06-22-19, 11:40 AM

Well have a new project in the shop and I am spending allot more time in the shop (66 mustang build) Torn down to the shell lots of welding etc...

I have Ok lighting in the shop. I have 5 8' t8 fixtures and 3 4't8 fixtures. I have more 4' fixtures to hook up still.

Right now My lighting circuit is pulling 5.4 amps which is lower than the calculated 7.3 ish assuming all were 32 watt bulbs. All lights have electronic ballasts. The 8' fixtures are about 10 years old maybe more and even though they are electronic ballasts they take forever to warm up to full brightness in anything under 80*.

My plan is to replace the 8' bulbs with direct wire bulbs if I can find a fair price on them. Usually the LED replacements for them cost as much as new fixtures or more. The 4' fixtures will get direct wire LED tubes as those are dirt cheap now.

I will be using 5k color bulbs if I can find ones that are actually 5K as most are usually closer to 4K. I am also adding around 4 fixtures that I already have and probably adding more fixtures later on. Will recoup the cost of switching everything over to LED... Not really but It's more of an upgrade of better color lighting and much more lighting and trying not to increase amp draw too much.

I will update whenever I make some progress. What I really need is an efficient air compressor as that's the big amp draw followed by the 2 ton window AC unit..

06-22-19, 11:40 AM	#1
Elcam84 Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: TX Posts: 275 Thanks: 2 Thanked 31 Times in 24 Posts	Adding to and upgrading shop lighting Well have a new project in the shop and I am spending allot more time in the shop (66 mustang build) Torn down to the shell lots of welding etc... I have Ok lighting in the shop. I have 5 8' t8 fixtures and 3 4't8 fixtures. I have more 4' fixtures to hook up still. Right now My lighting circuit is pulling 5.4 amps which is lower than the calculated 7.3 ish assuming all were 32 watt bulbs. All lights have electronic ballasts. The 8' fixtures are about 10 years old maybe more and even though they are electronic ballasts they take forever to warm up to full brightness in anything under 80*. My plan is to replace the 8' bulbs with direct wire bulbs if I can find a fair price on them. Usually the LED replacements for them cost as much as new fixtures or more. The 4' fixtures will get direct wire LED tubes as those are dirt cheap now. I will be using 5k color bulbs if I can find ones that are actually 5K as most are usually closer to 4K. I am also adding around 4 fixtures that I already have and probably adding more fixtures later on. Will recoup the cost of switching everything over to LED... Not really but It's more of an upgrade of better color lighting and much more lighting and trying not to increase amp draw too much. I will update whenever I make some progress. What I really need is an efficient air compressor as that's the big amp draw followed by the 2 ton window AC unit..