Spicy

As cord mentioned regarding shadowing not budman, sorry trying to get out of the office.

WickedWon

Don't do the MH with that ceiling height, you're gonna need all the clearance you can get and the light is going to be to "hot".

bojoe2

all t8 ballast ar rated to 0 degrees that is standard f you want a fixture for colder temps they make a t-8 for -30 but very priceey. t-8 might be the way to go becouse of height. good luck

Wildfire

I took the cheap way out on my 36' x 40' - 12' sidewall by using 16 4' fixtures. These are the $8 kind that flicker in the cold, but eventually start. I figured if one ever goes bad, just unplug it and replace. Total cost with bulbs was much less than $150.

The industrial lighting company we use at work calculated 6 or 7 - 8', cold weather lamps at a total cost of nearly $450.

BTW, it was 30 in the shop when I got home and the lights were "on" in a minute or so.

Wardey

Metal Halide -

Very Hot. Do not re-light imediately after a power surge, etc. 11' ceiling I don't think you will get the light out of them. These lights are designed to be used in "High Bays". Bulbs/Ballsts are costly.

Flourescent -

Not as bright but run alot cooler. More evenly dispersed light. No problems with "black out / cool down periods", alot more cost effective, almost no heat.

I personally would go with the flourescents with a 0 degree ballast. Give me the square footage and i'll run a candle power estimate for you.

Dave Warden

deboatmon

Metal Halide all the way. Most Metal Halide fixtures can deliver 100-120 lumens per watt of electrical energy. The energy savings will be great and lamp life also. New lamps are relatively inexpensive and replacement is easy. There may be some buzz associated with these ballasts but in your environment that should be acceptable.

There are dimmable and electronic ballasts available that do away with both those concerns but yours are most likely magnetic ballasts.

Either way, Metal Halide is a great choice for extremely efficient, trouble free illumination. And, at the price you paid, it's a no-brainer.

Budman

I ran one of the MH fixtures last night for about an hour. Went up to it and laid my hand right on the ring that holds on the lens cover. It was warm, but not hot. Of course, the air temp was only in the 30's, so it might get hotter in the summer, but it didn't seem to be a problem. I'm sure the bulb inside gets much hotter. These lenses are supposed to contain any hot glass fragments if a bulb were to burst, so I would imagine that they are pretty substantial.

I think I'm going to go ahead and hang the metal halides along with flourescents. I will use them for supplemental light when I need it, or on cold nights when the flourescents don't work well. A friend of mine has come up with a bunch of new bulbs from a connection he has with the local power company, so at that price it is a no-brainer!

Thanks for all the advice.

Cord

He wasn't talking about a heat "hot'. What he meant was "hot" spots, or bright spots. When you shine a flashlight at the ground, the center bright spot (which is surrounded by a dimmer ring) is considered to be "hot". A even diffused light that will minimize shadows is what you desire for your shop. You don't want a light with "hot" spots.

Budman

As Homer would say, "Doh!"

Hopefully, having the flourescents mixed in will help to even things out. I don't see where I have anything to lose trying them. I can always pull them down and sell them for twice my investment if they don't work out.


Thanks for all the replies.

Cord

Exactly my feelings.