I'm building a workshop outside of my house. Inside dimensions will be 14' x 24-30'(haven't decided yet). This will be a wood shop and I like it BRIGHT.

I'm wondering on the most energy efficient lighting setup. It's my understanding that standard fluorescent tubes use a ton of energy. Although, Home Depot has these (4) bulb T5 high output fixtures. Those bulbs produce an insane amount of light and if I read correctly, they use only 54 watts per bulb? That doesn't seem like much. I figure (4) 8 foot fixtures would do quite nicely.

On the other hand, I sort of hate these fixtures because it seems like the bulbs go out a lot. Then, I also saw LED tubes but they are about $100 each. I've thought of doing a bunch of cheap fixtures with LED flood lights in them as well.

I guess I'm just looking for some advice. It seems like energy efficient lighting is very expensive up front so if I'm going to drop some cash, I want to make sure I'm choosing wisely. Is it fair to say that you either pay up front and save later or go cheap up front and pay more all the time?

Thanks!

 

Good old T8 fixtures.
Less lumens than T5 but also less wattage, and cheaper bulbs and ballasts when they need to be replaced.
I'd pick up nine 4' two bulb fixtures, probably weatherproof to keep sawdust out, for 3 rows of 3 lights.
4100K tubes but that is my personal opinion, the 5000K and 6500K light offends me.

 

How high will the fixtures be?

 

The ceiling joists will be 9 feet up.

 

My garage is roughly 23 by 23 feet with a 9 foot high finished ceiling. I have installed five twin tube, eight foot, high output fluorescent fixtures using T-12 tubes. Since these are slated to be phased out I bought enough tubes for a complete change as well as a complete fixture in order to last to the end of my days. I have had these in place for a few years and as of yet have not had to change a tube. Last I checked these tubes and fixtures were still available at at least one of the big box mega-mart homecenters for a reasonable price. Reasonable when compared to the T-5 fixtures anyway.

Were I to do it over I might opt for four-foot fixtures as transporting the fixtures and tubes is easier as well as disposing of the old tubes.

 

I read your post wrong.
I will change my count of 9 fixtures to 6.

 

Your post sparked my curiosity, so I did a cost comparison of the T5 fixtures you cited to similar T8 and T12 fixtures. All are sold by Home Depot. I figured you wanted at least the 80,000 lumens that you would get from the T5 fixtures.

It surprised me how close the total cost of the three is over three years. But, the T5, at least based on my calculations, is slightly less expensive.

 

NICE CHART!

thanks all. I've got some considering to do. Funny no one seems to be a fan of LED.

 

The price of LED bulbs and tubes is dropping since the new energy efficiency has come into full force, but many of them are still expensive that the annual replacement cost plus operating cost make them more costly to own and operate than other light sources.

 

So the T5 high output bulbs would be best suited for a high ceiling? Is that accurate? Does it make sense the a T8 setup (do they come high output?) is the clear choice for my lighting?

 

It may. That can only be determined by comparing annualized replacement and consumption costs for the different tubes you're considering.

Some put out significantly more lumens than others. Google high output t8 lamps to find some to compare. To determine relative efficiency, calculate the lumens/watt for each. Annualized cost is cost x 1095 / life in hours.