Shop Lights

For area lighting, I installed a grid of porcelain utility fixtures on 4" hexagon boxes, approximately 3.5 feet on center. At first I used 60W-19 lamps (standard lightbulbs), then I replaced these with the "pigtail" florescent replacement bulbs and finally I replaced those with LED replacement lamps. I added 4' LED Shop lights (from Costco) to for task lighting above the machines and workbenches. These come wit plugs but you can either mount outlets on the ceiling or snip off the plug and wire them directly to a box. My electric bill is a third or less than what it was with the incandescent lamps.
 
My office was recently redone, upgrading from ancient (like 1970s!) T12 to T8. With four fixtures I had some time to chat with the electrician. I mentioned that I have a bunch of ballasts for T8s and the end connectors, but they were part of a custom fixture for a tradeshow display so there's no structure and I haven't found the time to make the new fixtures to make use of them and improve my shop lighting. His advice, even knowing that I already have like $100+ worth of ballasts, was to go LED because over a few years it will save me money.
 
It's all about lumens. According to McMaster Carr, 48 T12 lamps are typically 2500 lumens @ 40 watts; T8 lamps are typically 3000 lumens @ 34 watts; and T5 lamps (46") are typically 2900 lumens @ 28 watts or 4450 lumens @ 454 watts. Most of the LED replacements that I have seen are running between 1800 and 2200 lumens.

My shop has about 25,000 lumens illuminating a 150 sq. ft. area which works for these aging eyes. I don't think that I would want to reduce the light any though.
 
If using fluorescent, I prefer a 5000k lamp for shop work. White light, most versions have a good color rendering index (CRI).
 
Old post so I am sure the OP has made his decision, but maybe this will help the next guy.

Electronic ballast T8's are perfectly fine (and inexpensive) for most home shops. If you are running 12hours a day you might consider spending more on T5's, but they are pretty much on their way out already. (not a bad technology, but LED's have pushed them aside before they really got into mainstream production numbers) 4' tubes are preferred regardless of diameter, have best bulb selection and are easiest to handle and store regardless of your choice of fixture.

I've used T8's with LED drop-in tubes, and they are a good way to go. T8 fixture and ballast, LED T8 tubes. Couldn't be easier.

As for colour temperature, I highly recommend 4100K, with 5000K being a close second. 6500K and 3500K are too extreme (Blue/cool and red/warm light respectively) for most peoples tastes. A CRI of over 80 is recommended, the higher the better here. (CRI 100 means perfectly represented colours by that light, important for more than just the pretty stuff - the orange wire and the red wire will look EXACTLY the same under light with a low CRI)

One note, magnetic ballasts at 60Hz can have a strobe effect on machinery at certain speeds, not recommended in a machine shop as machines can appear still while actually running! Electronic ballasts resolve this issue.

And a bit of natural light is really desirable if you can add it. ;)
 
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