Fluorescent and incandescent lighting.

B

BobD

New member
Has anyone done this in their garage?.....I'm getting ready to start adding lights in the garage and I'm thinking of doing 50/50 fluorescent and incandescent lighting. There are a couple of reasons for me to want to do this.

1. I'd have them on separate switches and if I was detailing I's probably use the incandescents to show more.

2. When I'm just messing in the garage I'd use the fluorescents to save energy.

3. In the winter, until I get heat, I'd use the incandescents since the fluorescents usually take a while to warm up to full light output.



Any thoughts?
 
Good question...coming from someone who has a love/hate relationship with Compact Fluorescent bulbs (love them for the long life/low energy in apps where you leave them on for a long time; hate them for closets/stairways that you turn on only briefly and you want full light output right now), that seems like a lot of work. I have just the usually located bare incandescent...if I upgraded to a bunch of flourescent fixtures, I'd probably leave them there, but that's not 50/50. If you get the low temp fluorescent, that will light in low temps, what do you think the warmup is, and would you really need full light output within a few minutes of starting?



I'm thinking you might have a lot of fixtures for a detailing garage, and the low initial output might still be pretty good. The point about incandescent being better for swirl spotting is a salient one, tho.
 
I should also mention I'm not thinking about the tube fluorescents. I'm thinking the screw in compact kind. The tube fixtures will for sure take forever to warm up and I always have troubles with the ballast and stuff. The screw in types I can do a ton for less money.
 
Yikes...a forest of CF's? I think those will take as long to warm up as tube-type. I know there are special fixtures for low temp, but I'm having trouble finding what the specific difference is right now...I think it's the ballast. Same goes for the CF's, only some of them are rated for outdoor (temperature) use.
 
That's why I'd use the incandescents when it's cold. ;)



I was reading on a garage forum that a lot of guys are using canister style lighting in the garage now. I probably won't go with a canister style fixture though.
 
I'm in the same boat as Danase, but i wont consider canister lights, looking for the tube type. I need to get moving on this, so I can keep cars overnight and work on them.
 
Danase said:
Has anyone done this in their garage?.....I'm getting ready to start adding lights in the garage and I'm thinking of doing 50/50 fluorescent and incandescent lighting. There are a couple of reasons for me to want to do this.

1. I'd have them on separate switches and if I was detailing I's probably use the incandescents to show more.

2. When I'm just messing in the garage I'd use the fluorescents to save energy.

3. In the winter, until I get heat, I'd use the incandescents since the fluorescents usually take a while to warm up to full light output.



Any thoughts?
Click to expand...



That's exactly what I have. Two 200 watt incandescents, then a total of four fluorescent tubes. The fluorescents are great for determining gloss level, and the incandescents are great for finding swirls and marring.
 
Danase said:
I should also mention I'm not thinking about the tube fluorescents. I'm thinking the screw in compact kind. The tube fixtures will for sure take forever to warm up and I always have troubles with the ballast and stuff. The screw in types I can do a ton for less money.
Click to expand...





I was *gonna* post all over this thread ;) but then I saw the highlighted part of the above :think:



I have dozens of tubes (mostly 8-footers) and nine (three rows of three) high-wattage incandescents. Switched on numerous separate circuits so I can adjust them to my liking (6 switches for fluorescents, three for incandescents).



I will say that I have *zero* maintenance issues with the fluorescents, and they've been in use since 2000. Yeah, they make a bit of noise at first when it's chilly, but nothing that bugs me (and I'm told I have a low tolerance for irritating stuff :o ).
 
I just want to keep this on the cheap and don't want to spend a ton for GOOD fluorescent tube fixtures and bulbs. Also from my experiences you get more lumens and a higher CRI on the compact fluorescents than the tubes.
 
SuperBee364 said:
That's exactly what I have. Two 200 watt incandescents, then a total of four fluorescent tubes. The fluorescents are great for determining gloss level, and the incandescents are great for finding swirls and marring.
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Yeah, I hate detailing a car under the fluorescents and then throwing on some regular bulbs and see something I missed.



You ever detail with both light sources on?
 
Danase said:
Yeah, I hate detailing a car under the fluorescents and then throwing on some regular bulbs and see something I missed.



You ever detail with both light sources on?
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Yes, in fact, that's the only way I do it. :) The lights are placed such that I can just move a bit and get either a tube *or* a bulb to reflect on whatever I'm polishing. That allows me to check marring and gloss level at the same time.



I still use halogen stands for the vertical panels, though. I have one of those incandescents on the end of an extension cord. Your idea about using the fluorescents that go into standard bulb sockets has given me the idea of replacing my incandescent on the extension cord with a screw in type fluorescent for checking gloss on vertical panels.
 
SuperBee364 said:
Yes, in fact, that's the only way I do it. :) The lights are placed such that I can just move a bit and get either a tube *or* a bulb to reflect on whatever I'm polishing. That allows me to check marring and gloss level at the same time.



I still use halogen stands for the vertical panels, though. I have one of those incandescents on the end of an extension cord. Your idea about using the fluorescents that go into standard bulb sockets has given me the idea of replacing my incandescent on the extension cord with a screw in type fluorescent for checking gloss on vertical panels.
Click to expand...



You can also get a fluorescent shop light too. This is what I use a lot:

fluorescent worklight, fluorescent work lights, Bayco ACE-507PDQ Deluxe Fluorescent Work Light - OneStopShopCatalog.com

I'll hang it in the interior to see better, like if I'm doing a car with super dark tinted windows. I also use it all of the time when cleaning and working on my motorcycles so I can see into the tight areas better.
 
Danase said:
..You ever detail with both light sources on?
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-AND-



SuperBee364 said:
Yes, in fact, that's the only way I do it...That allows me to check marring and gloss level at the same time.
Click to expand...



Noting there are a lotta variables here (position/mounting of the lights, issues of vision, etc.), I do most stuff with both on but I turn out all but the incandescents for my real inspecting. Seems that, *for me in my shop*, the fluorescents wash out the specific type of contrast I need to spot light marring.



OTOH, leaving the incandescents turned on doesn't seem to have any negative effect on seeing gloss/texture via the fluorescents.
 
Danase said:
You can also get a fluorescent shop light too. This is what I use a lot:

fluorescent worklight, fluorescent work lights, Bayco ACE-507PDQ Deluxe Fluorescent Work Light - OneStopShopCatalog.com

I'll hang it in the interior to see better, like if I'm doing a car with super dark tinted windows. I also use it all of the time when cleaning and working on my motorcycles so I can see into the tight areas better.
Click to expand...



I can see that that is a web site I shouldn't go to without adult supervision. It's like a candy store.
 
What sort of incandescents are you using? That's probably something I need to look at as well. There are so many different types, like cool white and so on.



Also I was at Lowes and an employee was showing us the newer CF lighting and how now they have like 3 different colors. One is like a cool, bluish looking to me, another is like a neutral and the last one was "sunlight".
 
Danase said:
The tube fixtures will for sure take forever to warm up and I always have troubles with the ballast and stuff.
Click to expand...





Get the hi-output style. They're up to full output in a few short seconds regardless how cold it is in the garage. I'm fairly certain Philips makes the ones I've got.



Would doing an array of CFLs be practical? I wonder if you would get enough output.



These new fangled T8 bulbs/fixtures kick some serious booty, visiting a lighting supply house to see these in action. They're intense, pun intended.



I've got a mix of regular incandescent and (long, hi-output) fluorescent. I can switch them independently. It works pretty well, but it seems you can never get "enough" light in the garage.
 
tom p. said:
Get the hi-output style. They're up to full output in a few short seconds regardless how cold it is in the garage. I'm fairly certain Philips makes the ones I've got.



Would doing an array of CFLs be practical? I wonder if you would get enough output.



These new fangled T8 bulbs/fixtures kick some serious booty, visiting a lighting supply house to see these in action. They're intense, pun intended.



I've got a mix of regular incandescent and (long, hi-output) fluorescent. I can switch them independently. It works pretty well, but it seems you can never get "enough" light in the garage.
Click to expand...





It just gets so much more expensive to do the cold start up ballast.



I think having CFL,s would be practical since they put out more lumens than the tubes. If you go over to the garage journal you can find people doing it and see some pics.



I hear that! LOL I'm never happy with the amount of light. At the old house it lit up like the 4th of July and I still wanted more.



Here is one garage I found using canister lights.

Compact Fluorescent vs Tubes - Page 3 - The Garage Journal Board
 
Danase said:
What sort of incandescents are you using? That's probably something I need to look at as well. There are so many different types, like cool white and so on..
Click to expand...



I have metal-shaded ones suspended from the ceiling, those currently have frosted 300-320W bulbs in them.



My other garage, which *really* shows flaws well, has bare clear bulbs in the ceiling fixtures and those seem to show flaws even with low-wattage bulbs in them.



I have a hand-held trouble light with a metal shade that I use various wattages of bulbs in. Got it at Lowes for ~$25, they had them in a few types, look for one rated for high-wattage bulbs. It's not really convenient, but it works if you wrestle with it.
 
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