Lights for garage/shop

stryped fired this volley in news:f67b0fb7-d78a- snipped-for-privacy@d32g2000yqh.googlegroups.com:
Don't modify the lamps, get a step-up transformer.
HID lamps don't generate as much heat per lumen as incandescent lamps, but probably more than fluorescents. The discharge tubes in HIDs run bright-yellow hot, though you don't see it until they're quenched, because the light output of the tube swamps the glow of the envelope.
LLoyd

Good or bad for a garage/shop? How many would I need for a 30x30 and how much is a step up transformer?

stryped fired this volley in news:501a6ca7-9d41- snipped-for-privacy@18g2000yqa.googlegroups.com:
I have three 400W fixtures lighting an 80x100 high-bay barn. It would be better with six, but it's adequate light to do auto repairs, as long as I have a drop light for dark spots. (but heck, I need one even in daylight).
I don't know how much a single transformer would cost, but it surely would be less than replacing all the ballasts in all the lamps.
After finding out the cost of upgrading the ballast in an HPS lamp to an HID type, it was more reasonable to pay the monster premium of buying sodium ballast-compatible HID "conversion" lamps. I've got over 12 years of pretty regular nightly use on them (probably 10hrs/wk), and they still strike quickly and reliably in all temperatures.
LLoyd

SO, maybe 3 HID's for a 30x30. I want alot of light, (But not alot of heat.)
Can these be mounted to a wood truss/ceiling?

But be very careful, especially with grounding. 480 will kill you in a heartbeat.

So these are probably not good to use in a garage/shop?
So I only need a step up transformer?

stryped fired this volley in news:14e5d120-54ea- snipped-for-privacy@r2g2000yqm.googlegroups.com:
Why? We were talking about heat per lumen. As far as I know, sodium vapor lights are either the most efficient or nearly the most efficient high-output lamps available, and HIDs are not far behind.
The quartz envelopes are not exposed -- they're contained in an outer bulb. The bulb gets hot, but not that hot.
You want lots of light. You'll have to virtually cover the ceiling with fluorescents to get the same light output.
LLoyd

What is your ceiling height? It is probably too low for these. "Low bay" lamps are for 12'+ feet. It's not that they won't work, and generate a lot of light, just that your coverage will not be very optimal.
I have 6 of these in a 40x50 shop, with a 16' ceiling height. I rarely turn on more than two of them at a time. It gets very bright.
I have a bunch of 8' flourescents under the lofted area in my shop. I think there are two tubes every 2'. They work great, and tuck up into the trusses nice and tight so I don't have to worry about smacking them. The HIDs hang down from the ceiling about 2'.
Restrike on the HIDs will not be great. They take a little while to relight when hot.
JW

The height from my floor to the bottom of the truss is 10 feet, 4 inches. I have no ceiling currently, so I guess I could mount them even higher up on the truss.
I dont think these are low bay lights.
I guess I was not sure if the actual housing could be mounted on wood or not. I was not sure how hot the housing would get.
Are these the type of lights that takes awhile to get bright when you first turn them on or loose power? Are they expensive to operate?
I appreciate your help. I am not real familar with these.
I have a picture of the inside of my garage/shop if it helps anyone.

stryped fired this volley in news:abcc425a-ad91- snipped-for-privacy@18g2000yqa.googlegroups.com:
Yes, they take a short while to warm up, and they re-strike more slowly after a power failure than does an HPS lamp.
The housings are designed to be mounted on common building materials. the lamps are less expensive per lumen to operate than anything but HPS (including cost of maintenance).
LLoyd

stryped wrote in news:f67b0fb7-d78a-4c79-b4ae- snipped-for-privacy@d32g2000yqh.googlegroups.com:
I read this as the lights currently don't have low bay lenses? Do they have high bay reflectors or none? Your ceiling height is too low for these IMHO, even for low bays.
That high a supply voltage is against code for residential lighting here. You might check your NEC/local codes to see if there is a similar prohibition in the States.
I think I'd pass on these. The cost of converting the ballasts, or a transformer and more costly 480V wiring methods makes them more trouble than buying something more suitable for your space.

There is a bit of Good news - If you have an application with a 14' to 16' plus ceiling, these lights most likely have Multi-Tap ballasts inside. Open it and you'll find wires marked for 120 - 208- 240 - 277V.
Skip them anyway, or get them and horse trade for what you really need. Even if they are free they are still wrong for your application in several critical ways.
The heat isn't as much of an issue as the lens and mounting situation is - a 10' ceiling isn't going to cut it even with Low Bay totally enclosed luminaires.
If you mount either Low Bay or High Bay lights over the bottom chord of the truss you will have overlapping shadows everywhere driving you bananas. You'll have shadow lines running across what you are working on giving you optical anomalies.
If this is a workshop running Metal Halide fixtures you HAVE TO have the fully enclosed fixtures with bottom lenses. (Not just wire guards.) Too many flying bits in a shop that can shatter the outer envelope, and it isn't fun geting shattered hot glass falling on you.
And for Metal Halide with open fixtures overhead (like in a warehouse where flying debris isn't a problem) you still have to run the shatter-guard lamps with the extra shield tube inside the envelope, too - when the inner arc tube ruptures at end-of-life they often break the outer envelope at the same time - and another hot sharp glass shower can happen.
For a10' ceiling home shop or small shop, you want good old fashioned linear fluorescent fiixtures. Either T-5 or T-8 open strips or "Shop Light" reflectors. Or T-8 polycarb lensed Wraps.
They should have premium high frequency electronic ballasts (20 KHz) so you do not get 60-Hz Strobing effects, and you want to use tube guards over the lamps on open fixtures.
-->--

Everyone I've ever seen was hung by a chain, never mounted directly to anything.
Your ceiling is too, low go with Fluorescent. If your garage is unheated watch the minimum starting temp marked on the ballast. Thank You, Randy
Remove 333 from email address to reply.

Just a sort of "gut feeling", but in an ordinary garage, I'd mount it way up high, and put a generous vent in the roof.
Good Luck! Rich