[Kavallerist]

Of course, the building of this fabulous building will take years... What has started as a simple car port will blossom into a really nice place to work on projects...

In the mean time, the "car port" part is being built, which gives me plenty of time to plan for the various toys.

Here's what I'm starting with: I have a concrete pad 20 feet by 42 feet. The inside ceiling will be twelve feet high. Above that is a loft made with attic trusses on a 10/12 pitch, allowing me a working space about 12 feet wide and 7 and a half feet high throughout the entire length. There is storage space to the side of that, but of course the ceiling will be lower there.

That will be the limit of the project for this year, probably. We'll see. Next year, the sides will be enclosed, probably in some way that will not make it look like a big industial building. Future plans include a lift as well as some woodworking/boatbuilding space.

In the mean time, here is my question. I need to plan the lighting for the thing. I want really nice lighting. By that, I mean I don't want to hunt through shadows, and I'd prefer to avoid the flicker and poor color rendering of normal flourescent lights. Detail work lights above the benches will probably be halogen to avoid this, but what is the consensus on general lighting? I'm leaning towards metal halide with some incandescent (for instant start ups) supplements. How should I plan for the number of lights and their spacing? Are there newer flourescents that work a little better than the old standards? For the loft (with its lower ceiling) the metal halides are probably not a good idea, but that much space with incandescents is probably not a good idea.

Any suggestions are very much appreciated. The electric load is going to drive other decisions on tools (lift, compressor, woodworking tools, etc.) so I want to have some idea the amp load that I'll have to work with.

Thanks.

Z

[Trak Ratt]

Sounds nice I went w/ normal fluorescent twin tubs lights all around the perimeters. Thinking of adding more down center. Separate lights for under cabinets. Went w/200 amps service for garage. Had to rewire house because VA electric only allows 1 meter.

Also, in Fairfax County closing in a car port got a lot harder lately. You now need full footers under side walls or they must be “suspended” from the haders. Caused my neighbor a LOT of problems ($$$$) last year.

[cmartin]

Sounds like a great place. I went with 4 8' dual fluorescents and am happy with them. Until the heat kicks in during the cold months they do flicker a little, but that clears up once they are up to temp. Griots garage has come very nice sounding lights in their catalog, be them a bit pricey.

Glad to hear there are more MD guys in the fold.

[Vicegrip]

I do a lot of lighting work and by far the best bang for the $ is 8 foot dual HO florescent. HO is High Output. It is a common commercial light inexpensive for both the fixtures and bulbs and make a lot of light per foot of bulb. Far more then the florescence you get at Home Depot I have a 24 X 30 with 11 foot ceilings am using 5 2 tube 8 footers and there is plenty of light even with unpainted wood walls. after the drywall goes in I plan to add one more dual 8 to the far side of the lift to fill in when A car is up on the lift. You can get HO fixtures and bulbs at Rexal/Branch electric. A dual 8 footer is $44.

I work with HID every day and would not ever have them in a residential setting. Good quality HID systems cost $$$, make tons of heat, most will buzz enough to drive you nuts, are single point lights and thus cast more shadows in a down light setup. They also put out paint and plastic damaging UV rays. They take time to come on from cold and take 10 min + to come on if turned of and then on again as they have to cool before a restart will commence. You can get inexpensive HID from Home Depot but they buzz like a bee hive and go through $ bulbs.

The good points to HID are when you use the $$$ color corrected bulbs you get good output of light that is nice and white and close to sunlight in spectrum.

You can also get Very High Output florescent (VHO) but the $$ factor goes up and the lumen density is not really required in a shop setting.

I have a 90 amp sub to the the Taj. Have many 220 v power tools 22v compressor a lift and do welding and elctro cutting. 90A seems to be plenty as in a personal shop you don't use all the different power loads at the same time. I will be adding AC this year and have just enough left for it.

Dave is right FFC is tight about carports that evolve into garages.

[Kavallerist]

Thanks for the input...

I don't live in FFC. So I'm not too worried about the FFC Code Nazis, at least not until they try and annex most of the state of MD.

Of course, the AAC Code Nazis are a concern. But doors are not walls.

I agree that flourescents can put out a lot of light, etc, but there's something about the type of light that they put out that really drives me nuts. I don't know if it's the flickering or the color rendering or what... but after working all day in flourescent areas, I just have a headache. To give you some idea, on my desk at work I keep an incandescent desk lamp, to augment the flourescents for reading. Clean, white, non-flickering light is a wonderful thing.

It sounds like a combination of all three may be the answer. High Intensity flourescents for general lighting, color correcting HIDs in a couple of places, and halogens over the benches and tools. Expensive to set up, but it may work.

[William Miller]

How far have you gone with this? My suggestion is that you make it wider if you can. 20' is a little narrow I'd go 24-25 if you can.
Mine's 25x32, just enough room by the time you put benches and cabinents arround the perimeter. It won't cost that much more and you may like it. I have an 8 12 roof to match my house and the attic floor is 12 x 32 head room is tight so going 10/12 is a really good idea.
I put some steps to the attic after the inspector was finished.
I put in 100 amps which is more than enough. I have electric heat and I put a window banger thru the wall. My problem with A/C was that although the walls and ceiling are insulated the wooden roll up door is not.
I got condensation on the outside which swelled up the masonite panels.
Another project is to insulate the door which will also help a lot in the winter. If you can get a metal door. Mine is wood because again, I wanted to match the house.
Good luck!

[Kavallerist]

Actually, I noticed a typo... it's supposed to say 22 by 40, not 20 by 42... couldn't go much bigger for some foolish Chesapeake Bay Critical Area reasons... So the posts are set 22 wide, and when the "walls/doors" go in, they'll bump out like a bay window. The only thing two years in New Orleans really taught me was some architectural tricks...

In any case, thanks for the input.

Z

[APKhaos]

The only thing two years in New Orleans really taught me was some architectural tricks...

Like we are buying that story Sure.....

[Don Wohlfarth]

Couple thoughts about your office lighting. The florescent lights should not flicker, there is something wrong. It "could be" an old fixture and the ballast is getting hot and causing bulbs to flicker, old bulbs (usually discolored on the ends of the tube), old sockets that need to be replaced.
You can also do something about the color. The most common bulb is CW (cool white) that is a harsh white light. You can get WW (warm white) that is a softer white, and a sunlight (SL???), point being that you can get different color bulbs. Home Depot won't have them but electrical supply house will carry them.
You are not alone with this problem with florescent lights. Don't take no for an answer. It is your eyes, do something about it.

[APKhaos]

Z,
Take a run down to Dominion Electrical on 50. The guys on the counter there are pros. Tell them what you are lookign for. They have the answer, and they really know what works.