Halogen shop lights

[LarryB]

Lately I have been seeing 4' halogen shop lights in catalogs, Rockler has one and so does Harbor Freight. They seem to me that they would be very good to place over the workbench and other work station areas. Does anyone have thoughts on this? What are the down sides and/or up sides of these lights. HF has them for $16.95 and Rockler has them for $34.95. Do you thing the ones from Rockler are twice as good?

Thanks

[Glen]

My bumbled humble opinion says Rockler is often over priced.
As for the lights themselves I find H-lighting to be harsh.

G

[Sonny Edmonds]

Halogen is closer to sunlight in spectrum. More like incandesent in that it won't freeze motion like flouresent can at a syncronesis speed.
But it's more expensive to run, I believe, than flouresent.
Shucks, get one and try it out. If you like it, blend it in with your other lighting.
What looks good to you may not to Glen or me. I think it's a bit bright as well for shop lighting.

Sonny

[jnewlonjr]

I've been considering flourescents with track highlights. I have a question concerning the remainder of shop wiring...

Should the entire shop be 220 or do I need to keep some 110 available? Can I leave it all 110?

Thanks guys.
Jerry
:-)

[dicklaxt]

Leave all your lighting at 120volt and of course convenience receptacles.

I am retired now so I don't have any reference material available but I believe it is a code violation to have more than 15ovolts to ground in a residential establishment, maybe some one that has access to a National Electric Code Book will look it up and tell us for sure. I haven't worked with lighting in years but I do recall that one quirk about 150 v to ground, kinda like a sore nose it won't go away.

Take heed to what Sonny said about the "standstill phenomona" the stroboscopic effect from all fluorescent can stop a rotating saw blade until you get you finger in it.

Dick

[Jack Lindsey]

Halogen lampas are incandescent. The difference between halogens and standard incandescent lamps is the inclusion of a halogen gas, usually iodine or bromine. This prevents the accumulation of tungsten, which evaporates from the filament in normal operation, on the bulb wall thus reducing the loss of light as burning hours increase. As incandescent lamps, they are considered to be a point source. This means they are small, and bright. They are fine for some specialized tasks such as inspection, but fluorescent lamps are a better choice for general lighting. Fluorescent lamps are generally 3 to 5 times more efficient than incandescent.

[The Digital Dan]

>Halogen is closer to sunlight in
>spectrum.

I've got a question. Aren't there "Plant Growth" bulbs that can be used if someone desires lighting that is more natural and closer to actual sunlight?

The reason I ask is that back in college all the dorm rooms had flourescent lighting. Many people found it harsh and a smaller portion found them to be emotionally depressing. When they switched out the 4' flourescent bulbs for 4' plant growth bulbs, the light was definitely more comfortable to the eyes. And for the people with depression, it actually improved their emotional state as well. Weird, but true.

Now it has been a long time since I was in college, a time I'd rather keep in the past if you know what I mean. But, it seems to me that this is also a viable option. I don't remember the plant growth bulbs being that much more expensive, maybe 50% more.

[Sonny Edmonds]

Yep, or used to be anyway.
There are many different types of flouresent lamps available.
The coating on the inside is what determines what light comes from the tube.
For example: No inner coating will allow high levels of "blacklight" to be emmitted. Actual ultraviolet rays.
The plant type of flouresent allow the wavelengths that stimulate
photosynthsis in liveing plants, and this applies to humans as well.
That's part of the reason the plant bulbs where benifical.
The rest of the reason was that stuff growing in the closet.
Halogen is the modern replacement for that as well.
However, the DEA will note the report from the power company of the marked increase of power usage and investigate.
Or, your busted!

Sonny
http://home.earthlink.net/~sonnypie/

[WoodMangler]

What actually helped their depression was that they could now grow some pot indoors! Less than half actually graduated, but nobody was depressed anymore! :)
Marc

[Douglas Scott]

Halogens use alot of power and put out a lot of heat. I would go with flouresent daylight bulbs, they cost more than a standard but have a much better quality of light.