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11-18-2017, 05:37 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Racine, WI
Posts: 194
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Hangar lights
Any suggestions on lights for a hangar?
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RV-7A
IO-360 Hartzell CSP
Purchased
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11-18-2017, 05:50 PM
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Senior Curmudgeon
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Dayton Airpark, NV A34
Posts: 15,420
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How tall is it inside, and is it bare metal/wood, or finished with a bright surface?
Are you only looking for general lighting, or are you going to be building a plane in there?
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Mike Starkey
VAF 909
Rv-10, N210LM.
Flying as of 12/4/2010
Phase 1 done, 2/4/2011 
Sold after 240+ wonderful hours of flight.
"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it."
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11-18-2017, 05:59 PM
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: Pocahontas MS
Posts: 3,884
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What do you plan on doing in there? If you're building pieces-parts, you need more light than just storing the plane there.
Several years ago, a friend (who's on this forum) used high-wattage CFL bulbs in regular light sockets. Seems to work well.
I've got some very old metal halides in my hangar, also work well for general lighting but start slow & aren't that efficient by today's standards.
If I were starting today, I'd probably shop for 8' LED 'tubes' that can replace standard 8' fluorescents. The new ones can run directly off line voltage, meaning no ballasts, since yours is a new install. Pick color temperature you like, and decide how much light (how many lamps) you need.
Shop around. Prices vary a lot.
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11-18-2017, 06:10 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Keller, Texas
Posts: 309
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I put in 2 X 4 drop in fluorescent's which work very well lighting wise. You have to remember if you are testing radio and electronics they interfere dramatically, although it was a supreme win for me when I turned the lights off and everything worked to perfection. Before that I was completely flawed as to the interference.
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Nigel
RV9A-N113SQ
52F
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11-18-2017, 06:19 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Delta, CO/Atlin, BC
Posts: 2,391
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For general lighting I just bought some Hikolity ("High Quality"??) 4-foot LED lights. Good reviews on Amazon and so far (only a couple weeks) they are working well - nice and bright. Buy in a pack of 4 or 6 and save some $. Although they are plug-in, they are easy to cut off the plug and hardwire if you want.
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Greg Arehart
RV-9B (Big tires) Tipup @AJZ or CYSQ
N 7965A
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11-18-2017, 06:36 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Just Minutes from KBVI!
Posts: 1,039
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A lot of hangar renters here have installed the high bay LED lights available at Home Depot for about $160 each. Our airport is offering to reimburse renters for installing the LED lights (because electricity is included in our rents!)
I bought two of them for the main lights for my paint booth at home, and they are quite bright. Most of the folks at the airport have either two or four of them installed about 10 feet above the floor and even the two-light setups are very well lit now.
They are a bit pricey but the power draw is super low. For the same light output in my shop, the current for the LEDs is substantially lower than the fluorescent ones I have installed in a different area. Like 5x or more lower, if I recall correctly.
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11-18-2017, 06:39 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Posts: 924
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rv7charlie
What do you plan on doing in there? If you're building pieces-parts, you need more light than just storing the plane there.
Several years ago, a friend (who's on this forum) used high-wattage CFL bulbs in regular light sockets. Seems to work well.
I've got some very old metal halides in my hangar, also work well for general lighting but start slow & aren't that efficient by today's standards.
If I were starting today, I'd probably shop for 8' LED 'tubes' that can replace standard 8' fluorescents. The new ones can run directly off line voltage, meaning no ballasts, since yours is a new install. Pick color temperature you like, and decide how much light (how many lamps) you need.
Shop around. Prices vary a lot.
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I have 15, cold weather, high output 2 bulb fixtures in my hangar. You don't have to look up to see if they're on, they're bright. My hangar is 60' X 27' with 14' walls.
My neighbor just replaced some of his "bulbs" with the LED replacements. They aren't as bright as the originals and seem to be more "direct" lighting, where the fluorescents spread the light more.
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11-18-2017, 08:00 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 19
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Fluorescent Bluetooth Light
I was thinking about something like this
https://www.ebay.com/i/272811312573
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RV-4 @ CPM
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11-18-2017, 09:19 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Battleground
Posts: 4,348
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I have lit hundreds of hangars over my 30 year lighting career.
Hangar Lighting technology was predominantly Incandescent, Metal Halide or HO Fluorescent for 50 or more years with relatively minor improvements. The 21st century brought in High Efficiency T8, T5, and T5HO, all still available.
Within the past 5 years a very disruptive technology emerged with LED.
Sales of legacy Fluorescent and Metal Halide fixtures has declined rapidly while LED has revolutionized the industry. There have been few technological innovations in history that rival this kind of transformation in such a short time.
In the last couple of years LED prices have gone down, efficiencies, glare control, quality, all keep getting better.
Our sales of LED products today are approaching 80% of total product sales compared to the legacy products 20%.
It's hard to argue against LED today, just be careful what you buy. There is quite a bit of poor quality LED out there. I wouldn't buy from EBay, Amazon, etc....unless you know the brand.
What I recommend is shoot for 20 FC for a storage hangar, 50 FC for a Hangar/Shop. The key is the quality of the light, not just the quantity. More light sounds better but if it is not done well "see-ability" will suffer, eye strain, etc....
Most builders do well in 50 FC but you can always supplement when/where needed.
Get some professional help on the layout and product selection. Most local Electrical Wholesale houses will deal with the public. They all have lighting professionals that will help you for no cost in the hope of a sale. These wholesalers usually have the better brands of products, many times in stock.
You can also go to Acuity Brands web site and download a free lighting calcuLator, do the layout yourself, and go to your favorite big box store. Just remember, garbage in, garbage out. If you don't know what your doing, your end result might differ from the computer and there are many factors to consider in a quality lighting design.
A well lit hangar is a joy to work in. Good luck with your project.
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Smart People do Stupid things all the time. I know, I've seen me do'em.
RV6 - Builder/Flying
Bucker Jungmann
Fiat G.46 -(restoration in progress, if I have enough life left in me)
RV1 - Proud Pilot.
Last edited by JonJay : 11-18-2017 at 09:21 PM.
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11-18-2017, 10:23 PM
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Join Date: May 2013
Location: Mount Vernon, Wa
Posts: 643
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I rent a T-hanger that has only a 4-place 110V outlet and a single light fixture. When I moved in, a 60 watt incandescent bulb was the only light source in it.
Not wanting to pay to have lights installed, I bought two of these LED string lights from Amazon.com and put them up on the stud walls and ran an extension cord to the outlet. Not as convenient as hardwired lights. But, for a single 20 amp circuit, its about as good as it'll get.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Ken W.
Mount Vernon, WA
2020 VAF Supporter
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