Hangar Lighting

[rv7charlie]

I'd also remember that unless you're parking an airliner, they don't have to be 20' up. Lower will mean less light output will be needed.

[Low Pass]

Originally Posted by rv7charlie

I'd also remember that unless you're parking an airliner, they don't have to be 20' up. Lower will mean less light output will be needed.

Yes and no. Depends on the reflector/fixtures. Here at my place of employment, we recently retrofitted one of our college gyms with 36,000 hr T8s. After looking at all the various solutions, at the end of the day the fluorescent was a straight-forward, cost effective solution that provided nice quality light with no ballast/lamp noise and instant response. Not sure the LEDs are quite there yet if you're working less than a 10 yr ROI (major renovation planned within 10 yrs on this facility). And the technology is advancing so fast, I'd hate to sink the money into something like this and have it surpassed by subsequent technology in 2 years that halves the ROI period.

[GigAir]

It never ceases to amaze me, the depth of knowledge in these forums. I thank every one of you for responding. It appears as though T5HO is the consensus favorite. So, can anyone tell me, in a 1200ft2 T-hangar, with 20' ceilings where the lights will be suspended, how many T5HO 4 or 6 bulb fixtures will I need to achieve approx 50 cpower? I am planning to build, not just maintain in the hangar, so am leaning toward more light. My 61 year old eyes need it. Again Thank you.

[mculver]

Without going off the deep end, see this page:
http://www.gelighting.com/LightingWe...-estimator.jsp

Remember that you want 50 fc at 30" off the floor, so effective room height is the distance between the fixtures an bench top, not ceiling and floor. That has the most impact on spacing...

White paint will be your friend for a bright hangar.

Search the old threads on this topic for a ton of additional considerations, or headaches, depending on your disposition at the moment. Avoid trying to being too precise, because in the end a ton of thinking won't change the answer by much.

[xblueh2o]

Originally Posted by GigAir

can anyone tell me, in a 1200ft2 T-hangar, with 20' ceilings where the lights will be suspended, how many T5HO 4 or 6 bulb fixtures will I need to achieve approx 50 cpower? I am planning to build, not just maintain in the hangar, so am leaning toward more light. My 61 year old eyes need it. Again Thank you.

I can't quantify what the result is but I have my four 4 tube fixtures hung 10 feet off the floor and it is plenty bright. A friend has a single 6 tube fixture in the back of his hangar and I go there to get my sun tan.
This picture was taken about 22:30 with the hangar doors closed and only the center two lights running. With all four lights on, the shadows you see under the chair for instance are nearly non-existant.

[Rion Bourgeois]

GigAir:

I tried negotiating the learning curve on hangar lighting 18 months ago.

I eventually had JonJay spec and provide the lights for the hangar I finished building last year here on Dietz Airpark in Canby, Oregon. He has software that tells you just how many footcandles you will have at each location with different lamps, fixtures and configurations in your hangar's dimensions.

Note that footcandles is not the only consideration you should consider. Quiet, quality, ballasts that come on instantly in the cold are a must. Different flourescent lamps produce different color temperatures. Ceiling height and colors of walls, ceiling and floor are also a consideration. I eventually went with T8, 3500K lamps, but I only have 12' ceilings. I also had them wired so I can switch on every other fixture. I am very happy with the lights and configuration.

You are going to be living with the lights for a long time, so I suggest you get professional help in selecting your light fixtures and lamps. I am sure glad I did.

Also, if you haven't sheeted your hangar door yet, you might want to consider sheeting all or some of it with three wall translucent polycarbonate sheeting. It has an R3 insulation factor, and lets in lots of ambient light. I don't need to turn on my lights when loading, pre-flighting, or fetching something from the hangar during the day.

You are welcome to fly down and check out my lights and door.

[GigAir]

Thanks Rion! I will respond in greater detail via PM. Greg

[n468ac]

I've replaced almost all the lights in our leased warehouses to T5HO 6 bulb units. Nearly 80 fixtures in total. We have had them in service for 1 to 5 years without a single bulb failure. Some of the units are unheated. We have them hung from 18' and as low as 12'. I highly recommend the T5HO ... I know LED has come a long way and prices are coming down ... but right now I think the break even is around 10 years. A suggestion is to have several circuits so that you can turn on just the amount of light needed. IE if you have a total of 10 lights in your hanger, have one circuit with two lights on it and two with four each ... this will help keep the electrical costs down and give you the light that is needed for the task.

[SoCal Flyer]

Just to clarify something in another post. When you are talking to your electrician (if you are hiring one) you would be calling the added circuits 'added switch legs'.
He only needs to install the number of circuits required for the load of the fixtures (probably just one to two circuits).
What you are adding to get different light levels are switch legs.
Just meant to clarify the terminology when you are speaking to contractor or electrician friend that may be helping.

[Charles in SC]

I do not have a hanger but the when I built the barn my RV project is in I did not know what to do about lights. After some study I put some 8 foot 2 tube fixtures on the wall mounted horozontally about ten feet apart about ten feet off the ground with the idea that I could add more if needed. Then I put 2, 2 tube 4 foot tube fixtures above my work bench hanging on chains about 7 feet off the ground. This has been more than enough light. I can turn the rows of 8 footers on individually and I rarely need to run both rows. I almost always run the 2 4 foot fixtures. A couple of things to remember, the higher the fixtures are off the floor the harder they are to change bulbs in, and the 4 foot bulbs do not hum as much as the 8 footers.