Summary
This semi repair and maintenance shop had lower foot-candle levels than what is recommended by the IES (Illuminating Engineering Society). The recommended foot-candle level for a motor vehicle garage shop is 50 to 100 foot-candles. Under their current 6 lamp T8 fixtures the light levels were anywhere from 16 to 25 foot-candles. The mechanics were having to use auxiliary lighting, which took time to setup and would clutter up the area with cords and hanging lamps. Some would even hold a flashlight in their mouths to see. After talking with them and listening to their grievances with the current lighting, we all came to the conclusion to just keep the original fixtures in there, and add 11 of our PHX 230 watt LED highbays. These are only 70 watts more than their current 6 lamp T8 fluorescent highbay fixtures. After installing these throughout the repair shop, the foot-candle levels increased to 49 to 76 foot candles. Every mechanic was very happy with the outcome. One even remarked, “Hey, I found sockets and tools I never knew I had in my toolbox.”
