Lighting shop with track lighting...

tod osier

tod osier

Well-known member
Supporter
I'm thinking about my next steps in the shop and I'm wondering about lighting. First of all, my old eyes need a lot of light, so I'll be putting max light in there.

The constraint that I have is that the shop has radiant heat in the ceiling and, thus, I can't mount conventional lights on or in the ceiling.

I'm wondering about track lighting around the perimeter on the wall near the ceiling and on a central beam (see picture, squiggle line is potential track lighting).

I do need to get into the ceiling to get power into the shop, so I could delete a bay of heat in the middle to allow for a central lighting bay (the radiant heat is a film between joist bays and I could just remove a single bay). Thoughts?!?! My real question is... will the character of the light from the perimeter be ok? Never had or dealt with track lighting, but it seems like the best option in this case.

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The track lighting sounds like a fall back idea if all else fails. I would anticipate aggravating shadow and glare from the perimeter lights. I would also expect a disco ball hanging from the center beam to complete the effect. ;)

So there's no beams/joists above the ceiling? Even at roof level? If there's anything up there, you might suspend LED bars from wire or chain threaded between the heat strips. If you can remove one or more, there has to be a small gap between the strips through which wire could be snaked.
 
SJ Fairbank said:
The track lighting sounds like a fall back idea if all else fails. I would anticipate aggravating shadow and glare from the perimeter lights. I would also expect a disco ball hanging from the center beam to complete the effect. ;)

So there's no beams/joists above the ceiling? Even at roof level? If there's anything up there, you might suspend LED bars from wire or chain threaded between the heat strips. If you can remove one or more, there has to be a small gap between the strips through which wire could be snaked.
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I agree on the potential for problems with shading, but with a lot of light going all directions with a combo of spot and floods, I wonder how bad it will be? That is why I was wondering. Someone has to have a house with a room with perimeter track.

The ceiling is joists 16" OC with sheetrock over. The film is between the joists and above the sheetrock with insulation over. I will probably be redoing the sheetrock on ceiling throughout, so I could remove any amount of heat, but it is the heat for the room and any I remove will compromise function. Anything suspended under just gets the top heated with radiant. At some point it is a safety issue with heat buildup depending on how small of a gap there is and I don't want things hanging below the ceiling very much (I love wacking a light with a board when flipping one end for end in the shop). There may very well be some sort of tube LED system that is fairly thin that would work.
 
tod osier said:
There may very well be some sort of tube LED system that is fairly thin that would work.
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This is just the first example I found. It appears the mounting clip where ot contacts the mounting surface would be about the same as the ceiling joist (1.5"). The entire fixture is not much wider than that and the clip provides a small gap at the point where the clip and fixture widen. I'd consider running each fixture directly under it's companion ceiling joist.

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1744739065660.png 1744739102494.png
 
I don't normally post my jack-legged efforts, but having learned you have plenty of redneck in you, too, I will. I needed to quickly increase light in my garage for a project, so took out the halogens and added these LED strips. I keep meaning to get back up there and do a clean install of wires, but it's working and my bride isn't complaining, yet. Available anywhere now, Home Depot, Amazon, etc. Much like the ones Dave posted. They can be daisy-chained in series or split in parallel (or a mix of both, as I have). They weigh next-to-nothing so hanging is not an issue. If you can figure out how to get power down through the ceiling (or up a wall), you're in business. I don't know how they'd hold up to a constant nearby heat source, but they're cheap enough I'd take a flyer on them. They put out great, white light and can be oriented in about any configuration you need to eliminate shadows.

IMG_20250415_140644.jpg
 
Huntindave McCann said:
This is just the first example I found. It appears the mounting clip where ot contacts the mounting surface would be about the same as the ceiling joist (1.5"). The entire fixture is not much wider than that and the clip provides a small gap at the point where the clip and fixture widen. I'd consider running each fixture directly under it's companion ceiling joist.

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View attachment 65706 View attachment 65707
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OK, I had no idea, I have not seen those. Thanks for that idea. I'll give the heating manufacturer a call and see what they think.
 
HenryHawthorne said:
I don't normally post my jack-legged efforts, but having learned you have plenty of redneck in you, too, I will. I needed to quickly increase light in my garage for a project, so took out the halogens and added these LED strips. I keep meaning to get back up there and do a clean install of wires, but it's working and my bride isn't complaining, yet. Available anywhere now, Home Depot, Amazon, etc. Much like the ones Dave posted. They can be daisy-chained in series or split in parallel (or a mix of both, as I have). They weigh next-to-nothing so hanging is not an issue. If you can figure out how to get power down through the ceiling (or up a wall), you're in business. I don't know how they'd hold up to a constant nearby heat source, but they're cheap enough I'd take a flyer on them. They put out great, white light and can be oriented in about any configuration you need to eliminate shadows.

View attachment 65710
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I guess I've been living under a rock with the LED styles out there. Thanks, that would work out real well, I'd think. The last time I looked at overhead LEDs what converting my T-12 fluorescents to LED in the shop and haven't kept up on the options out there.
 
Talked to the heating manufacturer, and he was not thrilled with the idea of trying to put an LED strip along the joists, but that may still be the best option.
 
Tod

Can you mount metal conduit to the joists? If so I might consider giving the shop ceiling an industrial look with a series of metal conduit runs with electrical boxes and lights mounted to them in typical fashion. Having said that lighting seems to be an area where new products are constantly hitting the market so there are most certainly good solutions out there that I've never seen.
 
tod osier said:
Talked to the heating manufacturer, and he was not thrilled with the idea of trying to put an LED strip along the joists, but that may still be the best option.
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How about attaching the clips using a standoff spacer such as a piece of PVC pipe coupler? Just run a longer screw to reach the joist. I would think a 1.5 inch diameter (1 1/4 pipe size) (screw thru the clip and on thru the ID of the PVC, into the ceiling joist) would serve as a sufficient base while also alleviating any concerns with the heating element which is on either side of the joist..
 
Eric Patterson said:
Tod

Can you mount metal conduit to the joists? If so I might consider giving the shop ceiling an industrial look with a series of metal conduit runs with electrical boxes and lights mounted to them in typical fashion. Having said that lighting seems to be an area where new products are constantly hitting the market so there are most certainly good solutions out there that I've never seen.
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Industrial is 100% OK. I was planning on running the wiring in surface mounted conduit or wiremold on the walls. The problem for the ceiling is having boxes or the like in/on/under the ceiling.
 
Huntindave McCann said:
How about attaching the clips using a standoff spacer such as a piece of PVC pipe coupler? Just run a longer screw to reach the joist. I would think a 1.5 inch diameter (1 1/4 pipe size) (screw thru the clip and on thru the ID of the PVC, into the ceiling joist) would serve as a sufficient base while also alleviating any concerns with the heating element which is on either side of the joist..
Click to expand...

That is more or less what I was thinking with the standoffs and the light style you posted up, there are also some cable mounting systems that drop the lights down a fixed amount.

I'm getting the sense that people are really not loving the perimeter mounted track lighting idea.
 
tod osier said:
That is more or less what I was thinking with the standoffs and the light style you posted up, there are also some cable mounting systems that drop the lights down a fixed amount.

I'm getting the sense that people are really not loving the perimeter mounted track lighting idea.
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I put LEDs in my garage that mimicked the look of fluorescent and typical overhead spacing. I'm very happy with the results. I doubt perimeter placement is going to give you an even light in all areas. I could see perimeter in conjunction with overhead.
 
tod osier said:
That is more or less what I was thinking with the standoffs and the light style you posted up, there are also some cable mounting systems that drop the lights down a fixed amount.

I'm getting the sense that people are really not loving the perimeter mounted track lighting idea.
Click to expand...
Depends on your workspace and tool placement. If around the walls like your miter saw, perimeter lighting will be perfect (oriented downward not horizontal). And with white ceilings/walls you'd get good reflective light. In fact, good, bright LEDs along the wall and oriented more upward to reflect might be the best of all. But if you have a bench or workspace in the center, I think you'll want at least 1 row of overhead lights there.
 
Huntindave McCann said:
What specifically was the concern(s) the heating manufacturer voiced?
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Heat build up. It is 100% against the installation instructions to have anything below the ceiling even partially covering the heating film, would void the warranty, too. Obviously a downside of the system, but then again, it is dead silent and needs no maintenance, so there are trade-offs with any heating system.
 
HenryHawthorne said:
jack-legged
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I noticed this term, and I've never seen/heard it used in relation your use (looked it up, so now I know and I learned something). I see jackleg refer to a style of fence that we have a bunch of on the property (also called buck and rail or buckrail).

Neighbors first cattle drive of the year.
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Sunrise over the jackleg the other day.
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