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Light shadowing in self serve bays

OurTown

OurTown

Well-known member
We are in the middle of a large remodel and I wanted to verify where we wanted our new wall packs in our now (almost) 15' tall bays. I fabri-cobbled some temporary stands to hold up the fixtures and powered them up. Bays are 26' long outside dimension and 16' on center. I set the fixtures at 12' high and 16' apart front to back. They have variable wattage and color so I put them on the highest of both which is 120W/17,150 lumens and 5,000K. With the white walls and ceilings the bays are very bright but I noticed some shadowing at the front and especially the back of my van. Previously we had two offset double bulb T-5 vapor proof fixtures on the 10' ceiling and I don't remember shadowing but thinking where they were mounted we surely did. I'm thinking that the bay is so bright now that the shadowing stands out. I sent the photos to my electrician and he suggested strip lights. The double offset wall pack setup seems pretty common but I don't remember seeing them so bright.
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I don't think they need to be that high. Just a foot ot so higher than Max Vehicle height (But maybe that is 11 feet for you?)

Have you tried Opposite corners each pointing toward the other or a slightly different angle?
 
I would suggest a little lower and about 2-3+ feet inwards, right now they are on the edge of the bay that has a alot to do with the shadowing. I would defiantly try that.
 
Earl Weiss said:
I don't think they need to be that high. Just a foot ot so higher than Max Vehicle height (But maybe that is 11 feet for you?)

Have you tried Opposite corners each pointing toward the other or a slightly different angle?
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Max vehicle height is 13' 6" and no I did not try that.
 
With the low power draw of LED, I would try 8' strips in all 4 corners. We have retrofitted 8' 5000K strips caddy corner and they light up the bays nicely, but I would do all 4 corners if I had to do it again. The brighter the better IMO
 
Keno said:
With the low power draw of LED, I would try 8' strips in all 4 corners. We have retrofitted 8' 5000K strips caddy corner and they light up the bays nicely, but I would do all 4 corners if I had to do it again. The brighter the better IMO
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How high up did you go? If installing them all the way up to the ceiling then why not one at the front, one at the back, and one on each side?
 
You might try lower wattage fixtures and put 4 lights in per bay....My last lighting upgrade uses (4) 3 bulb 48" T8 LED IP65 fixtures with 5-6000K bulbs...12 bulbs per bay...I think about 2000 lumen per bulb or 24000 lumen per bay. Not quite the total lumens you have, but worked well for me...Using 4 fixtures will eliminate dark spots. I did the same as you, put the lights on temporary supports till I got it the way I wanted it!

By using 3 bulb fixtures, I was able to modify the wiring so I could add a PLC that makes the lighting interactive with the time of day and bay usage...The PLC has an Astronomical Function block that makes it easy to track sunrise and sunset...No more timer pin setting changes! After 10pm, 2/3 of all the bulbs (2 per fixtrue) shut off to conserve electric and for security. When someone puts money in the bay box after 10pm, all the lights turn on in that bay. After time runs out, all the lights stay on for 10 minutes for drying and or exit of the bays, then back to security, 1 bulb per fixture....Similar can be done using 4 wall packs...While your doing it?! ;)
 
BTW, I'm not sure you want your fixtures angled down towards the vehicle...You want the light to reflect off all those white panels, even the ceiling!
 
OurTown said:
How high up did you go? If installing them all the way up to the ceiling then why not one at the front, one at the back, and one on each side?
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We had to use the same number of fixtures to get the power company rebate, so we just ended up replacing the fixtures where they were located already. Top of the walls in our 12' and 16' ceiling bays. I would have used 4 fixtures per bay if i could have still gotten the rebate, and used an online lighting designer to see the best layout. There were a few free ones online last time I checked. A lot of lighting distributors will also make you a lighting plan free of charge to get you to buy their lights.
 
You're going to get more shadows with wall mount versus ceiling mount. I have four ceiling mount fixtures per bay, six in the RV bay, and no problems with shadows. The shadows will definitely be worse with your van, probably barely noticeable with cars. All my lights are on a lighting controller that adjusts automatically for sunrise and set. They also have motion detectors on all but, one fixture per bay so one fixture stays on for security and the rest turn on if someone enters the bay and shut off after they leave.
 
I measured my bay ceilings and lights yesterday...The ceilings are 10' tall and the fixtures are 12" from the ceiling...
 
2Biz said:
After 10pm, 2/3 of all the bulbs (2 per fixtrue) shut off to conserve electric and for security. When someone puts money in the bay box after 10pm, all the lights turn on in that bay. After time runs out, all the lights stay on for 10 minutes for drying and or exit of the bays, then back to security, 1 bulb per fixture....Similar can be done using 4 wall packs...While your doing it?! ;)
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Where'd you come up with that crazy idea? :sneaky:
 
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