Just curious to know how warm an 18W LPS wall pack unit gets during operation. I was given a NOS unit yesterday and am considering mounting this inside my garage as a "night light" type setup. I'm curious to know if this would be safe to do, and how much light output I might expect. I haven't had the chance to open the unit, and I think I will need to source a bulb, as I don't think it came with one. It is a metal construction, and I think the lens is actually glass.

Thanks for any help,


Travis

If you read the info that usually comes with commercial outdoor hid, most times technically it's not rated to be used indoors. That being said it is your light and its up to you to do what you feel is safe. As for light output it is quite good and should be more than plenty to light up a small garage enough for walking around with no problem.

I should add that it’s a large 2-car garage, and would be mounted to drywall. I’ve seen higher wattage LPS fixtures used indoors as security lights mountes to drop ceilings.

It would heat exactly the same as an 18W PL lantern of similar design. Make your conclusions

The goldeye fixture from philips (18 watt,) is warm enough that your finger won't freeze on cold day when you grab it but it's not to hot to hold, even on a warm summer day, and they are rated for both indoor and outdoor use, and even in a large two car garage it's more then enough for some security lighting and camera's work very well under them as well.. But yes you will need to find tubes and now is the time to stock up because philips is halting production in just under 2 years of all LPS tubes so they will become harder to find in the future and cost a whole lot more...

Also if you do body work in the garage if you turn off all the other lights and use nothing but LPS and imperfections will be way easier to spot.. 

The goldeye fixture from philips (18 watt,) is warm enough that your finger won't freeze on cold day when you grab it but it's not to hot to hold, even on a warm summer day, and they are rated for both indoor and outdoor use, and even in a large two car garage it's more then enough for some security lighting and camera's work very well under them as well.. But yes you will need to find tubes and now is the time to stock up because philips is halting production in just under 2 years of all LPS tubes so they will become harder to find in the future and cost a whole lot more...

Also if you do body work in the garage if you turn off all the other lights and use nothing but LPS and imperfections will be way easier to spot.. 

Thanks! That is the info I was looking for. LPS is an extremely rare thing to see around these parts, and I don't have much experience or knowledge with/of them.

No problem, I wondered the same thing before I got my first LPS, but honestly the bare tubes are just a little to warm to handle in the 18 watt version, you can touch them but you can't hang on long, but the larger tubes like the 55 watt are about as warm as a PL-L florescent in operation, they are warm but you can hold them for a minute without getting burned, just watch the area over the cathodes that spot gets a wee bit warmer as do the ends with out the ITO coating, they will prompt you to move your hand a bit quicker, but the surface area of the fixture will reduce it to a safe levels to mount them on drywall or plywood...

And if your going to use them, make sure they get a good few hours of run time before turning them off and try not to switch them on and off more then once a day, constantly switching on and off is hard on them (ie: put the switch higher then the oldest kids arms can reach) Doing this will get you the rated hours and if you get a good lamp you might get a whole lot more..

Also while you can run an 18 thru 55 watt vertical base up to horizontal (0 to 110 deg) they will last longer and have more light output if you keep them horizontal if possible..  

No problem, I wondered the same thing before I got my first LPS, but honestly the bare tubes are just a little to warm to handle in the 18 watt version, you can touch them but you can't hang on long, but the larger tubes like the 55 watt are about as warm as a PL-L florescent in operation, they are warm but you can hold them for a minute without getting burned, just watch the area over the cathodes that spot gets a wee bit warmer as do the ends with out the ITO coating, they will prompt you to move your hand a bit quicker, but the surface area of the fixture will reduce it to a safe levels to mount them on drywall or plywood...

And if your going to use them, make sure they get a good few hours of run time before turning them off and try not to switch them on and off more then once a day, constantly switching on and off is hard on them (ie: put the switch higher then the oldest kids arms can reach) Doing this will get you the rated hours and if you get a good lamp you might get a whole lot more..

Also while you can run an 18 thru 55 watt vertical base up to horizontal (0 to 110 deg) they will last longer and have more light output if you keep them horizontal if possible..  

All good info, thanks. I knew that horizontal installation was encouraged for performance reasons, but didn't realize they were so sensitive to cycles. This isn't really an issue as it will be dusk to dawn operation. Trying to source an astronomical timer that is compatible with ballasts. It has been a little challenging, but I assume any timer that's rated for use with fluorescents/CFL's is probably safe to use with this type of fixture.

I've had really good luck with the Intermatic ST01 timers, they also have a user replaceable lithium battery accessed via the front cover, and it seems to last at least two plus years, they will switch up to a 1 HP motor or 800 watts of ballasts, and will run from 120 to 277 VAC with no changes to the wiring, they will actually switch 12 to 28 VDC as well, All round they are a nice astrological timer that fits in with there rest of the decor styled switches and plugs, now it's not a true astrological timer but it's pretty close you only get three settings for the self adjusting timer South Mid and North but for most applications it's pretty good but don't expect it to follow sunrise and sunset exactly it might miss them by a few minutes but I don't mind if it's on a few minutes earlier because the light gets to full brightness before it's dark..

They are about $36 USD new on Amazon if you want to see one Click here

Nice, was looking at the Intermatic DT620 as well. Says it's compatible and a few reviewers said they had run HID lights with them without issues.

https://www.amazon.com/Intermatic-DT620-Heavy-Indoor-Digital/dp/B004TGO6RY/ref=sr_1_1/132-0273272-0155918?ie=UTF8&qid=1518131459&sr=8-1&keywords=intermatic+dt620

Nice, was looking at the Intermatic DT620 as well. Says it's compatible and a few reviewers said they had run HID lights with them without issues.

https://www.amazon.com/Intermatic-DT620-Heavy-Indoor-Digital/dp/B004TGO6RY/ref=sr_1_1/132-0273272-0155918?ie=UTF8&qid=1518131459&sr=8-1&keywords=intermatic+dt620

If that timer will run a 1/2 HP motor it will have no issue running a small LPS ballast and light... All round I don't have any bad things to say about Intermatic stuff, it costs a wee bit more but it seems to last which I think is more important then the initial cost..

Okay great. Thanks for all the info.