Lights for Painting/Staining room

[nheffley]

Hi!
I'm just starting my own business and have built a large workshop and separate stain/paint room. What kind of lights do some of you use in this room that are safe with the vapors that spraying produces? I checked some prices and found them for $2,000 apiece. I need several and wonder if there are alternatives.

Thanks
nheffley

[durwood]

heating lights are infra red lights.
They are usually used to dry paint on metal surfaces, the rays heat through the metal to warm the metal as well as the air between the light and the paint surface. They are also not suitable to work in front of as they will penetrate your body and heat you up. Good for cooking food though.

The lights used to get a sun tan are ultra violet and are not suitable for heating.

If you put one of these lights onto a wood surface the wood would act as an insulator and the paint will blister ,they are also poor at warming the air in the room.

Your best bet would be a convection heater ( a heater which warm the air such as you have in the USA with your boilers in the basement.)

Any heating system which would give you warm air would be safe to use if fumes from the paint are around.

Heated booths use a heat exchanger which uses oil, electricity or gas to heat inside a coil and air is passed over the outside into the booth so you only get warm air. Like a car radiator

If painting you need to vent off the air to get rid of the solvent as it dries. If not the room will will get a build up of solvent and the paint will be kept soft. and gas you out as well.

Check out body shops etc there are several cheap industral heaters which can be used safely in a workshop. I would think in the USA they would be both plentiful, and cheap especially in snow prone areas.

[Master Splinter]

Place the lights (flurescent tubes, with 5k colour balance) outside the finishing room - with the light shining through a sealed glass pane. Keep the switches outside the room, too.

I've seen this done on commercial car spray booths, presumably so that they didn't have to spend lots on the fittings rated for explosive atmospheres.

If your spray room is only semi-enclosed, you may be able to build a long box like affair to isolate the lights from the spraying room.