Sunslight, "Checking the actual, inside, dimensions of the shelves, I came up with approximately 46x16." Actually, I have one of those shelves right here beside my computer, in use to hold my computer, scanner, video camera, CD drawers, and a bunch of books. I bought three of those shelf units, and I have one of them in use as a fluorescent plant stand right now. The distance between the posts is actually a bit less than 16 inches. I measure about 15¾" between the chrome posts. The distance between the heavy wire structure at the bottom ends of the shelves is about 46¾ inches, maybe a hair more. However, that should be not problem, because you hang the fixtures from the wire shelf above the shelf, and the fixtures can extend well beyond the end of the shelf, if need be. I use 1" S-hooks to hook over the wires of the overhead shelves, and the lightweight chains that came with my Home Depot shoplights. The chains let you adjust the height of the lights to keep them reasonably close to your plants for the best results. That leaves the problem of how you fit three fixtures in the relatively narrow space of 15¾ inches. There are several possible solutions. For your 50" x 6" fixtures, you hang them in a "staggered" configuration. Hang two of your fixtures snug against the poles, down a few inches lower than the minimum hanging distance, and hang the third fixture higher up and centered so that its light can come down between the other two fixtures. A variation on that would be to hand the outside fixtures at enough of an angle to allow the third fixture to fit between them. That would put your three fixtures in sort of a "hip roof" configuration, fitting between the poles and protruding a bit beyond the end of the shelves. A third possibility would be to hang all three of your fixtures at an angle, in a sort of "venetian blind" configuration. A fourth possibility is to buy some narrower fluorescent shoplights. Home Depot has $8 48-inch T8/T12 shoplights that are only 5 inches wide, and three of them fit neatly between the chrome wire posts. Since Home Depot sells a box of 10 Philips Cool White T8 bulbs for $19.95, they cost only $2 each. They draw only 32 watts each, contain less mercury, and are more efficient than T12 bulbs, so they put out as much or more light. And their lifetime is rated for 20,000 hours, which is a long time. Another advantage of the Home Depot Commercial Electric shoplights is that they can be converted to "overdrive" your tubes for at least 50% more light output per tube. That would give you the light equivalent of 9 tubes per shelf. MM

jannie - I agree about the ceiling lights. I WANT them. Had them while growing up in 'the olden days' too. Back in the 70's when my then dh and I built we put them in every room. Now I find I need them more than ever. When I get to a room I want to be able to turn the light on before entering (at night mostly). It's easy for me to trip and I often lose my balance so I need to be very careful. The other thing is that if I want to look for something or clean I want lots of light. My old eyeballs aren't as good as they used to be either. This place has a lot of windows and some skylights and being in AZ there is lots of natural light. But there is always the night time (sun goes down then in AZ too - lol!) and our occasional rainy days or dust storms when it is darker outside. Even if I don't have to use those lights that often, when I DO need them I want them to be there. As I've grown older I find most things are about ease of use and comfort. If fixtures in houses for sale are outdated they can always be updated. Having the wiring there for them is always a plus to me. The biggest expense would be in paying an electrician to wire them in if they aren't already there. A big plus on my 'new' place is those ceiling lights - and fans. When I looked thru the windows (my first 'view' of it inside) a huge plus was that almost every room not only had a ceiling light but a ceiling fan. It wasn't that I particularly liked the fixture in place but knowing the wiring was there I knew it'd be easy enough to change them. Being outdated isn't the top reason I'm replacing fixtures or fans either. My reasoning has more to do with my eyesight and other limitations. Most of the ceiling light fixtures in here max at a 60 W bulb usage. That isn't enough light. They are also enclosed in a globe (see pic above of hallway) that blocks even more light from them and also requires 2 or 3 little screws to hold them in - and remove them to change a bulb. My hands /fingers can't manage those little screws anymore. My requirements for a fixture (besides cheap) are they have to take at least 1 100W bulb and the globe has to be open to hands for changing the bulb. the fans in here are probably the cheapest you can buy anywhere (HD). 2 are way too small for the room size and my ceilings are angled and the fans are not the type for those ceilings. They wobble and clank as they turn. Not a fan I feel safe sleeping under. My son tried to balance them but said even that wouldn't help them. And now after watching Jed replace some of them I realize that even with bulbs that can be easily reached by a hand, I'd have to be MUCH taller, have leg extensions or use a ladder to reach them. None of those things will happen. I figure I'll be calling Jed a time or 2 thru out the yr to come over to replace them. When that happens I'll just have him go around the house and put new ones in all fixtures.

Well, we ordered our coach lights today. We will soon order some for the back of the house. Here is what we chose. I appreciate the assistance given. The one below is for the front of the house. It is in oil rubbed bronze -- much browner than in the picture. We ordered two larger ones to go beside the front door, and 3 medium ones (2 on either side of garage door, an one at the garage man door). We concluded that we need coach lights that did not extend too far (not deep ones), so we had to go a different direction. These lights have built in LED lights. The lights are made by Artcraft. Here is the ones we are ordering for the back of the house. There are 4 total along the back which is all one plane (not jogs out).

I also use 2 per shelf. One recommendation I would suggest is to make the frame slightly longer than 48" so that shop lights aren't pinched. I drape 2 small chains over each end and have each shop light chained to a dowel rod with finishing nails in each end. Then the lights can be easily raised or lowered by positioning the nail end into a different chain link.