Hydronic system up and running plus some light boxes

It took a while for the two coats of paint to dry before i could work on installing the hydronic heater so that didn't get started until Saturday morning.

In the meantime, I was able to figure out a method of installing the overhead lighting that would allow it to come out looking half-way lined up. The shop lights will consist of seven strings of LED light bulbs, each string will have eight bulbs with a total electrical demand of only 448 watts. Additionally, each string will be controlled individually allowing for lighting up the shop as needed.
(Home Depot had a really good offer on those bulbs a while back, so I went with that instead of flourescents)

To get it all lined up I took some measurements along each side of the shop to mark the string location from side to side. Then I determined the required distance between the lights including the additional space between bulbs at the peak to allow for the HVAC ducting. After those marks were made, I was able to set up two lasers. One shooting from side to side along the string marks and the other shooting along the length of the building at the location of the first bulb. The crossing lasers indicated the first bulb location. Once that housing was secured, it was a pretty simple matter of keeping the string lined up with the laser running from side to side. The distance between bulbs is kept in line with pre-cut lengths of conduit.

So far, so good. I'm done with the first three strings but ran out of supplies. Lowe's didn't have many on hand and the local Home Depot and Menard's don't sell the type of box I'm using so I ordered some more online.

They should be here before next weekend.

Primer coat 1/2 way done. The top shelf there will be for the dehumidifier. If you look closely, you can see the top of the drain pipe in the shadow.

Primer coat done

Hydronic heater installed and running. I insulated the pipes after taking this picture.

First two boxes installed.

Moving along

I needed some additional height to work near the peak of the building so I added some fiddles to the sides of my work table to keep the ladder from sliding off. It was very stable and worked perfectly - just don't tell my wife!

First string almost done

First string done.

In lieu of a snake to run the electric through my conduit, I used a "mouse". Simply tie a small piece of paper towel onto a string and use the shop vac to pull it through the conduit. Once that is done you just tie it off to your electric lines and pull it through.

I also got all my boat building parts, tools and plans pulled out of storage including the VacMobile.

I was really excited to get the vacuum system all unwrapped and put back together. I did a 30 minute test run to make sure it survived the time in storage. The pump was happy and did a good job pulling all the way down to 9 mbar before warming up and settling down at 12 or 13.