I don't see enough natural lighting!

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

I've noticed that most of the shops & garages have little to no natural light. Heck, even the shop that I have (came w/the house) only has two UNINSULATED windows on the NORTH side That will change!

Anyway, natural light is free, even on a cloudy day. Even without insulated windows there are window films, shades, and adjustable awnings that can be used to regulate light and temperature considerations. Even 'natural light' bulbs can't beat the breadth and depth of real natural light.

I understand security can be a concern. Window coverings like privacy films or textured/glazings like on most bathroom windows can give visual security. Placing windows up high works, like skylights! The solar tubes are freakin' amazing so don't poo-poo them (we used one in our prior house to naturally light up an always-dark hallway...why didn't we do that sooner?).

Here's a fellow biker's garage that I found inspiring:

Click me for more pictures

Of course natural lighting is typically limited to day use, duh!

 

[Falcon67]

A good point. I had to make that call with one 24' wall facing due west. I called it "no windows" because here in summer west wall temps will go well past 130F. Windows on that wall would only increase the heat load on the AC unit. I did put windows on the north and south walls.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I love the high windows on the side. Not certain about the translucent garage door panels.

BTW, I fully understand the comment about "not seeing enough natural light". I sed to work in a very large, old office building. 1 floor. The part of the building where I worked had no windows. There were many days, when I arrived at work in total darkness and left in total darkness and could not tell if the sun ever came up.

 

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

A good point. I had to make that call with one 24' wall facing due west. I called it "no windows" because here in summer west wall temps will go well past 130F. Windows on that wall would only increase the heat load on the AC unit. I did put windows on the north and south walls.

Given the region you live I can understand.

 

[brianh]

I have 6 3x10 skylights in my roof they will get triple glazed for heat loss.

Not a very good picture but all I have at the moment

They are on the north side, the south side is getting solar panels.

 

[kv501]

I have 6 3x10 skylights in my roof they will get triple glazed for heat loss.

Not a very good picture but all I have at the moment

They are on the north side, the south side is getting solar panels.

I like that a lot; the left side is definitely brighter than the right. Are you planning on lights on that side too?

 

[brianh]

There are lights on that side they are washed out from the skylights, they were great before the electric I could work during the day.

It still gets pretty bright now even in November, in the summer with the sun overhead it is way brighter than electric lighting.

 

[kv501]

There are lights on that side they are washed out from the skylights, they were great before the electric I could work during the day.

It still gets pretty bright now even in November, in the summer with the sun overhead it is way brighter than electric lighting.

Lol, sorry... I meant to ask you if you were planning on skylights on that side. I was thinking faster than I could type

 

[Zeke]

That is an awesome garage with an even more awesome bike. if only my life could be that simple.

Tomorrow's goal: make at least one thing simpler.

 

[samert111]

I really like the full length windows down both sides I had put in my pole barn. They are actualy a thermal pane type plastic panel that have a honeycomb type construction. They are approx. 3/8" thick and face East and West so I get plenty of natural light all year.

 

[brianh]

Lol, sorry... I meant to ask you if you were planning on skylights on that side. I was thinking faster than I could type

No I will have solar hot water panels feeding my slab for radiant heat on that side of the roof.

 

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

I really like the full length windows down both sides I had put in my pole barn. They are actualy a thermal pane type plastic panel that have a honeycomb type construction. They are approx. 3/8" thick and face East and West so I get plenty of natural light all year.

Michigan gets pretty cold in the winter so do those panels have any insulative properties? Do you remember the name of them? I like it!

 

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

brianh, thanks for the interior picture, that really shows the natural light improvement.

 

[240sxguy]

I have threatened to put skylights in my garage more than once! I still might when the day comes that new roof is needed. I have one small window, which is enough to let yourself not get killed walking through during the day with the lights off.

 

[TWX]

My garage is a bit of a santa-fe style, the walls come up outside about two to three feet higher than the roof on the east, south, and west sides. The roof actually overhangs the north side wall by about three feet.

Some day I want to have the roof lifted higher and re-bolted higher on those three walls, and then put in frosted windows on that north side where the roof currently overhangs, kind of like in that first picture. I might also put bars on the windows though, as it's closer to the alley than I'd like.

Unfortunately for me, there's a fair amount of infrastructure in the ceiling. LOTS of wiring, connections for the garage door openers, the air conditioning duct, some conduit, and some air fittings. There'd be a lot of work to change that- some wiring could simply be cut and have new wiring spliced in to fill the new gap, but some would have to be restrung, and much of the rest like the AC duct would need extensive modifications. I'd probably also want to increase the height of the garage doors, which would mean new headers, removal of concrete blocks, and new doors and tracks, and probably new openers.

It's only money, right?

 

[samert111]

Michigan gets pretty cold in the winter so do those panels have any insulative properties? Do you remember the name of them? I like it!

They are Lexan Thermoclear Twin Wall panels. The R value is something like 1.64, not as good as a gas filled dual pane glass window but better than a single pane glass window I'm pretty sure.

http://www.lexet.co.kr/application/%EB%AC%BC%EC%84%B1%ED%91%9C/LTC%202R6.pdf

 

[Innov8tive1]

I couldn't agree more with the OP. My garage (built by the previous owner) has one window in the north wall and one in the west wall. None at all in the south wall. Drives me nuts! Not enough that I want to cut holes and re-frame for windows but enough that I wonder WHY? The prev. owner is an electrician, and he didn't put in one single solitary outdoor recep. on the garage..........not even one!!! I find myself shaking my head a lot when looking at his work.

 

[FITO]

They are Lexan Thermoclear Twin Wall panels. The R value is something like 1.64, not as good as a gas filled dual pane glass window but better than a single pane glass window I'm pretty sure.

http://www.lexet.co.kr/application/%EB%AC%BC%EC%84%B1%ED%91%9C/LTC%202R6.pdf

How did you frame those out?

 

[dirttracker18]

Love the idea but heating costs are a concern here.

I would love to put in the tubular skylights one day. Alas the budget is for other things right now. I wanted to put them in during the build, I should have.

 

[samert111]

How did you frame those out?

The Lexan panels are 4' x 12' and the builder just used used the pole barn siding screws thru them into a 2x6 horizontal purlin at the bottom and at the top into the truss header that runs down sides of the barn. At the top the panels **** up to the soffit J channel and at the bottom to the J channel for the metal siding. He then chaulked the bottom joint with silicone but after a couple years the caulk started to leak water inside. So I removed the bottom screws and slide in a drip edge behind the panels. On the inside at each of the buildings posts there was a 1 1/2" gap between the post and the lexan panels (the thickness of the purlins) and the wind would push the panels in and out and eventually worked the screws loose and started to crack the panels at the bottom edge. I lived with this for several years and last fall I decided to insulate the building and knew I had to do something about this condition. So last weekend I cut pcs of treated 2x6 to fill in the gap between the posts and the Lexan panels. I removed all the screws holding the Lexan panels in and used some cedar trim boards cut to fit and painted to match the trim to frame the perimeter of the panels and also at each vertical post location. 4" deck screws to go thru the trim board, the Lexan panel, the spacer board at each post and into the posts to sandwich everything together. Same along the top and bottom edges.

 

[Rich H.]

Mine faces south.
If I want natural light I open the door and voila

West and north walls? Tiny window. Prevailing winds are from north and west. Setting sun will fry me in the summer, wind will freeze me in the winter. No thanks, have to keep the penetrations to a minimum.

East wall? Faces the house and would transmit more noise into the house, which I don't want. If I were committed to piddling around quietly at night, then I could do it...however I fully intend to be grinding and banging away on stuff at 2am out there, and don't want to wake up the family. Now in the small area on the east wall that faces the deck but not the house, I put in a larger window....but that's the only area I felt comfortable doing that.

Roof/skylights? It's pretty, and I really like it when other people do it, but I like to keep roof penetrations to a minimum on anything of mine. I figure if I create opportunities for problems, with my luck it's almost the same thing as guaranteeing problems. But it is great when everyone else does it!!

 

[Greatbear]

Here's a vote for solar tube skylights. I installed a Velux Sun Tunnel in the one bathroom in the house which has no windows. The room is brighter than what the 300 watts of halogen light provides. Installation is super easy and there is NO loss of heat in the winter, and NO heat gain in the summer. Each 14" skylight is the lighting equivalent of (at least) 400 watts of incandescent floodlighting.

 

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

My sister and my mother have the 10" version of that tube in their bathrooms (both without windows) and you are correct, so much light that an electrical light isn't needed during the day. That's what sold us on doing our hallway and what I want to do for my shop, though I may go with bigger ports or skylights as the shop is relatively big/tall.

 

[Orangestang]

I perfer no windows they take up wall space if I need to place a cabinet up, I also don't like what the sun does to the stuff inside it tends to fade and dry things out.

 

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

If you have a small space then it's true standard windows would consume valuable wall space. Some options are to use skylights and/or windows can be placed higher and longer more than taller. There are simple window coverings that can block UV light as that is what is causing the fading.

 

[Gary S]

Anyway, natural light is free, even on a cloudy day.

True, but heat and cooling isn't, and if you live in a cold or hot climate, the heating or cooling bill to overcome the loss the windows give you can easily cost you 5-10x the cost it would take to light the interior with florescent lighting.
A well built 2x6 wall can be R25. A well built 2x4 wall can be R20. An expensive argon filled triple pane thermopane window is about R5 and a double pane around R3. Light is cheap compared to the heat loss through more "window holes" than needed.

 

[DaWoodster]

Adding skylights (since metal roof, just FRP panel) was a no brainer for me,especially here in SoCal where we get a little more sun than most. I still open the door sometimes and think "damn, I left the lights on".

 

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

True, but heat and cooling isn't, and if you live in a cold or hot climate, the heating or cooling bill to overcome the loss the windows give you can easily cost you 5-10x the cost it would take to light the interior with florescent lighting.
A well built 2x6 wall can be R25. A well built 2x4 wall can be R20. An expensive argon filled triple pane thermopane window is about R5 and a double pane around R3. Light is cheap compared to the heat loss through more "window holes" than needed.

Though I agree that a poor window choice can increase heating/cooling costs, I doubt using a modern dual- or triple-pane vinyl window would still allow for that much of a loss. Placement is a factor as well, as mentioned, don't put windows on the west wall if you live in Texas Skylights are a bigger issue as those can be particularly bothersome when it comes to keeping temps controlled (side note for those with skylights, check this place out).

Based on my own experience with low-emissivity, e-coated, dual-pane windows AND over-sized sliding glass door in my last house, we actually used the heat and A/C less than when the regular dual pane windows were in (and that 'gut feeling' was proven every time when we got the gas bill). From those older windows you could actually feel cold air spill off the window sill in the dead of winter and in the summer we needed to keep all the blinds closed. This was on the south side of the house that pretty much got the sun all day long. Anyway, with the better glass we could leave the curtains open in the summer without requiring the A/C to work longer.

I'm not saying "Hey, turn your shop into a greenhouse!". However, I notice that so many are built without much thought about using natural light. If one lives in a more extreme clime then I would agree that keeping windows and/or skylights to a minimum may be a good idea. I agree with you on the amount; don't put more than necessary if heating/cooling is a greater concern. However, this doesn't always hold true as this person proved...<click me>.

I know for me the current windows will be replaced with energy efficient units. I think I'll add a Trombe wall to my south wall (maybe along with one or two windows) to off-set heating costs in the winter. I'm not sure if I'll install solar light tubes; I'd like to because I could forgo windows on the south wall and thus have more wall space for storage. Though the tubes give better security, they don't open for ventilation and provide no view to the outside (to keep an eye on the kids, the neighbor's hot wife, etc.).