Garage lighting 16'x21' w/ 8' ceilings - T8 or LED

[odie82]

I just put 4 of those 4' four bulb t5ho light fixtures in my garage from homedepot, 20k lumens each, 11' ceilings. its nice would not change a thing, had them wired on 2 switches so i can have 2 on 2 off or all 4 on.

 

[ForceFed70]

Initial LED fixtures posted show a light output of 4000 lumens.

A single 32W 4' T8 lamp puts out between 2800 and 3000 lumens depending on model and color temp.

So a 2 lamp T8 fixture will put out approximately 45% more light that one of these lamps.

I also love their efficiency claim. 37% more efficient than a T12. What a con! Nobody buys/sells T12 fixtures anymore because T8 are much more efficient. Why not compare to T8? Because they are only a tiny bit more efficient.

To recap: A much dimmer fixture, at twice the price, with only a marginal efficiency gain over T8. Not to mention that LED's dim over time much more than flourescent. Don't waste your time/money on LED lighting. Especially the cheap **** at Home Depot. The technology just isn't there yet.

 

[Rockuf8]

Ok, thanks to the valuable info from you guys in this thread I've decided to go with 4 foot 2 light wraparound T8's. Now how many to buy, thinking 5 or 6?

Which layout makes most sense? Not sure if I should run them in line with the joists or across them.

I will have supplemental under cabinet LED lighting above the work bench.

Photos of the space for reference

 

[Richard D]

It's only a $129 fixture and by the time the bulbs need to be replaced, someone else will be living in your house. I wouldn't wait 6 months or a year for the price to come down to $119. LEDs are becoming less expensive but not that fast.

ONLY $129? I've been getting the older style 4 footers from Lowes for about $11.99, and bulbs in bulk for less than a buck and a half. I don't care how many lumen, one of those isn't gonna be brighter than ten of these. And if you break a bulb, or one burns out, you're only out a buck fifty.

 

[Rockuf8]

The fixtures I was looking at were $33 and change I think, I like the wraparound style, still way cheaper to the LEDs, and I really wonder about the LEDs not burning out, a few here and there could go Im thinking then you'll notice and be SOL since if they ever do malfunction.

 

[911Dave]

ONLY $129? I've been getting the older style 4 footers from Lowes for about $11.99, and bulbs in bulk for less than a buck and a half. I don't care how many lumen, one of those isn't gonna be brighter than ten of these. And if you break a bulb, or one burns out, you're only out a buck fifty.

You missed the point. We're not comparing the cost of the LED fixture with a T8 one. We're comparing the cost of the same fixture today vs. waiting until the price comes down. Did you not read the posts that I was responding to?

 

[Richard D]

I see. I went through the same thing recently and decided the old technology was good enough for me into the forseeable future.

 

[911Dave]

I completely agree! I love LEDs but the value just isn't there yet.

 

[Rockuf8]

Thanks for helping out guys, off to HD to buy, now how many or which configuration???

 

[ForceFed70]

6 would be plenty for that space.
I like your 1st/top layout better. General rule of thumb is that you want your fixtures parallel to the longer walls.

 

[Rockuf8]

Thanks ForceFed, I'll get 6 then. Hope to get them in this weekend.

 

[ihateimacs]

Where did we find the lumen output for those lithonia led lights? I dont see it on Home Depots website, or even on the lithonia website? They list the color temperature of 4000 kelvin, but no specs on lumens.

 

[Rockuf8]

Top right corner of below pic (on box)

 

[matrix311]

I'm installing 6 t8 fixtures today in my 21x28 garage. Going to remove the 2 existing incandescent bulbs and put these in place of those. They are the 96" 8ft strip lights from home depot. I also went with the 5,000k 2,850lumen t8 bulbs for light output.

 

[Rockuf8]

I'm installing 6 t8 fixtures today in my 21x28 garage. Going to remove the 2 existing incandescent bulbs and put these in place of those. They are the 96" 8ft strip lights from home depot. I also went with the 5,000k 2,850lumen t8 bulbs for light output.

Cool, gl with the install. 8ft fixtures, damn those are long, even more of a pain to dispose of those 8ft bulbs when they blow out.

 

[matrix311]

Cool, gl with the install. 8ft fixtures, damn those are long, even more of a pain to dispose of those 8ft bulbs when they blow out.

The fixture uses QTY four 4 ft bulbs, not the long 8ft bulbs.

This is what i'm installing

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia...t-TC-2-32-120-1-4-GESB/100192753#.UYKc8so9lSE

 

[Rockuf8]

The fixture uses QTY four 4 ft bulbs, not the long 8ft bulbs.

This is what i'm installing

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia...t-TC-2-32-120-1-4-GESB/100192753#.UYKc8so9lSE

Ah ok, nice. Should look great.

 

[matrix311]

Done installing my new lights. Here are my before/after photos.

I went from 2 incandescent light bulbs with CFL 6500K bulbs in them 75W equivalent to 6 of the 8ft tandem t8 fixtures with 5,000K bulbs. Love the light output of these and now I have plenty of light to fill my 21x28 3 car garage.

Before:



After:

 

[NUTTSGT]

When you hang the lights, make sure they are far enough out that it lights up the side of the vehicle. Also watch out for the placement around the open garage door, not much worse than having the door open at night and the light is blocked by the O/H door.

I like the first layout but the middle bulb, where the front of the car will be, I'd turn it 90 degrees, placed far enough back that you can get light under the hood into the engine compartment.

 

[Rockuf8]

Done installing my new lights. Here are my before/after photos.

I went from 2 incandescent light bulbs with CFL 6500K bulbs in them 75W equivalent to 6 of the 8ft tandem t8 fixtures with 5,000K bulbs. Love the light output of these and now I have plenty of light to fill my 21x28 3 car garage.

Before:



After:

Came out great, plenty of light.

When you hang the lights, make sure they are far enough out that it lights up the side of the vehicle. Also watch out for the placement around the open garage door, not much worse than having the door open at night and the light is blocked by the O/H door.

I like the first layout but the middle bulb, where the front of the car will be, I'd turn it 90 degrees, placed far enough back that you can get light under the hood into the engine compartment.

If this was meant for me, I more than likely won't be pulling any vehicles into the garage, it'll be more of a workshop space, my off road truck won't fit anyway. If I ever do down the road, it'll just be a project car I've been working on for a few years that's pretty compact.

I like how evenly spaced, symmetrical layouts look.

 

[Rockuf8]

I picked up 6 T8 fixtures from HD last night, last 6 they had on the shelf. Went with the slightly nicer quality fixtures than the $33 ones which seemed a bit flimsy to me.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia...SB-4-32-120-1-4-GESB/100427376#specifications

Installing Saturday morning, will follow up then with pics.

 

[HellaFab]

In for pictures!

That will be a lot of light in your garage. Interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[Rockuf8]

In for pictures!

That will be a lot of light in your garage. Interested to hear your thoughts.

Well going from one incandescent bulb to this set up should be dramatic, but I hated how dark and dingy my garage was before.

 

[Rockuf8]

Got one in..

Two

Close up

Done, decided to add in the Garage light in the center, matched the 4' 5000k Natural light bulbs with fluorescent 5000k bulbs in the Liftmaster light.

 

[Rockuf8]

With the doors open

Ran the plug from the motion sensor garage light into a newly installed receptacle in the attic, didn't want any wires/outlets visible from inside the garage, plus I now have a outlet in the attic should I need one, not sure I'll ever need it.

 

[PhantomEB]

Who cares if you never need a fixture up there, I intend to put up a split up row of flourescents in the very top of the peak, just for the few times I may need to go up there for some things in storage.

 

[Rockuf8]

Yeah, I thought maybe a few guys would frown on how I put that light in with the outlet.

 

[PhantomEB]

Only thing I would do different is cover it up somehow to prevent any water poolin in that outlet?

 

[Rockuf8]

Yeah we thought about putting it sideways but it would be more prone to being bumped into, or out in a GFCI outlet. I don't see any water getting in there at all from inside the attic. Wonder if i could out one of those outdoor outlets there with the cover. Not sure what else to do.

If anyone has any other ideas I'm open to hearing them, not totally crazy about the outlet.

 

[Rockuf8]

Night shots showing how bright this set up really is.

Bright enough? THis is with the door open blocked 2/3 of the first row of lights too.

 

[PhantomEB]

Just wait til you paint the walls!

Thats how I wanna roll, the ability to attract UFOs down just buy turning on the lights!

A GFI unit wouldnt be a bad idea. I dont see much possibility of water getttin in there but you never know eh?

 

[jmait769]

That looks awesome!!

Jay

 

[Rockuf8]

Thanks guys, real happy with the output and the decision to go with natural 5000k spectrum.

 

[Larry_E]

I like it. Very good job. I'm working on my garage now. Pretty much the same size. I'd like to use day light bulbs. I'll post pictures when I'm done. Natural lighting may very well be the way to go if I cannot find daylight T5's.