6 Lights, 2 switches, 1 Circuit

[freebo86]

Hey all, please ignore the stupidity that may come about in this post but I have a question in regards to wiring some lights in the garage and not sure if this is possible.

Basically I have an attached car garage, 20x20. Currently in that garage there 2 light bulbs and the garage door opener light. So as you can imagine it's very dark in there and not enough light output. To sweeten all this, the entire garage is wired on 1 circuit. Genius whoever did this...
There is 2 switches in the garage on opposite walls that control these 2 light bulbs, so you can turn the bulbs on/off at either end.

Now I got my hands on some LED strip lights, and I am contemplating whether to install 4 or 6 of them in the garage. The difference between that is 17 fc or 26 fc.

If I were to install them in a 2 (column) x 3 (rows) fashion, the 3rd row would basically get blocked out by the garage door once opened. So I am wondering can the last row be wired onto the 2nd switch that's on the wall so if I require the additional light output I can turn those on if needed even though all the lights are on the same circuit?

I was also toying with the idea of doing 3 columns and 2 rows. So if you have any ideas/inputs it would be greatly appreciated!

 

[PyroWorx]

currently it sound as if your dealing with a 3 way switch, which unfortunately most likely only has one switch leg. making what your trying to do, not impossible, but more difficult. you would need to figure out which end has the power feed and whitch end (switch) has the switch leg. the end with the switch leg will not need any additional wires as you can simply route the power from the feed switch to the leg switch and eliminate the feed switch. you will need to change to a singlepole switch in both locations. To get your other switch for your other rows of lights you'll need to Pigtail the hot from the old 3-wire for one screw on the switch and run a new switch leg to the first light in this second set. that switch leg will go on the other screw (black wire) and the white wire will tie into the neutral that was running the old 3-way in the same box.

 

[PyroWorx]

excuse my reply if it is hard to follow, as I am an electrician, not a teacher, but I try. LOL,
to confuse things more I used my poor artistic ability to draw a picture of the wiring as it should be, but I cant figure out how to add it

 

[freebo86]

excuse my reply if it is hard to follow, as I am an electrician, not a teacher, but I try. LOL,
to confuse things more I used my poor artistic ability to draw a picture of the wiring as it should be, but I cant figure out how to add it

LOL! I appreciate your help. Once you click to reply, click on Advanced Reply then Manage Attachments and upload your picture there.

Yes, 3 way switch that's whats currently there. So maybe my idea of lighting a separate row of lights through a secondary switch might be more involved then I thought.

Issue is the panel for the house is basically on the opposite side of the house where the garage is, on top of that my ceiling in the basement is finished so there is no easy way to bring another circuit in there. That's why i was trying to figure out if its this possible with using a single circuit.

Any input/idea on the lights? Im kinda torn do I mount up 6 or just 4.

 

[matt_i]

The way I interpret, you have a couple of 3-way switches controlling the lights, as-is.

You want the ability to switch one bank separate from the others.

You need at minimum another switch and another NM wire run from the junction box up to the ceiling where the 3rd bank will be, to accomplish this.

I like to make decisions on how many equivalent "incandescent watts" are chewing thru my power bill. For example, I had 4 incandescent 100W bulbs lighting my parking garage when I moved in. Quick move was to install 4 x 22W CFLs. So essentially I reduced my energy consumption by 3/4.

Check out the wattage or current draw on your LEDs and multiply by # of fixtures. I think you will find it draws pretty minimally and won't be a big deal to have some light being "wasted" at times. If it ends up to be a lot of wasted watts, then it might be time to invest in some more circuitry.

 

[Shiftless]

The way I interpret, you have a couple of 3-way switches controlling the lights, as-is.

You want the ability to switch one bank separate from the others.

You need at minimum another switch and another NM wire run from the junction box up to the ceiling where the 3rd bank will be, to accomplish this.

I like to make decisions on how many equivalent "incandescent watts" are chewing thru my power bill. For example, I had 4 incandescent 100W bulbs lighting my parking garage when I moved in. Quick move was to install 4 x 22W CFLs. So essentially I reduced my energy consumption by 3/4.

Check out the wattage or current draw on your LEDs and multiply by # of fixtures. I think you will find it draws pretty minimally and won't be a big deal to have some light being "wasted" at times. If it ends up to be a lot of wasted watts, then it might be time to invest in some more circuitry.

Why complicate things so much when you are only trying to finesse a situation that only costs a couple of pennies worth of electricity? And how often are you spending a lot of time at night with the garage door open anyway?
Keep It Simple _ _ _ _ _ _ !

 

[dave*99]

Why complicate things so much when you are only trying to finesse a situation that only costs a couple of pennies worth of electricity? And how often are you spending a lot of time at night with the garage door open anyway?
Keep It Simple _ _ _ _ _ _ !

Yup

 

[freebo86]

Why complicate things so much when you are only trying to finesse a situation that only costs a couple of pennies worth of electricity? And how often are you spending a lot of time at night with the garage door open anyway?
Keep It Simple _ _ _ _ _ _ !

You know this is exactly what I thought as well! If the garage door is open means its either summer time so its warmer and there is more daylight. 90% of the time I'm in there the door is closed, especially in the winter months in Canada.

The current draw, its 40W per fixture at 120V, so the 0.3A. If I install 6 fixtures then its not even a 2A draw.

 

[freebo86]

So I finally decided to go ahead and get these lights put up, figured out my spacing etc. But then I noticed that these lights I'll basically have to install junction box for the fixture. I can't just connect the wiring inside the light as some fluorescent lights have a wire channel inside them, well these don't.

My question is, with my current fixture spacing, but I doubt I'm right besides a joist on every light. So how exactly does one mount the ceiling boxes when not nearby a joist?

 

[Beemer533]

Assuming the fixture isn't really heavy, just use an old work box:

https://www.google.com/search?q=old...=onynVtSeHcSHjgS5uJiIBA#imgrc=RNwY1CZ6NzxMTM:

 

[freebo86]

Assuming the fixture isn't really heavy, just use an old work box:

https://www.google.com/search?q=old...=onynVtSeHcSHjgS5uJiIBA#imgrc=RNwY1CZ6NzxMTM:

Ah thanks, interesting. The fixture weights 5lbs. So I'm assuming the little tabs flip out and rest against the drywall above?

 

[freebo86]

Well I installed the fixtures this weekend, what a difference it made! I ended up using regular octagon boxes and what I did for supports was since I had some 2x4 lumbar kicking around I just cut some pieces and when I was between studs used that as a brace. Something like this picture, was much cheaper than getting these self supporting junction boxes.


However I do have a question,

- I installed these junction boxes, well there is some insulation up in the attic, now when I installed the box there is insulation around it. Is this an issue? Or is the box supposed to be isolated away from all this?

- One thing I'm not pleased with on this garage is the fact that all receptacles and lights were ran on 1- 15A circuit. So while up in the attic I realized I had a 12/2 red (heater) wire that's run down to the baseboard in the corner which I never turn on. Now looking at the panel in the basement I am assuming this heater is fed from a 20A 2 pole breaker that feeds some other baseboards around (I still have to verify that this heater is fed from this 20/2 breaker). I'm thinking, what is the difficulty to take the 12/2 wire and refeed to another new 20A/1 breaker and feed a few receptacles that are in there with this?

Or would I be maybe better suited to keep in that 208V as is?

Also while in the attic I noticed there is a 14/3 wire up there that I'm not sure what that would feed. Would this be used for the 2 - 3 way switches I have in the garage for the lights?