Add on garage lights and wiring

[54bomb]

How did you guys add all the extra garage lights without having a 1000 extra extention cords all over, Ive added some shop lights to my garage and I dont want to have to run cords all over. When my garage was built they didnt connect the roof power outlet to the wall switch. Any ideas? For now Ive got the normal surge protector block with all the plugs in it.

 

[husky125]

I ran EMT conduit on the surface for all my lights and outlets. It's alot easier that pulling wires through insulation in the walls and crawling around in the attic. I installed a surface mount subpanel for all of the garage circuits.

 

[Gummi Bear]

Learn to run pipe, or get into the attic.

That receptacle in the ceiling is intended for a garage door opener (it's also a fine place to hook a retractable cord reel)


The lighting should be to a outlet in the ceiling (a round box) Typically in a house it's a cheap keyless porcelain lampholder and a 60W lamp.

If you're not comfortable working with electricity, and don't have a pretty firm grasp of proper installation and code, it's money well spent to go ahead and hire an electrician.

 

[54bomb]

It would be pretty easy to ask the contractor guy who built the house to get the roof outlet connected to the switch on the wall.Hes in the neighborhood all the time. I dont feel too comfortable cutting and splicing a bunch of power wires together with out some instructions. Ill figure something out that looks smooth and with far less extention cords, thanks for the ideas.

 

[snorvet]

if you can get into the attic, you can run the wire there with feeds down to your lights, and down the wall to a switch. There are several good books on electrical that would give you the info on how to do this. plus you ask more questions on this forum.

 

[T1704]

In my last garage, I did have the round porcelain light in the middle of my garage. I bought one of those adapters that take the place of the bulb and has outlets on it. I then bought two 6ft plug in florescents from wal-mart, installed one on each side of that light and plugged them in, which worked fine and utilized the switch. I later cut the ends off the coords and hard wired them.

In the new garage, I planned ahead and had 4bulb florescents installed.

Running 1/2" EMT is another fairly east option.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

Learn to run pipe, or get into the attic.

That receptacle in the ceiling is intended for a garage door opener (it's also a fine place to hook a retractable cord reel)


The lighting should be to a outlet in the ceiling (a round box) Typically in a house it's a cheap keyless porcelain lampholder and a 60W lamp.

If you're not comfortable working with electricity, and don't have a pretty firm grasp of proper installation and code, it's money well spent to go ahead and hire an electrician.

When I built my garage, I had an electrician wire it. He did not use GFI recepticles in the garage. Later, I was told that any recepticle in the garage that wasn't "dedicated" requires GFI protection by code. A dedicated recepticle would be a single with something plugged into it, like your garage door opener. If they use a dual recepticle there...even in the cieling, it supposedly isn't up to code, because someone could climb up there and plug a retractable cord reel

I'm no code expert, but when I mentioned it to the electrician, he promptly came back and installed a GFI breaker on the 20 Amp circuit that all the garage plugs were hooked to. He then sent me a bill for the breaker, but DID credit me back for the standard breaker he removed.

I'm not sure what the code is...but it makes sense that GFI would be requried in a garage, where you might have a wet floor.

Phil

 

[54bomb]

I looked for one of those plug in adapters to the screw in light bulb socket but havent found one. I think that would be the easiest way to do it, then I could just use the light switch, and I wouldnt have the cord running across the rafters down to the door way.

 

[Gummi Bear]

Good call on that HB. Here's a further explanation of what you're describing:

By code, yes, GFI protection is required (2005 NEC 210.8 (A)(2)) with exceptions. You may have one receptacle that is not protected to serve your freezer, and the garage door opener (they are classified as fixed in place, and not readily accessible with the appliances in front of them)

GFI is intended for one thing: personnel protection. It's not a gimmick, it only takes 6 milliamps to interrupt your heart rhythm, and a GFI is set to trip with as little as 3 milliamps. If you've never taken one apart, you'll find a little circuit board, that 'reads' the load on the hot (black wire, supply path) and the neutral (white wire, return path) and if there is an imbalance between the two, it trips. GFI protection is required in wet locations (bathrooms, outdoors, garages, boathouses, etc)

Older, less efficient power tools can cause problems with this. So can some lighting fixtures. Air compressors usually trip GFI's too. This is commonly referred to as 'nuisance tripping'.

Modern GFCI receptacles, installed correctly, and well kept tools will not pose many of these problems.

I will offer you this tip: DEMAND that they be installed to protect at that location only (a GFI plug at every opening). Using them to protect a circuit causes problems, and puts undue loads on it resulting in premature failure and increased nuisance tripping.

 

[mrl05]

If you have the round porcelain fixture for a 60W bulb, you can remove the porcelain fixture and replace it with a round 2 outlet receptacle. Cost of the plate is about $4 and the wiring is simple. Just wire the new receptacle exactly like the one you just removed. This will allow you to plug in 2 flourescent light fixtures. I had 2 of these 60W fixtures in my garage and converted both to receptacles. I now have four (4) 3-bulb flourescent light fixtures plugged in their place. My garage light output went from 120 watts incandescent to 384 watts of flourescent. Major improvement. Now I have power cords that are draping from the ceiling, but that is a minor drawback to the highly improved lighting.

Mike

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Good call on that HB. Here's a further explanation of what you're describing:

By code, yes, GFI protection is required (2005 NEC 210.8 (A)(2)) with exceptions. You may have one receptacle that is not protected to serve your freezer, and the garage door opener (they are classified as fixed in place, and not readily accessible with the appliances in front of them)

Actually its generally considered that anything above 7 ft off the floor is considered not "readily accessable" and not required to be GFCI. In addition, the dedicated single receptacle for fridge or freezer is OK also. You can make a duplex receptacle a single by breaking away the tabs and using only one half, the other half is dead, cheaper than a single receptacle, and legit.

Actually, the Code says "Readily Accessable" means that you don't need a ladder or stool to access the receptacle or device, I've seen several interpetations that say 7 ft, but for garages "readily accessable" is the term the code uses in 210.8.

Charles

 

[Gummi Bear]

Actually its generally considered that anything above 7 ft off the floor is considered not "readily accessable" and not required to be GFCI. In addition, the dedicated single receptacle for fridge or freezer is OK also. You can make a duplex receptacle a single by breaking away the tabs and using only one half, the other half is dead, cheaper than a single receptacle, and legit.

Actually, the Code says "Readily Accessable" means that you don't need a ladder or stool to access the receptacle or device, I've seen several interpetations that say 7 ft, but for garages "readily accessable" is the term the code uses in 210.8.

Charles

Breaking the tab isn't always going to fly, kind of like using a dummy switch as a filler. If it's not working, the inspectors around here expect it to be blanked off, or an appropriate device installed. Sometimes you can get away with it, but usually an inoperable device (even partial) is a quick way to get a red tag.

A receptacle behind a large appliance, such as a stove, refrigerator or even a washing machine is still considered to be 'not readily accesible', it would be considered an obstacle, by definition (art 100). 7' is probably a pretty good rule, but I've not had an AHJ come out and specify a height that they considered no longer readily accesible.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

I will offer you this tip: DEMAND that they be installed to protect at that location only (a GFI plug at every opening). Using them to protect a circuit causes problems, and puts undue loads on it resulting in premature failure and increased nuisance tripping.

GB,

I understand that you are saying to avoid using a single GFCI recepticle as a "load center" to protect other non-GFCI's on the same circuit.

Do you see any problems with using a GFCI Breaker in the electrical box? They had wired all of my recepticles on a single 20Amp circuit, and that's the only thing on that circuit. It is now protected by a GFCI breaker. They attached a label to each recepticle cover that says "GFCI Protected".

I'm stuck with it now...but do you think that is a good approach or one you would recommend against?

I've only been in the garage for 6 months. The circuit hasn't tripped yet. I do have my air compressor plugged into one of those plugs. I've used my MIG welder one time too, without any problems. Don't know.

Phil

 

[Gummi Bear]

You'll be fine. When/if the breaker becomes weak, replace the breaker with a standard, and new receptacles at the same time as well. Until it becomes a problem, let it be, it'll do fine for you.

The breakers work for a plenty long time. I don't like using a wall receptacle partly from a future service standpoint, and also the confusion it causes the home/business owner. There are actually GFCI devices, that look like a receptacle without the plug-in part. It's just the pushbuttons. You'll see these on wham-bam-thank you-ma'am cheap tract housing more than anywhere else. They're less expensive than a breaker, and they sure aren't going to put a GFCI at each location (margins are extremely tight on residential)

 

[54bomb]

thanks , lots of good info