CFL Lighting For my Garage

[James-W]

Here is couple pictures of the CFL lighting in my garage. There are 12 of them, connected in banks of three and operated from four wall switches. I was asked about how well they work and I must say, they work pretty well. At times I wish they were a little brighter, but all things considered they work acceptably well. If I need additional lighting in a specific area I can always use a floor lamp with a spotlight, but I haven't needed to do that as of yet. The 12 CFL's seem to do a decent job of lighting up the entire work area and I figure, why argue with success?

 

[Jamech]

I have 6 cfl's in my 23x25 detached cgarage, 2 banks of 3, each bank on it's own switch. The bank closest to the door is 200w equivalent bulbs (45w flourescent?) and the bank in the back by the workbench is 300w equivalent (68w flourescent). Plenty of light compared to the six 60w incandescents I had before.I also have 4 foot 2 tube fixtures over the work benches to supplement. I like the cfl's, have many inside the house also. I expect them to last longer but its kinda early to tell.

 

[jlckmj]

JamesW

How large is your garage?

And what size CFL's did you use?

Jim

 

[joefischer]

Be careful when moving the ladder around... They make a mess when you break them off. Been there done that.

 

[ForceFed70]

I think CFL is a great alternative when one is not willing to spend the cash or effort to swap to a T8 or T5 fixture.

2 main disadvantages tho:
- Fragile as mentioned by JoeFischer
- Not as efficient (due to both light pattern and ballast design)

I've got to wonder just how much cheaper it is tho. What are you guys paying for a 200W equivilent CFL?

 

[jlckmj]

I paid about $12.00 each for 105W (400W equivalent) 4 months ago. (free shipping)

They are now $10.26 ea. at the below link. and it looks like free shipping.

http://www.limostudio.com/shop/inde...graphy-photo-lighting-flourescent-bulb-1.html

All in all, I think it is extremely hard to beat the light output, and the simple wiring needs for CFL's if doing a garage from scratch.

Jim

 

[Jamech]

$15. for the 300w at the HD about a year ago. Quickest and easiest upgrade for me.

 

[LEVE]

I've had 8 CFL's in my garage for 4 years... they're working great.

I like them because they're not as subject to heat/cold and vibration as the regular incandescent lights. I'd already bought 8' and 4' florescent assemblies; then elected to go to something a whole lot simpler and less expensive. I did install one of the 8' florescent fixtures on the side of the shelf that floods light in the maintenance bay.

All in all, I'm very satisfied with them.

 

[MacTexas]

My garage is 32X32 and I am using 12 CFL bulbs to light up the space. It will be a while until the garage is finished but it is good to see your results as a proof of concept.

 

[socapots]

Nice alternatives. Kinda wondered if the swap would be usefull in my old shop. Right now its just a bunch of clear 60 and 100 watters

 

[ddawg16]

I have 16 CFL's in the ground floor of my garage....all in 6" recessed cans.

 

[CNGsaves]

Instead of recessed cans, has anyone used those industrial look covers so that regular porceline fixture could be use and light spread around better??

Any pics to share of your garage??

I've got 8 ft ceiling and leaning toward surface mount porceline fixtures. Example of look I'm considered is below . . . what kind of fixture would these work with??

 

[6t7gto]

Instead of recessed cans, has anyone used those industrial look covers so that regular porceline fixture could be use and light spread around better??

Any pics to share of your garage??

I've got 8 ft ceiling and leaning toward surface mount porceline fixtures. Example of look I'm considered is below . . . what kind of fixture would these work with??

CNG,
Hold that thought. I'll be back later with some pics of some fixtures I got out of a building remodel. These may be just what you need.

David

 

[6t7gto]

CNG,
Here are the light receptacles I have 6 of them.
The base is rubber and the guards are steel.
Says "Daniel Woodhead Company" 600v 600w.
Let me know if these would work for you.
David

 

[James-W]

JamesW

How large is your garage?

And what size CFL's did you use?

Jim

The garage is 24 feet wide and 36 feet deep. I am using 100 watt Sylvania CFL's. I don't have the packages they came in so I can't be certain, but I think they are 1600 lumens each. But I could be wrong on that.

They do sell higher wattage CFL's but I have not as of yet decided I need them. The ones I already have work awfully well and I figured if I was working on a project where I needed more light, I could use a floor lamp with a spotlight to give me extra light in that specific area. So far I have not needed to do that either.

I am quite happy with the CFL's so far, they are cheaper to run and they give a lot of light for the power they use. I do wish they wouldn't take a minute or two before they reach full brightness, but that isn't really a problem, it's just slightly annoying.

I would highly recommend the CFL's over the 4 foot or the 8 foot fluorescent tubes. The fluorescent tubes work just fine, I am not knocking them, and they certainly give off a lot of light. But having said that, the CFL's are simple to wire and to install them you can use a regular porcelain fixture. If they burn out, just remove the old CFL and screw in a new one.

 

[CNGsaves]

CNG,
Here are the light receptacles I have 6 of them.
The base is rubber and the guards are steel.
Says "Daniel Woodhead Company" 600v 600w.
Let me know if these would work for you.

Those might be better as cage is inverted so they could handle difference sizes of CFL's. Sent PM.

 

[Highbeam]

Remember, the high wattage CFLs are freaking huge. They are not the size of a regular light bulb. More like a thermos. 8-10" tall so fitting them into a fixture is a no-go. Also, they will hang down further into your headspace.

 

[MDSPHOTO]

I bought a bunch of the daylight balanced CFLs for my basement at Big Lots for pennies and they are surprisingly bright.

 

[James-W]

I bought a bunch of the daylight balanced CFLs for my basement at Big Lots for pennies and they are surprisingly bright.

That is a wonderful idea. We have a Big Lots store about 25 miles from here and for some reason it never dawned on me to go there and see what they had in the way of CFL lighting. Thanks.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The only issue I have heard was putting a "large" (10-12 ?) number of CFLs on a single breaker. Search GJ about a year or 2 ago for a big discussion.

 

[James-W]

The only issue I have heard was putting a "large" (10-12 ?) number of CFLs on a single breaker. Search GJ about a year or 2 ago for a big discussion.

I wonder why that is an issue? The 100 watt CFL's I am using supposedly give about the same amount of light that a 100 watt incandescent bulb gives off, yet they only draw 23 watts instead of 100 watts. So 12 CFLS would draw 276 watts, if my math is correct. I don't understand why that would be a problem. I will do as you suggested and try to find that discussion so I can read up on it.

 

[2Big2Ride]

The only issue I have heard was putting a "large" (10-12 ?) number of CFLs on a single breaker. Search GJ about a year or 2 ago for a big discussion.

I believe that discussion was about 105W CFL (400W equivalent light output) bulbs.

 

[ForceFed70]

I wonder why that is an issue? The 100 watt CFL's I am using supposedly give about the same amount of light that a 100 watt incandescent bulb gives off, yet they only draw 23 watts instead of 100 watts. So 12 CFLS would draw 276 watts, if my math is correct. I don't understand why that would be a problem. I will do as you suggested and try to find that discussion so I can read up on it.

CFL's have a large startup/surge current. I could easily see it causing havoc with breakers and switch/contact arcing when you get a lot of CFL wattage on a single circuit.

 

[James-W]

CFL's have a large startup/surge current. I could easily see it causing havoc with breakers and switch/contact arcing when you get a lot of CFL wattage on a single circuit.

Understood, but you don't put them all on one light switch. In my case I only have 3 of them on a switch, but I have 4 switches, hence the 12 CFL's.

 

[jlckmj]

I have 10 - 105W (400 watt equivalent) CFL's on one 15 amp breaker with no problems. (that works out to be .875 amps each)

I have them set up so 4 are on one switch, and 6 are on another switch, I regularly turn them all on at the same time and I have never had a problem. If I were to need more, and I doubt I will, I will put them on a separate breaker.

Jim

 

[2Big2Ride]

I have 10 - 105W (400 watt equivalent) CFL's on one 15 amp breaker with no problems. (that works out to be 8.75 amps)

I have them set up so 4 are on one switch, and 6 are on another switch, I regularly turn them all on at the same time and I have never had a problem. If I were to need more, and I doubt I will, I will put them on a separate breaker.

Jim

Hum? My 105W CFL bulbs are rated at 1600mA each. If my understanding of mA and amps is correct, that is 1.6 amps each. If your bulbs are like mine, 10 * 1.6 amps = 16 amps. 16 amps would be the max for a constant load on a 20 amp circuit (80% of 20 amps).

I am looking for confirmation from an expert since I just mounted nine 105W CFL bulbs on my ceiling on a 20A circuit, six on one switch and three on another switch.

 

[jlckmj]

2big2ride
I am by no means an expert when it comes to electricity. I got my numbers by filling out the conversion chart on the web page attached. I did notice that I had the decimal point in the wrong place, I corrected that, sorry for the confusion.

http://www.supercircuits.com/resources/tools/volts-watts-amps-converter

Jim