Garage lighting layout Help Needed

[HotRodHudson]

I am suffering from information paralysis and cant make a decision on the lighting layout for my garage. Here is what I have: the garage is a 5 car, 3 in front and 2 in back. The 2 in back is where I plan on doing my old car work. the space is approximately 27 foot deep and 21 ft across. I added a 100 amp sub panel to the garage so I have plenty of space for anything electrical!

A number of years ago I purchased 14 - T12 4ft 2bulb lights (I couldn't pass up $5 lights). I also brought the cabinets from my old place and I have a 4 post lift, which for not I have set where I want it.

Initially I was thinking of 3 rows of lights, parallel to the 27ft wall. Then I pulled one out due to the garage heater, added another over the engine area, read too many ideas and got stuck.

Since I am not good at adding photos I will try my best in a few minutes to give everyone and idea of the space......

 

[HotRodHudson]

Ok, here are photos. Yes, I've got **** everywhere and storage is the next thing to tackle!

 

[HotRodHudson]

More photos:

 

[HotRodHudson]

Sorry, having trouble uploading photos. Why I can't add more than one photo?

 

[HotRodHudson]

Here are the last two.

 

[Ray916MN]

To develop a lighting layout, it helps to first have a layout of major things like shelving and lifts and work benches, so the lighting can be laid out to avoid casting shadows and to ensure lighting helps visibility around these. For example a raised lift with a vehicle on it casts a heck of a shadow, so trying to figure out an efficient lighting layout without knowing where the lift is going to be is pretty much impossible.

To get help, you need to communicate where you are planning to place things like the lift, workbench(s), shelving, equipement (welding, lathe, parts washer, etc) and cars. The more detailed and specific your layout, the better and more specific suggestions can be made for your lighting layout.

 

[HotRodHudson]

I have no plans of moving the lift, adding more cabinets, etc. I don't own any large items other than what you see present. Compressor & tool box are sitting where I want them. My welder is currently stored in cabinets. When I decide I need a bench to work on things, other than on top of the base cabinets present, I may put one in front of the yellow coupe at the garage door. I never use it other than extra light & a nice breeze. Finally, the area on the drivers side of the coupe is eventually a work space, etc.

Hope that clarifies things.

 

[Ray916MN]

I'd do three rows parallel to the garage door across the area where the yellow coupe is parked. One row which gets partially blocked by the garage door when it is open and the other two which do not. Then I'd do three rows running parallel to the walls of the area where the truck is parked and the lift is. I'd run rows close enough to the wall that when the lift is up you get a decent amount of light under the lift and run the other rows to minimize the amount of blockage when the garage doors are open. On the lift side wall I'd even consider mounting the row on the wall at a height of about 7 ft. to try to get more light under the lift when it is up.

I'd do the plan for at least 18 two bulb fixtures (ie. at least 3 fixtures in every row)

 

[bullnerd]

Information paralysis...... That's great! Good luck, been there many times.

 

[HotRodHudson]

Would there be benefit running the lights parallel to the coupe? I've always heard people mention to run the light on each side of the car or where it would park. I also calculated Id have 110 Lumens/sqft if I use 12 lights in just the area where the coupe is at, and with 11ft ceilings in height.

Thanks.

 

[Ray916MN]

Would there be benefit running the lights parallel to the coupe? I've always heard people mention to run the light on each side of the car or where it would park. I also calculated Id have 110 Lumens/sqft if I use 12 lights in just the area where the coupe is at, and with 11ft ceilings in height.

Thanks.

There can be some benefit to running the lights parallel to the sides of the vehicle, the less the lights are over the vehicle. The taller the ceiling the less noticeable the benefit and the closer to the wall you have to run the light to be parallel but not over the vehicle the more you're going to light the wall instead of the floor. Given the apparent height and how close to the wall you would need to mount the light to get the benefits of parallel to the side of the vehicle orientation, I would not do this unless you're willing to run more rows of lights to make up for concentrating light against the wall of one side of the garage.

 

[HotRodHudson]

Ray916MN, I took a look at your garage and it is extremely well done. The use of the Pallet racks alone is great and then with the lift its well thought out. I wish I had gotten the taller rack. Hind sight is always clearer.
I see what you mean with the lighting running in your garage. It would definitely spread the light better than running parallel to the vehicle, plus if I did 3 rows of 3 (9 total) I can always come back and add the additional ones where I need them.

Is there any good suggestions for temporarily hanging some of the lights to get an idea of light output before they are permanently screwed into the ceiling joists?

 

[Ray916MN]

Thanks for the compliment on my garage. It was designed to have 200 lumens per sq. ft to achieve roughly 100 lumens per sq. ft. at working level. The calculator I used and most I've seen don't factor in lighting losses to the ceilings and walls. Unless you have mirrored ceiling and walls or are using appropriate reflector fixtures there are significant lighting loss to these surfaces.

With the preceding in mind and to distribute the light evenly, I'd consider making each row of lights 4 or 5 fixtures wide, so you can easily add more lighting if you want to later. Placing the ends of the 3 rows close to or right against the window side wall by the coupe will give you plenty of light on that side of the couple while minimizing the amount of light lost to the wall.

Sorry, I don't have any suggestions for temporarily mounting fixtures.

 

[HotRodHudson]

So, are you thinking to run the lights similar to how you have set yours up? End to end, or very close to it. The width is 21ft so 5, 4ft lights would put them end to end.
I suppose going either direction with the lights end to end would work and as long as I planned it out so that I could add additional rows or in specific areas based upon need.

Do you think going across the 21ft, end to end, gives a better distribution of light vs the length of 27ft? Initially I had planned on running the lights parallel to the coupe, and 4 per row. Which I guess could still be done, I just may need to go back and add a few in between the rows to fill in if needed.

As I loaded my other 37 Hudson (4dr) on top of the car lift and parked the vette under it again, I can easily see the need for lights 4-5ft off the ground. Perhaps even on the underside of the lift like you had done under your pallet shelving. Of course I would just have to figure out how I could wire it up without it getting tangled in anything in the range of motion.

 

[Ray916MN]

In the end of the garage with the yellow coupe, I'm thinking the way to go is to run the lights perpendicular to the sidewalls and parallel to the garage doors. On the window side of the couple, this enables you to minimize lighting of the wall with the window while still getting plenty of light on the window side of the car. Whether you set your rows up for 4 or 5 lights ultimately has more to do with what you put on the wall along with the compressor. If you put open workbenches, drill press or a lathe or something similar along the wall I'd go with rows of 5. If you put shelving, then you only ultimately need 4 in a row to get good coverage.

On the other end of the garage with the lift, the reason to run the lights parallel to the walls and perpendicular to the garage doors is because you primarily need to light the sides of the lift, not overhead. With a car on the lift, you work on the sides, with a car under the lift it is being stored and you only need the sides lit. The placement of the lift so close to the wall drives the lighting to be parallel to the wall. The rest of the lighting in this area follows this alignment simply to minimize the number of lights to get decent coverage. Running the rest of the light parallel to the garage door would be nicer, but it would take more lights to get coverage because I think more of the lighting would end up being blocked whenever the garage doors were open.

 

[HotRodHudson]

Ok, Im back from out of town & have been working on some of the lighting layout on paper. While I looked at a lot of options the following two are the ones which seemed to possibly work.

The left Photo with lights paralleling the 21' wall is the one which looks to give me the best overall light coverage and will likely use. I am planning on two switches one which will light up the black lights and one to light up the pink lights. (yes, black and pink are just for representation...LOL)

thoughts?

(the right photo was an idea I decided against)

 

[strnge]

So your not going to put lights in the empty area?

 

[n8tr]

what fixtures are you planning on using? I can run a quick photometric for you if you like.