Garage - Lighting noobie

[m3seeto]

I've just bought a brand new home and the garage is about the size of 23* 23 ft. It has one little light like this lighting up the whole garage:-

I'm pretty hand on (automotive) and i would like to change the light fixture to a full light like this :-

I have access to the attic of the garage and should be able to rewire anything as needed.

Questions,
1) Can i just change the old fixture to the new T8 light fixture ?

2) I would like to add additional T8 fixture, 1 or 2 more.
Can i just splice the wire (black to black, white to white and ground to ground) from the initial fixture to the new fixtures ?

Please teach me and give me advice on the safest approach to do this. I will be back with lots of questions, so let me know what to look out for.

 

[evan71]

just a question. did you look at going with t5 lights? they are brighter and use less electricity, however they do cost more as well.

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

You could just take off the existing fixture and wire the T8 fixture over the existing box.

As for adding new fixtures, you need to make sure that you are not exceeding the load on the breaker. If you are clear with the breaker, you could extend the wiring through the attic.

Just be mindful fo the local codes, use conduit if your specifies, use wire nuts in the old fixture to extend the new wire and use a ceiling box for the new fixture.

 

[m3seeto]

Hmm... never thought on T5 but i will look into it

Ashamsi,
Is there a specific way to determine i will not exceed the load on the breaker ?

Thanks.

 

[pattenp]

I wouldn't use T5 in your case. T5's cost more, both the fixture and tubes and the savings on electricity would take a lot of years to recoup. I recommend going with T8.

 

[pattenp]

You need to determine what is being run by that circuit to figure out the current load. You want to stay at or under 80% of the breaker capacity. On a 15 amp breaker that would be no more than 12 amps.

In figuring the amp load of florescent fixtures take the amp load off of the ballast, do not figure it from the wattage of the tubes.

 

[Submarine_Sailor]

I had the same problem you did. Easy solution, I bout T8 fixtures that plug into an outlet. Hung two of those on either side of the original bulb. Lights my garage well, no wiring required. Very easy, relatively cheap.

 

[Falcon67]

I'd either drill it to mount to the 4" box that hold the bulb, or change out the bulb for a plug and put in two hanging shop lights. What I did in mine was to put a 4" box over the light box and run conduit out either side an mount outlets, then plugged in 4 T8 4' 40 watt shop lights. I'll have to grab a pic for you when I get home.

You need to determine what is being run by that circuit to figure out the current load. You want to stay at or under 80% of the breaker capacity. On a 15 amp breaker that would be no more than 12 amps.

In figuring the amp load of florescent fixtures take the amp load off of the ballast, do figure it from the wattage of the tubes.

Good info - bu overkill. That's a 40 watt two bulb T8 fixture. Have two in the kitchen. They won't overload anything. He can screw in a bulb that'll pull more power.

 

[pattenp]

Good info - bu overkill. That's a 40 watt two bulb T8 fixture. Have two in the kitchen. They won't overload anything. He can screw in a bulb that'll pull more power.

Not overkill, just the safe way to be sure you're not adding too much load to an existing circuit. The OP said he was looking at replacing the existing single bulb fixture plus adding 1 or 2 more new florescent fixtures. The odds are the new fixtures will be well within the limits of the existing circuit. But why not be sure?

 

[787B]

A serious DIY kind of guy recently did a review of T5 vs T8 lights. His conclusion? T8's are 98% as efficient as T5's when using electronic ballasts. He also found the best value is buying cheap $10 T12 shop fixtures and retrofitting them with $10-15 electronic ballasts. So you get efficient, bright T8 fixtures and bulbs for about $30-35 vs buying complete T8 fixtures for $50. Sell the scrap magnetic ballasts on CL or feebay and recoup a couple more dollars.

http://benkrasnow.blogspot.com/2011/05/shop-lighting-upgrade-t5-vs-t8.html

 

[Falcon67]

I call BS on those retail prices. I use the T8 electronic ballast shop lights from Lowes at $18 a pop for fixture with ballast. Zero degree start type even. I have not had one to fail. Have also used the "Lights of America" cheapos from Walmart and they seem to work OK. I forget the price but it was well under $20. Replacement ballasts at Lowes/HD are in the $26~30 range so retrofitting T12s is not the way to go IMHO. I threw all mine in the trash, could not even give them away.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_245546-58659-NXU-6001-B_0__?productId=3168049&Ntt=utilitech++48%22+2-light+utility+fluorescent+shoplight+&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dutilitech%2B%2B48%2522%2B2-light%2Butility%2Bfluorescent%2Bshoplight%2B&facetInfo=

 

[787B]

I call BS on those retail prices. I use the T8 electronic ballast shop lights from Lowes at $18 a pop for fixture with ballast.

I'm not sure those are very efficient. No specs of any use to be found there, but I don't think they are high-frequency ballasts. In-fact, I have two of these very lamps at home and opened one up last weekend.

The "ballast", what there is of it, is contained in the end cap where the cord is. It has one transistor, a couple of diodes and a small transformer. The two diodes and one transistor probably allow them to market the lights as "electronic ballast", but it's rudimentary at-best. Looks like it might be 480 Hz, which is better than 60 Hz, but nothing like 30,000 Hz. I'll look closer tonight and maybe measure it and take pics.

Replacement ballasts at Lowes/HD are in the $26~30 range so retrofitting T12s is not the way to go IMHO. I threw all mine in the trash, could not even give them away.

Wish I'd known, I would have taken them from you. Free lamps plus $16 ballast and $5 in tubes means $21 high-frequency, high-efficiency bright T8s!

$16 ballast from Lowes.

 

[nate379]

My thoughts as well.

I call BS on those retail prices. I use the T8 electronic ballast shop lights from Lowes at $18 a pop for fixture with ballast. Zero degree start type even. I have not had one to fail. Have also used the "Lights of America" cheapos from Walmart and they seem to work OK. I forget the price but it was well under $20. Replacement ballasts at Lowes/HD are in the $26~30 range so retrofitting T12s is not the way to go IMHO. I threw all mine in the trash, could not even give them away.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_245546-58659-NXU-6001-B_0__?productId=3168049&Ntt=utilitech++48%22+2-light+utility+fluorescent+shoplight+&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dutilitech%2B%2B48%2522%2B2-light%2Butility%2Bfluorescent%2Bshoplight%2B&facetInfo=

 

[Falcon67]

I measured before and after between T12 mags and the replacement T8s - I don't have the exact draw figure for the feed legts here but the swap cut current draw by 1/3.

That must be new pricing because I just bought three T8 replacements for this house in December to retrofit the existing fixtures - two 2 x 48" fixtures and one 4 x 48". The ballasts were around $24~26 each I think but I'll have to find the receipt in the file to be sure. I could have bought the exact same kitchen lights with T8-E ballasts for $19.95 each but chose to just rewire and go rather than have to remount the things. I've not seen any $16 units in either Lowes or HD here, will look again next time I'm in.

 

[Falcon67]

Pic of my garage light lash-up. Something that works until I get a real shop anyway. The bulb in the middle is the original light socket. Replaced with a 4" box. Then I got fancy and drilled the cover and used some leftover ceiling fan parts to mount a light socket to the cover. Had to do something with that 100W CFL I guess....