Garage lighting plan help

[Artes]

Long time lurker and I'm finally getting around to the planning stage of making changes to the garage. I'm a hobbyist and enjoy working on my vehicles.

I'm having trouble deciding on the best lighting layout using 2 T8 bulbs in 48" length fixtures. If I did the calculations correct from Jack Lindsey's small workshop guide, 16 fixtures puts me around 100 footcandles. Adding four (B) fixtures puts the light output around 132 fcs. There is an I-beam, represented by the dotted lines, almost splitting the garage in half. The garage door side is about 11' deep and it is about 9' on the other side.

The previous owner finished the ceiling with drywall, added texture, and painted the ceilings white. The ceiling is around 9'4" before the i-beam and drops down to 9' by the garage door. The walls are a light grey and I have access to the attic space above for wiring.

Is this lighting layout appropriate for this garage style? If so, would it make sense to place the 'B' fixtures on a separate light switch for times I wouldn't need all the light?

I appreciate your time and feedback.

The lights won't be finalized until I have a sub-panel installed in the garage.

-Chris

 

[ezzzzzzz]

My garage is 22x36x10. I use 12 8'/4 lamp 5000K T8/32w fixtures (equivalent to 24 4' fixtures). They are installed in 2's x 6 rows. There are 6 switches controlling the lamps in groups of two, front and back, three rows wide. The finished walls/ceiling are painted white. That allows me to operate lighting where I'm working only. I don't know the actual lumens@sqft but the light output and coverage is very satisfactory. I think you could eliminate at least 1 row of 3 fixtures, if not 2 rows, and still have great lighting.

 

[pattenp]

I think you are confusing foot candles with lumens. Typically a 32W T8 lamp is 2700 lumens and 125 to 150 lumens per sqft is a good amount of light. So 455 sqft would be 68250 Lu at 150 Lu per sqft. That works out to be 26 lamps or 13 two lamp fixtures.

 

[kenfath]

"I think' according to your drawing you'll have plenty of light. My ~22 wide x30' deep, with 8' ceiling and a protruding beam like yours, has eight 4' two bulb fixtures, half are T12 the others are T8 and it is well lit. They are installed widthwise and are on four switches. The ceiling is off-white and wall a light gray. I'm satisfied with the lighting.

My suggestions are: make sure you really want to locate lights above the garage door. If so, put them on a dedicated switch. Put the work bench lights on their own switch. Consider putting two or three of the centrally located lights on a switch. The idea is to have enough light to see your way around safely when doing routine tasks. The remainder of the fixtures would be on one (maybe two) switches. IMHO 12 fixtures would give good illumination.

 

[Artes]

Thank you for the advice. Now I can refine the plans a bit to reduce the quantity of lights and divide the layout into more switches.

 

[jlckmj]

That is a lot of light you have planned there, and also a lot of money for the light fixtures and bulbs.

Look at the below link and check out the large CFL's. (105 watt - 400 watt equivalent)
You could most likely get by with 9 of them. I have 10 in my 24 x 36 garage and it is plenty, and it cost me less than $200 for everything, wire, fixtures, conduit, and bulbs.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38658
my garage is on post 162 of the above link

here is where you can buy the bulbs at about $10 each.
http://www.limostudio.com/shop/inde...graphy-photo-lighting-flourescent-bulb-1.html

Good luck,
Jim

 

[Ray916MN]

On the side of the garage where you plan shelving, you might want to position the lights farther away from the wall or orient them at 90 degrees to their current direction. In you current layout they are going to cast some pretty good shadows in the shelves.

 

[carcruse]

See what you get for number of lights using this:

http://www.visual-3d.com/tools/interior/default.aspx?id=15170

 

[sharkytm]

See what you get for number of lights using this:

http://www.visual-3d.com/tools/interior/default.aspx?id=15170

That tool works OK, but the light fixture selection is a royal PITA. Things aren't well organized, and the search only half-works.

OP, Why not go with 8' 4-bulb units?

And those hi-wattage CFL's are great if you need to replace existing single-bulb fixtures, but shadows can be a real problem with point-source lights like that.

::edit:: Here's my thread and lighting plan: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=191336

 

[Coolerman]

Shadows are not an issue if you use enough bulbs! http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152338
If you only count the bulbs, porcelain fixtures and conduit boxes, I have less than $400.00 in my setup. I'm not counting conduit since that would have had to be run regardless of which lights I chose.

 

[Artes]

I'm certainly open to using 8' 4-bulb units and that will probably save money.

I haven't looked into using CFL in the garage, but it's worth checking into. My one pause is the length of bulb is 12" long.

 

[PhantomEB]

I think I would keep the one row thats perpendicular to the parking, on one switch as theres times you just sneak out to the shop late at night and who really needs to be out there with all the lights on.

THen I probably would make it an odd number of parallel rows to parking and run zones, maybe every other one starting from farthest one out on another switch. Then remaining on one last switch. You could even cut em down in smaller zones, for less power consumption and control of lighting.

 

[Stepside]

In a couple of years LEDs will dominate.
A 10w LED is capable of 900 lumens and is available in spot or flood.
Too, expensive, right now
But,
The price will go down, just as it did for flat screen TVs.

 

[jjohnston7]

Good information in here! this brings up a question for me whial I plan my lighting for a fairly similar space. is it better to go with 16 2 bulb fixtures, or 8 4 bulb fixtures. brightness would be the same I would think, but I'm not sure if the evenness of the lighting would be ok.

What are your thoughts?

 

[pattenp]

The only benefit I see to 16 fixtures over 8 would be the ability to distribute the light more evenly. The bad side is installation of 16 fixtures vs. 8.

Good information in here! this brings up a question for me whial I plan my lighting for a fairly similar space. is it better to go with 16 2 bulb fixtures, or 8 4 bulb fixtures. brightness would be the same I would think, but I'm not sure if the evenness of the lighting would be ok.

What are your thoughts?