HELP 20x20 Garage Lighting

[fiveoh]

Moved into my house 4 months ago and all that is in the garage as far as lighting goes is a single 100 watt bulb. I need something brighter for working on cars/detailing. I have no idea about how to wire this up or what the different options are. Its a pretty small 2 car garage(20'x20'). What do you guys recomend? I was thinking florescents over each car mounted on the ceiling. How hard it is to wire those? How many would I need and how long?
I'd like to keep it to $150 or under for all the lighting if possible.
OH also I'd like the lights to be mounted on the ceiling(no chain hanging)
What do you guys suggest?

I was thinking of putting something like this:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?acti...uctId=163717-337-SS-240-120V-LE3-U&lpage=none

over each car bay. Or will I need 2 on each side? It says it uses 40 watt t12 bulbs, what is the difference in bulbs and which ones will give off a natural light?

 

[cobymedic]

I am currently do the same project, I am putting 6 double tube 4 ft lights on the ceiling similar to the ones in the link, just with a plastic case around the bulbs. Plus I am going to mount two on the walls for when the garage doors are up. My garage is 24x24 by the way, so not much bigger then yours.

As for the wiring, well this is my first time attempting it so I am not going to give you any advice. lol But from what I can figure it is relatively straight forward, just work SAFELY. I bought a wiring book and it has been a great tool to work with. I also have the Home Depot home rone 1-2-3 book and it has a little section on wiring which is also very usefull.

Oh and my fixtures use T8s apparently they are more efficent.

 

[ka41]

If I were you I would definitely use the T8 fixtures.

 

[Kevin54]

Or will I need 2 on each side? It says it uses 40 watt t12 bulbs, what is the difference in bulbs and which ones will give off a natural light?

Those lights are only 4' long. One over each bay won't cut it. Two over each bay won't really be adequate either especially if you are going to do detailing. Currently I have 15- 4' fixtures with 2 lamps in each (basically what you show but hanging off of chains) and I could still use a few more in strategic places. Mine is four rows at 4 fixtures/row spread out evenly. My garage bay is 22' x 28'.

 

[fiveoh]

Thanks for the replies. Looks like I will need more lighting the I thoght. A wiring book sounds like a good idea. Any specific ones recomended? I dont want to end up looking like this.

 

[structures282]

I had the same deal in my attached garage when I bought my house. I used the fixture similar to what you have linked. I bought four 4' 2 bulb T-12 fixtures and spaced them equally in the garage. That's (8) 40 watt bulbs total. I installed them 5 feet inside from each side wall parallel with the vehicles' length axis. I used the existing fixture box to branch my new wiring off from. Wiring is pretty straight forward black to black, white to white and then ground. Turn off the breaker before you wire. I used 12/2 wiring for the fixtures, only because my house is set up on 20 amp breakers and I had a lot of spare wiring.

Oh and Black and Decker's Complete Guide to whole house wiring is a pretty good book for the DIYer.

 

[fiveoh]

I had the same deal in my attached garage when I bought my house. I used the fixture similar to what you have linked. I bought four 4' 2 bulb T-12 fixtures and spaced them equally in the garage. That's (8) 40 watt bulbs total. I installed them 5 feet inside from each side wall parallel with the vehicles' length axis. I used the existing fixture box to branch my new wiring off from. Wiring is pretty straight forward black to black, white to white and then ground. Turn off the breaker before you wire. I used 12/2 wiring for the fixtures, only because my house is set up on 20 amp breakers and I had a lot of spare wiring.

Oh and Black and Decker's Complete Guide to whole house wiring is a pretty good book for the DIYer.

Does that setup give you enough light? I'll check out that book, thanks.

 

[65Stang]

I have basically the same size garage, ceilings are 10' high. I used 12 T8 4' long fixtures. They were $19 each, but HD had coupons from the local power provider for $15 off each. Wire was $50, definitely under $150 for the setup. Plenty of light. It's a pretty serious garage, though, so you may not need that many fixtures, especially if your ceilings are lower.

 

[Falcon67]

I used a lot of light in my shop - 12 4' fixtures plus an 8' over the bench. They are arranged in 4 rows of three fixtures. I wired them in "banks" - 6 on one end, 6 on the other and a separate switch for the bench light. That way I can turn on what I need. I also left the pull strings in the fixtures so I can even turn off individual fixtures if I don't need them. I upgraded 1/2 of the 4' units to T8 items recently (electronic ballast vs the old mag ballast). Those 12 pull about 2A less than the old 12 and in the cold, they fire right up. So X2 on buying good T8 units up front. To lessen the wallet impact, you could do the shop in sections. The T8 fixtures are about $20 at Lowes IIRC. They do not show the units I'm using on their web site, but it's not the fancy $69 units they call "shop lights".

Here's a (slightly not current) pic with all the lights burning:

 

[structures282]

Does that setup give you enough light? I'll check out that book, thanks.

Works for me. I did read another suggestion from another post saying the rule of thumb is 1 watt per sq ft, seems reasonable. So I have 0.8 watts/sq ft. (320 watts/400 sq ft)

Keep in mind, my use for this area is parking vehicles and doing a little mntc. I change the oil do a little wrenching on occasion and it works good, no complaints.

If your trying to stay around $150 (as I was myself) this is a good practical solution. The t-12 fixtures are pretty cheap.

 

[timgr]

Just for comparison, I used 16 4' T-12 fixtures in my 17'x21' garage, 4 rows of 4. More would have been better, but this is ok. I have a reflective ceiling too. With just about any number of overhead lights, you'll need to add task lighting on occasion (drop lights, pole lamps, etc.)

 

[Falcon67]

Works for me. I did read another suggestion from another post saying the rule of thumb is 1 watt per sq ft, seems reasonable. So I have 0.8 watts/sq ft. (320 watts/400 sq ft)

I ended up with 1W/sq foot. It's all around good, but if you work inside the car or do detail work on a machine, you will want task lighting too. I use a 3' dual over the lathe and a 2' dual over the welding table. It would help if I had sheet rocked the walls and at least part of the ceiling and splashed on some white paint.

 

[Mike Hawk]

I say go 8 foot or go home. I don't see why you'd even want to mess with 4 footers unless you have space issues.

I just moved into my new house. Previous owner had what looks like a 100w fixture that he replaced w/ an 8 footer. That provided average lighting for my 2x2, but I wanted moar

So I ran some romex and installed another 8 footer. Doing that along with painting my garage ultra flat white.. I think I'll need shades when it's all done

My work in progress:

At night w/ garage door down. More than adequate me thinks to show all the swirls and scratches in the ole Honda. She really needs some TLC from Zaino again.

This is one of the easiest DIY things to do. Just kill the power to the fixture, take the fixture apart, and then wire cap the black/white/ground and be done with it. I had to splice in the romex run to the 2nd light, still very simple if you have the right sized wire caps. The lights are mounted with 2 dry wall screws each to the rafters.

The original 8 foot fixture was what looks like the $33 from lowes (sorry, I can't find them online). The 2nd one I added in was a High Output $50 from lowes. The H.O. I guess is supposed to run better in colder climates, the bulbs are 110w a piece though. I put in brand new 4100k lights for both (the HO and regular T12 bulbs have different end caps on em). I can tell that the HO puts out just a bit more light, but honestly, I think its a waste of money. The HO fixture costs $20 more, plus the bulbs are 110w vs 60w for the regular output fixture.

The bulbs run ~$7 IIRC, so.. 2x$33 for fixtures + 4x$7 for bulbs + $20 (guesstimate for romex and caps) = $114. Well under your budget.

 

[veno]

In my 2 car attached garage.. I went with a 5000 kelvin CFL rated @ 250 incandescent, 55watt nominal.. simple easy, and best of all they are a screw in bulb...

the porcelain base was 1.19 x2, knockin boxes were 2.29, the bulbs were 14.95 when I got them 4 years ago.... 50' of 12-2 romex,? 10.00?

It is day light bright... if you feel the need.. the 4 of these could be installed.. and still be less that 100.00

the Bulb

the Specs

Manufacturer Energy Miser Manufacturer's Part # FE-US-55W-50K
Product Description CFL Spring Lamp Wattage 55 Watt
Voltage 120 Volt Incandescent Equal 250 Watt
Base Type Standard Medium Color Rendering Index 80
Color Temperature (Kelvin) Full Spectrum 5000K Diameter 4.45 in.
Over all Length (M.O.L) 8.39 in. Life Hours (Avg) 8000
Lumens (Initial) 3600 Case Quantity 20


The Price

1 to 5 = $20.31 Each
6+ = $15.79 Each

the Web Site

http://www.1000bulbs.com/55-Watt-Compact-Fluorescents/8742/

 

[brmorr]

I basically have a 20x20 and I currently put up 2 8ft 4 bulb T8 fixtures on one side(have a beam in the middle). It is plenty bright, but I still plan on putting up another 2 8ft fixtures on the other side of the beam. I butted them up to each other on the ceiling, so I have a 16ft run in a straight line.

I should also say I painted the ceiling white along with painting the walls a light gray. Both help in making it look brighter!! Paint your garage all white and you will be amazed(primer stage for me).

T8 fixtures are going to run you a little bit more than your budget, but you might be able to get T12 8ft fixtures a little cheaper. But T8's are well worth the extra in the long run!!

Brian

 

[Joe Reed]

This was my budget solution (pic was taken before painting building cabinets, etc). Inexpensive ceiling fixtures with 100w equivalent CFLs. Plenty of light, low current draw, easy to install. With multiple fixtures spaced around the garage, shadows are pretty much eliminated.

You'll find that placing two fixtures centered over your cars is not the best way to go if you intend to do any work on the cars...the places you actually need the light will be in shadows.

 

[nissan_crawler]

I have a 19x23 with 9 4' dual bulb T8 fixtures, works pretty well, but I would say it's probably on the low end for detailing.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

So i have a similar garage. Exposed trusses, the ceiling will not be finished. Would I be better to use a trouffer setup that would mount right in between the trusses and be flush, or use a strip light like this, that would hand below the studs, or require some framing to make flush mount?

You are getting double the bulbs from the trouffer, and it's an easier mount.....

 

[pattenp]

I'd use the strip lights and figure a way to hang them up flush between the truss.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

Any reason?

 

[nadogail]

My opinion, after reading all the comments to the original entry, is there are almost too many ways to address the question of how to inexpensively illuminate a 20 X 20 garage.

The cheapest lighting job I ever did in a garage used 2 X 4 drop in ceiling fixtures salvaged from a commercial remodel. I got several with their flex conduit whips for just hauling them away. These came with 277 volt ballasts, that I replaced with 120 volt coil and core ballasts salvaged from a electronic ballast retrofit project. These fixtures used T-12 tubes, which were included. I bought a case of tubes from a big box store.

The fixtures were mounted to the underside of the exposed garage roof trusses.

I did install a separate wall switch for each fixture, the 14-2 NM cable and switches were a gift from a construction electrician.

Usually there are three choices when doing a project: Good, Fast, and Cheap. You may choose any two.

Our first choice was cheap, then our second was lighting that would make you think about sunglasses.

Craig's List can be a great source for budget priced or free material.

 

[pattenp]

Any reason?

Two main reasons is the strips are cheaper and give you better flexibility for placement for even light coverage. In the end it's your personal preference.

Edit: The cheaper reason may not hold water because I see now that lamps are included with the troffer fixture.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

So it seems like troffers wont work with my 24" OC trusses. Would i want to orient my lights lengthwise in my garage or width wise? Would a certain fixture be better for a low ceiling of 9'?