I need advice on lighting up my garage

[KissMyWhiteSS]

First off, I am in need of ideas for placement of my lights.
I have a 20'x24" in need of more lighting and I cannot figure out the best way to take advantage of lighting placement.

Can I see how you set up your lights in your garage?

I am looking for the dimensions of your garage, how many lights, and a possible picture or two at night with them on. If I can visually see how much light output they give I can gather better ideas.

BTW, I have been a lurker for months now and we just closed on our house about a month ago and the garage has been the first project to go under the knife. I will soon post a separate build thread.

 

[eljefino]

I'd do an "E" shape with the holes in the E being where you park your cars. The open ends the garage doors. The "backbone" of the E being your back wall.

This will get down around the cars and around open garage doors too. Use the ubiquitous 8 foot long, 4x 4 foot T8 flourescent shop lights. Wire them to use two or three switches.

 

[Steevo]

Ok, you have 20 feet by 24 feet.
Are there one or two garage doors?
Is the long side or the short side the side with the garage door(s) on it?
Will you be using the garage to park cars, or as a work shop?
Will you have a workbench in there? If so, what wall will it be on?
What kind of work will you do in there? Car polishing, or watch repair?

 

[veno]

consider High wattage CFL? or now High wattage LED>>> man..
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38658&showall=1

 

[shooting4life]

I put 8 4 foot T8's in my 18x23 garage. Here is a picture bellow, the 8th light is being blocked by the top of the ladder in the photo. When I build my work bench I will add a couple additional lights under cabinets above the bench to help with shadows. I think this is more than enough light for me.

 

[kbs2244]

This is why I like the “shop lights” with cord and on chains.
The first try is never right and they can be moved around as needed.
My current set up hasn’t changed for a few years.
But in the first 3 or 4 years I did maybe 6 changes to get the light in the right places and to be able to hang stuff up there.

 

[WanderingSol]

I have a 22' x 24' garage with two overhead doors. Right now I have one light over my workbench (under a loft, light is 6' off the floor). Two lights about even with the front bumpers of the cars and three lights on the sides of the cars even with the front doors of the cars. Still not enough. I plan to put three more lights on the sides of the cars and another between the two up front. Possibly two more to light the back end of the cars. This way each car will have three lights on each side and at least one light in the front and one in the back. These will all be 4' T8 double tube fixtures hanging 12" down from a 9' ceiling.

 

[1953mercury]

I think these t-8 fixtures (muti-faceted, mirrored reflectors) and bulbs Make for great shop lighting. My shop is 28x42x12' and I used four ea., 4'x4 bulb units and it is like daylight now. Hardly ever use a drop light anymore when working on cars,etc.. I think you could get by with 2-3 of these depending on how reflective your walls and ceiling are. If your workbench area is to the rear bias your lighting that direction slightly. Mike

 

[ringneck]

I am just finishing off a build. The main shop is 36x63x14.5. I used 8 fixtures, each have 6 T8 cfls, and have anicely polished reflector. Here is a photo.

View media item 27799
There are more photos here Ringneck's Build

 

[regguy1]

I have 20 48" T8 2 tube w/6500K in my 26' x 30'
see photos and videos here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140674

 

[KissMyWhiteSS]

Thanks everybody for the helpful ideas and opinions. Let me clarify for some of you, that the garage is 20' wide and 24' deep. It has 1 garage door with an opener and my access door is in the dead middle of my back wall. I like the idea of the "E" for parking cars, as the outside lights will help supply lighting to the work benches.

I found out today that the 2 lights I have in there now are T12's which are about 7 years old. Has anybody used T5's or do most people use T8's because of the cost effectiveness vs T5's?

Home Depot has 8' T5 High Output fixtures for $69.99 and the bulbs are $11 each. From what they had on display they give off a TON of light for such small bulbs compared to T8's plus they are a little more efficient.

My goal is to minimize the amount of wiring but optimize the amount of lighting. Any thoughts?

-Drew

 

[Highbeam]

Big no on the t5ho lights. Everything about them is too expensive except a very slight efficiency advantage. Not only do they cost more but the bulb options are also severely limited. Maybe in a several years they will become as common and economical as the standard t8.

 

[Randy in Maine]

Well I voted a big "yes" on the T5 set up from HD. I bought 5 of them and the light they put out is very impressive. I have 5 of them and total cost was around $110 each with bulbs.

I am probably going to get rid of my T8 HO ones as they only put out about 2/3 of the light.

 

[elav]

I put 4x the T5HO 8' light fixtures from Home Depot. Lowes has a 6 pack of T5HO bulbs for $40 and I was able to get HD to price match. 80,000 lumens in a garage that is roughly the same size as yours is great. I did this because I also wanted to minimize the amount of wiring.

 

[KissMyWhiteSS]

I put 4x the T5HO 8' light fixtures from Home Depot. Lowes has a 6 pack of T5HO bulbs for $40 and I was able to get HD to price match. 80,000 lumens in a garage that is roughly the same size as yours is great. I did this because I also wanted to minimize the amount of wiring.

This is the reason why I want T5s. Can you show me a picture of your garage layout and light output if you get a chance?

 

[vartz04]

I need 3 more t8s once I put a ceiling in. I have 4 equally spaced now and is like 2 more mounted perpendicular to the garage door in the center.

I might not be able to wait on one of them though. The one t12 I have pissed me off with the buzzing.

I'm only waiting cause I want to see what a white ceiling does for the light.

Also consider putting cabinets over your bench with a under cabinet light under it. Really helps when working on stuff at the bench

 

[KissMyWhiteSS]

I need 3 more t8s once I put a ceiling in. I have 4 equally spaced now and is like 2 more mounted perpendicular to the garage door in the center.

I might not be able to wait on one of them though. The one t12 I have pissed me off with the buzzing.

I'm only waiting cause I want to see what a white ceiling does for the light.

Also consider putting cabinets over your bench with a under cabinet light under it. Really helps when working on stuff at the bench

I am planning on doing soffets similar to xycz's garage. I will add lighting under those. I will also be adding a few recessed lights

 

[elav]

This is the reason why I want T5s. Can you show me a picture of your garage layout and light output if you get a chance?

This is the beginning of me getting my garage setup (so I haven't painted yet and still need to run switched electrical outlets to each fixture). I placed a light in each quadrant of the garage.

 

[bob_the_builder]

In my garage (24x33) I have 8 T5HO (4 bulbs) in my work section and then I also added 10 lamp holders with 100W light bulbs. I have lots of light in the garage. All lights are 6500K. I could not be happier with the amount of light I have in the garage. You can check out some pictures of my setup in the garage gallery section (see link in my sig).

Bob

 

[elav]

Here is a shot of my HD T5HO lights. Like I said, I plan on painting the ceiling white and sheetrocking and painting the walls white too. So it is a little darker than it will be because the light isn't reflecting as much as it will. With that said, I still have plenty of light with 80,000 lumens. In a garage that is similar size to yours...

 

[KissMyWhiteSS]

Here is a shot of my HD T5HO lights. Like I said, I plan on painting the ceiling white and sheetrocking and painting the walls white too. So it is a little darker than it will be because the light isn't reflecting as much as it will. With that said, I still have plenty of light with 80,000 lumens. In a garage that is similar size to yours...

Thank you for the pic. I think I may follow this route with, as I am trying to limit the amount of wire I need to run.

 

[jmlcolorado]

I actually currently have 3 of Home Depot's t8 fixtures in my 20x24 and love them! They light up like crazy and they light up in the coldest of temps.
The only problem I've run into is I get shadowing when working in specific areas with only having 3 rows. I get this mostly when welding.
My ceiling height isn't high enough for me to add 3 more above the garage where I need it, so I'm looking to add 25 led can lights. Can lights are not the best garage lighting however.
Here's a link to my thread in case you want to follow along with others recommendations :
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=185290


And here are a couple pictures of my setup.

If I could have a total of 6 of these fixtures in 3 rows, I totally would without question!



Here's a photo standing in the light up area.

It's like daylight in here. In the lighted area, I'm getting 110 lumens per foot which I feel is pretty good.

 

[bglad]

I've been following this thread as I'm getting ready to install lighting in a 40 X 40 area. Does anyone have a link to a site which would explain the differences in the T5 and T8? Also I need lighting which would start in 0F temps. And are the T12 old school?

 

[Blacklisted]

I think these t-8 fixtures (muti-faceted, mirrored reflectors) and bulbs Make for great shop lighting. My shop is 28x42x12' and I used four ea., 4'x4 bulb units and it is like daylight now. Hardly ever use a drop light anymore when working on cars,etc.. I think you could get by with 2-3 of these depending on how reflective your walls and ceiling are. If your workbench area is to the rear bias your lighting that direction slightly. Mike

Who makes these and do you have a link or where to get them?

 

[ibmrduck]

I have a similar problem with my garage. I have three 2 bulb Florence light fixtures. two in the front of my garage and one above my work bench. The problem I have is when the garage door is open and it is night I have little to no light by the garage door. I have thought about mounting two florescent lights on the walls on either side. to fill the space, but then I have to move my shelving. I thought about mounting leds to the door itself, but then I have to figure out how to handle the wiring when the boor moves.

Has anyone else dealt with this situation?

 

[KissMyWhiteSS]

After doing some more research and reading more reviews, I have decided to change it up a bit. I am going to go with two 8' T5's over each bay and 6-6" recessed lights as well. I am looking for cost effective and options for when I am doing different projects or watching a football game. It will be a place to hangout and work. Similar to another addition to a house. More to come!

 

[Modifieddriver]

I have a similar problem with my garage. I have three 2 bulb Florence light fixtures. two in the front of my garage and one above my work bench. The problem I have is when the garage door is open and it is night I have little to no light by the garage door. I have thought about mounting two florescent lights on the walls on either side. to fill the space, but then I have to move my shelving. I thought about mounting leds to the door itself, but then I have to figure out how to handle the wiring when the boor moves.

Has anyone else dealt with this situation?

Yeah, I had a similar problem.

I fixed it with a canister style roll up door. I don't even know why folks screw with sectional doors.

 

[elav]

After doing some more research and reading more reviews, I have decided to change it up a bit. I am going to go with two 8' T5's over each bay and 6-6" recessed lights as well. I am looking for cost effective and options for when I am doing different projects or watching a football game. It will be a place to hangout and work. Similar to another addition to a house. More to come!

I have a friend that replaced his traditional can lights in his house with LED can lights. I was really impressed with the amount and quality of the light each can was giving off and they were dimmable also. I believe he said they were $35'ish from HD. Expensive but you might want to pick one up and give it a try.

 

[AndrewnTX]

I've been following this thread as I'm getting ready to install lighting in a 40 X 40 area. Does anyone have a link to a site which would explain the differences in the T5 and T8? Also I need lighting which would start in 0F temps. And are the T12 old school?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent-lamp_formats

I found tons of good info on the varieties here.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Yeah, I had a similar problem.

I fixed it with a canister style roll up door. I don't even know why folks screw with sectional doors.

Show me a "canister style roll up door" that can let light thru like this.

Charles

 

[wrench409]

Show me a "canister style roll up door" that can let light thru like this.

Charles

Two options:

Use 4 mil Cellophane

or

Never open the door after putting in the glass.

 

[pitterpat]

I am just finishing off a build. The main shop is 36x63x14.5. I used 8 fixtures, each have 6 T8 cfls, and have anicely polished reflector. Here is a photo.

View media item 27799
There are more photos here Ringneck's Build

WOW, that is nice!! Wish I had that.