I think my lighting idea's are DIM!

[tboy]

I think I'm making a mistake here with my lighting choices. Here we go:

Standard 2 car garage, 21' wide with 10 ft ceilings. UNFINISHED for now. I plan to put drywall on the ceiling in the future.

Trying to upgrade, was given six brand new can-light enclosures for free. I thought this would work OK and not have to re-work the lighting when I finally drywall the ceiling (I will hire that work out thank you!).

I've lined up five cans across the 21' width, and thinking about buying six more to do another row of five. Then I'll drop two more cans at the rear of the vehicle since I won't be working back there much.

Planning on using BR40 LED bulbs at 985 lumens a piece.

Is this crazy? Should I bail on the can lights?

 

[PhysicsDude]

I generally don't think can lights are that great in garages/shops unless you just want the "fancy" look. 4' LED tube fixtures will give better light distribution, and are generally cheaper, faster, and easier to install.

Nevertheless, your idea would certainly work.

I think 4 cans spaced out along the 21' width would work fine and save you a little time/money/effort, but 5 cans would definitely be better than 4.

If you plan on using the garage as a work space, I would at least double the amount of light. ~2,000 lumens per fixture or ~20watt LED bulbs. The 985 lumen bulbs you're planning on would give good light for a room in a house, but I think in a workshop, you'll want more. You'll also want frosted bulbs or frosted covers for the cans. 20W of LED in a BR40 package will be pretty blinding if you look straight into it.

 

[Platonic Solid]

... Should I bail on the can lights?

Simple answer = Yes. One 4ft 2-lamp strip light can give you 5200 lumens and will distribute those lumens more appropriately than any can light - assuming you actually want accomplish tasks in this space.

 

[tboy]

Thanks guys, I appreciate your comments. My two considerations for using can lights were:

1) Cost. 12 can fixtures are $120 (and I got six for free). 12 bulbs (1750 lumens) are $60.

2) Once I put up cans I am done, no need to tear down and re-set when I get the drywall done.

Platonic Solid: I've taken a look at your designs, I will go back and poke around and see if I see any similar size garages to mine. How many fixtures do you think I would need?

I updated the post above to have dimensions on it. I mostly use the garage for auto work, and occasional pull the saw out and make something.