In-floor lighting

[ponyverts]

I'm in the planning stages of my new garage building. It'll have four sections: a parking garage, a lift garage and a work garage, with a workshop space (for work that throws stuff in the air) in between the lift and work garages. For the lift garage, I was thinking of using in-floor LEDs so that I'm not always running extension cords and knocking over standing lights. I was wondering if anyone has done that.

As this is my first post, I can't include a link to the lights I'm thinking about, but a google search for "LED In-Ground light" you'll see them. They have a 30-degree spread, which would give me coverage of 3 ft. per light with a car raised 6 ft. (if my trigonometry is right).

 

[gtcs]

I wanted to do this so bad when I was building my shop. I did hours of research and had my lights all picked out, I couldn’t get them in time for my pour so I went on without them.

I’m happy I didn’t now, that is something you can’t just undo and it’s very task specific, I wound up wanting my lift in a different spot and would have been screwed. I have been in a shop with some floor mount lights under the lift(not in floor, on floor) and the shadows were horrible, if it’s lighting the area you need to see you will be in the way...

If you do it please post pics, just so I can see if it would’ve worked.



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[Moosefire]

Well I'm not sure of the light you're referring to, however someone here had a post a while ago about fabricating led lights to the lift itself (4 post) on the inside of the rails. Looked nice and seemed to work really well. Maybe someone else will be able to chime in with a pic...

Modified to show picture

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[ponyverts]

One of the garages will be dedicated to a 2-post lift, so there's no chance it's moving to another location. I can see how one floor light might cause shadow problems. Originally I'd thought of getting a shadow box LED light. They're bright and flexible and some are waterproof, but then I'd be stepping on it, need an extension cord and just having one would cause shadows. My plan is to have about 8-12 lights in a honeycomb pattern with some overlap, so there should be no or minimal shadows. As the pour date gets closer (many months away) I will test the overlap.

 

[kbeefy]

I wanted something like that for my lifts, but have just been using Astro AS40l magnetic rechargable lights. Sometimes I will use an underhood fluorescent light on my 4 post, but there is the cord to deal with on that one.

 

[nadogail]

In floor work lights?

Sounds as permanent as "Carved In Stone", almost no practical possibility for design change or future growth.

 

[Stuart in MN]

There have been a number of discussions on this topic in the past - I think most people have ultimately decided not to use them, but a few may have. I'd suggest using the search function to see if you can find them.

One thought: in ground light fixtures are designed to be water tight, but there's always the possibility they will leak. That's not a big deal if water gets in them, but may be more serious if it's gas or oil in a garage.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Make sure whatever you get is not only UL Listed, but can provide actual independent IP rating certification documentation. If you go low voltage you could skip the UL, but not the IP documentation. Recommend skipping over any product that can't provide NRTL IP docs.

Don't overlook the potential annoyance factor of having lights shining in your eyes every time you look down to get a tool.

 

[yatg]

Are they serviceable? Can you change the LED module if it burns out?

 

[ponyverts]

One thought: in ground light fixtures are designed to be water tight, but there's always the possibility they will leak. That's not a big deal if water gets in them, but may be more serious if it's gas or oil in a garage.

I've thought about this. Water is one thing; ATF is another.

 

[ponyverts]

Low voltage and IP67 rating double silicone gasket seal, 50,000 hours life. The module with the LEDs is removable, but what happens in 10 years if I need to replace one? I'm starting to lean against doing them but have months to work out the dilemma.

 

[Kaizen]

I'm in the planning stages of my new garage building. It'll have four sections: a parking garage, a lift garage and a work garage, with a workshop space (for work that throws stuff in the air) in between the lift and work garages. For the lift garage, I was thinking of using in-floor LEDs so that I'm not always running extension cords and knocking over standing lights. I was wondering if anyone has done that.

As this is my first post, I can't include a link to the lights I'm thinking about, but a google search for "LED In-Ground light" you'll see them. They have a 30-degree spread, which would give me coverage of 3 ft. per light with a car raised 6 ft. (if my trigonometry is right).

see lots of challenges that make it not worth the effort. don't see any that have a box that you can mount with a closed top. all i see is landscape lights that you push into the ground. that wont work to finish the concrete. they would have to be perfectly flush or you just created several trip hazzards. how would you conduit them together before the pour? you'll need conduit going to a wall to put a box and such.
depending on your concrete thickness putting four or five of these in a row will probably end in a crack between all of them.

 

[Stuart in MN]

see lots of challenges that make it not worth the effort. don't see any that have a box that you can mount with a closed top. all i see is landscape lights that you push into the ground. that wont work to finish the concrete. they would have to be perfectly flush or you just created several trip hazzards. how would you conduit them together before the pour? you'll need conduit going to a wall to put a box and such.
depending on your concrete thickness putting four or five of these in a row will probably end in a crack between all of them.

They do make them that are designed to be mounted flush in concrete and are also designed to withstand car traffic - you see them sometimes at the entryways of fancy office buildings or hotels. The housings as well as the conduit has to be roughed in before pouring concrete, of course.


There's still the question of how useful they would be in a home garage under a lift. I think you may end up blocking the light with your own body anyway, so they would be of limited usefulness.

 

[Jagmandave]

My buddy uses one of those headlights, the one he has burns thru batteries pretty quickly (about 3 hours, tops) but he likes his.

They make much better, brighter ones now so I've been thinking about getting one too. Trying to get your trouble light in just the right spot can be a royal PITA. I have lights that can sit on the floor and shine upwards, but as someone else said, when you look down you damn near get blinded by it.

I worked on a Hunter alignment rack that had LEDS mounted on the insides of the ramps, and they were pretty good as they weren't THAT bright, but then.....they weren't all that bright!

 

[ripperd]

Yeah, honestly I've started wearing headlamps for under car work and it works great.

 

[ponyverts]

Based on the feedback (which I greatly appreciate) and the cost and the concern about longevity, I think I'll skip the in-floor lights. RYOBI keeps releasing a number of LED lights that all use their 18-Vold ONE+ batteries, so I can buy a lot of lights and batteries for the cost of the in-floor lights. Thanks guys.

 

[Disney]

You can see some pictures of how I did my lights inmy shop build thread (which I really need to update).
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=246170

I also have another thread where I asked some questions and have some more pics and info.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=249920

I bought my lights direct from the mfg in China. Since then you can now easily find them on ebay. I helped a few local guys set up their shops for them as well.

If you can have the patience to map it all out, it's is 1000% worth it. Absolute game changer.