LED High-Output Canopy Lights

[69RT3X9]

Hi Guys,

E-conolight.com has these LED high-output canopy lights on their website. They look pretty nice but I am not technically savvy enough to know if they would be good to use in my garage.

Other than cost, do you see any down-side to flush mounting these to my 11.5 ft garage ceiling? I have a standard 3-stall garage configuration but with a 38ft deep 3rd stall. Total square footage is about 960 sq ft. Walls and ceilings are sheet rocked and painted flat white.

I was leaning towards the Neutral White (4000K) color temperature.

http://www.e-conolight.com/e-cc6.html?cct=5251&finish=5311#configtop

I would be interested in hearing your opinions. Thanks!

 

[cybrdyke]

Picture the canopy over the gas pumps at your local filling station. That's what these are designed for. Heights vary, but 15-20 feet would't be unusual. At the gas station, at night, the target light level is only about 5-10 foot candles...enough for you to see what you're doing, but not enough to do much else.
From 20' up, all the gas station people want is to light the area under the canopy...not much more ground area. If you were to lower the fixtures, they would start to put bright pools of light on the ground. The lower you get, the more pronounced this becomes. Pay attention to the spacing criteria provided by the manufacturer or you'll have very contrasty, shadow-ey, sucky, uneven light. I would suspect that at 11.5 feet, this would be difficult to overcome.
The canopy is subject to weather, wash down and the moronic public, so the lights need to be water proof. This costs alot and may not be necessary in your garage. You'll be paying for this with these fixtures.
IMHO, the bottom line is that it's better to have a light source that is spread out over a larger length (like an 8' fixture) than it is to have alot of light coming from a small point. This makes the space more evenly lit and helps to eliminate glare, contrast and shadow.
Whatever you choose...good luck.
CD

 

[The FIB]

Are they rated for indoor use?

 

[69RT3X9]

Thanks for the feedback CD! You brought up some excellent points that I did not think about, and that pretty much answered my question. I need to keep looking for better suited garage lights. Thank you!