Lighting for a 40 x 30 workshop

[Ultimabake]

Hello all

I have a 40 x 30 detached garage in Georgia. Primarily used to work on vehicle, it has a 2 post lift. 12 ft ceiling and currently not insulated, bare stub wall and ceiling. It has 20 x 10 room and a small 5 x 5 bath not pictured on the drawing. Work space lighting would be needed for roughly 30 x 30. Has anyone used LED lighting from SAM's or HF?

 

[13mo]

I would recommend something a little better than the $20 Chinese LED shop lights from Harbor Freight and other sellers, they have a pretty short lifespan according to others here. You will also need to wire up receptacles for these to plug into and connect a switch to the receptacles. If your locality uses a recent NEC version, you would either need to replace the plugs with expensive locking plugs and use matching expensive locking receptacles, or use an expensive GFCI breaker for the lighting circuit.

By that time, you would end up ahead using hardwired, screw-fastened LED strip lights, "LED ready" fixtures that are essentially fluorescent strip lights without the ballast (see "The Best Light Fixture" sticky thread), or actual fluorescent strip lights with ballast-compatible Type A LED tubes.

How many you would need depends on how much light the exact setup you choose will make, and how bright you want your work area.

 

[rebelranger]

Amazon 8ft led lights 10 for $149.00. I have 10 installed in my 30x40x12 on two switches and absolutely more than enough light you'll ever need/ want

 

[BertoBuckeye]

Another consideration...I'm looking at the high bay 'UFO's lights. Hyperlite brand seems to be well reviewed. Aparently for my 30x40x12 6x 150watt lights is more than plenty. They are dimmable so I will probably use a dimmer to allow me to set my desired lighting.

I think 6x100watt would.be enough, but I figure for an extra $60 I'll get a little more light if I need it.



Sent from my SM-G950U using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Don1357]

Amazon 8ft led lights 10 for $149.00. I have 10 installed in my 30x40x12 on two switches and absolutely more than enough light you'll ever need/ want

I have these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086WRJ25X/?tag=atomicindus08-20

They have a 7 year warranty so they must trust them at least that much.

3 rows of 3 lights each on a 22x22 area gives me enough light to read the small print on pain cans.

9' ceilings; I saw a picture of somebody hanging 8 of them on a 16' ceiling and they gave plenty of evenly distributed light.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Take a look at the two sticky notes at the top of the electrical section, the ones about Best Light Fixture Ever and Lighting Layouts.

 

[BertoBuckeye]

Got 6 of these hyperlite 150w units off amazon up ( temporarily rigged). Pretty happy with it in my 30x40. Might put one more smack in the middle but we will see.

Sent from my SM-G950U using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[rayik]

Bought a 12 pack of these 4 foot LEDs off amazon for 90. 6500k. Spec for each is 2000 lumens at 20 watts. Very happy with them. Our 30 x 20 garage is nice and bright like we are outdoors on a sunny day. Recommended, especially for the price.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F2WMCP2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[gayler]

Bought a 12 pack of these 4 foot LEDs off amazon for 90. 6500k. Spec for each is 2000 lumens at 20 watts. Very happy with them. Our 30 x 20 garage is nice and bright like we are outdoors on a sunny day. Recommended, especially for the price.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F2WMCP2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I have 20 of these in my 30x40x9 garage and it is bright!

 

[Talha]

I was considering the amazon LED strip lights as well, but I'm afraid they won't be bright enough with my 15ft ceilings.

 

[13mo]

I was considering the amazon LED strip lights as well, but I'm afraid they won't be bright enough with my 15ft ceilings.

Strip lights at about 1000 lm/ft will put roughly as much light to the floor as a fluorescent strip light of the same length. Typically strip lights are usable up to 20 feet although often other types of lights are used at 16' and above as buildings with higher ceilings tend to be large and it would take a large number of strips to do the job.

I lit my outbuilding using T8 fluorescent strips mounted at 14' and they work perfectly fine.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Hello all

I have a 40 x 30 detached garage in Georgia. Primarily used to work on vehicle, it has a 2 post lift. 12 ft ceiling and currently not insulated, bare stub wall and ceiling. It has 20 x 10 room and a small 5 x 5 bath not pictured on the drawing. Work space lighting would be needed for roughly 30 x 30. Has anyone used LED lighting from SAM's or HF?

30 x 30 x 12 with no reflective walls or ceiling
Qty. 9 12,000 lumen fixtures 3 x 3 pattern spaced 12' apart on center (3' from walls)
4ft 5,000 lumen strip lights are not ideal for this application.

 

[drmarkr]

I was considering the amazon LED strip lights as well, but I'm afraid they won't be bright enough with my 15ft ceilings.

You need the 100 or 150w UFOS mentioned/ linked above. A high bay spec, imo.

 

[like2wheel]

30 x 30 x 12 with no reflective walls or ceiling
Qty. 9 12,000 lumen fixtures 3 x 3 pattern spaced 12' apart on center (3' from walls).

That's almost exactly what I did (28 x 30 x 12-15) based on your previous recommendations of similar sized spaces & i am very happy with the result.

Thanks!

 

[SJMaye]

Amazon 8ft led lights 10 for $149.00. I have 10 installed in my 30x40x12 on two switches and absolutely more than enough light you'll ever need/ want

Any chance you could show a photo ? I have a 24x48x11 (H) workshop. I was looking at these lights for it. I just did not know how many I needed.

 

[HAULNSS]

I think there are about 30 of the 4' LED tube lights (ones like in the recommended light thread) in my 30x40 shop. I bought the fixtures and LED's based on the lighting thread and have about $20 into each fixture.

I laid out the lights on the floor still in the box and the fans, too. This gave me an idea of where I wanted to mount them. Took some measurements and then drew up a plan. Good lighting and not a lot of shadows or strobe light effect from the fans.

Randy

 

[SJMaye]

I think there are about 30 of the 4' LED tube lights (ones like in the recommended light thread) in my 30x40 shop. I bought the fixtures and LED's based on the lighting thread and have about $20 into each fixture.

I laid out the lights on the floor still in the box and the fans, too. This gave me an idea of where I wanted to mount them. Took some measurements and then drew up a plan. Good lighting and not a lot of shadows or strobe light effect from the fans.

Randy

Hey Randy,

Thanks for the photos. It really helps visualization. I am in the planning stages for my electrical. I want to make the receptacles in the ceiling close to the lights. Did you already have outlets up in the ceiling? Or did you run the outlets after you arranged your lights?

 

[Jakemedic]

Remember, you get exactly what you pay for. I opted for Prime lights. Now keep in mind, I have receive no financial kick back for recommending them. Their website is primelights.com. I contacted them and they provided a layout and recommendations for lighting. My 24x32 is lit with 6 The BOLT 66 Watt – 3 Lamp T8 LED Shop Light – 8,550 Lumens. It is more than adequate for my space. I did however spend significantly more than the harbor freight or Menards lighting. I have 7 Menards led fixtures from a previous shop and my issue with them is how light weight they are. The cord hanging tilted the light in directions I didn’t want. My prime lights are screwed to my ceiling and connected with conduit. In some ways they are too bright, but once my eyes adjust, they are fantastic. Have fun with your project!

 

[HAULNSS]

Hey Randy,

Thanks for the photos. It really helps visualization. I am in the planning stages for my electrical. I want to make the receptacles in the ceiling close to the lights. Did you already have outlets up in the ceiling? Or did you run the outlets after you arranged your lights?

Everything was ran in conduit outside of the interior tin. I wasn’t positive on light and outlet placement to have it flush mounted. Conduit bought me time and let me have everything accessible.

Randy

 

[rebelranger]

Any chance you could show a photo ? I have a 24x48x11 (H) workshop. I was looking at these lights for it. I just did not know how many I needed.

 

[rebelranger]

I'll get a better picture tomorrow. This was only 5 on the 26' side. Now that I have a white ceiling and drywall up it's even brighter.