Lighting for a low ceiling garage?

[jeff000]

Normally I am pretty good at picking out lighting options for a garage.

But my neighbor has asked me to help light his garage, 24x24 with a 8'8" ceiling. He really likes my main lights, but I have 12' ceiling in my garage so the two 4 bulb t5ho high bay with reflectors work well. But his ceiling is just too low for that option.

He wants to be able to do intricate wood work and painting, alone with detailing his new black truck.

Trying not to break the bank, he is pretty set on t5.



I was thinking 8 of these from costco,

But while they are rated for lots, when i plugged one in it seemed to have as much light as my 2 bulb t5 fixtures, but didn't seem to throw it as far if that makes sense, but that is one in a big garage, hard to picture how 8 would look.

But would simply putting 8 t5 dual tube jobber fixtures in be good enough even with the low ceiling? would reflectors be needed?

Is there a better option?

 

[Platonic Solid]

There's no scenario that makes F45T5HO lamps a good option for an 8'8" ceiling. 2 bulb F54T5 Strip lights put out ~9000+ lumens. The glare will make the space very painful. F32T8 or equivalent LED are the way to go. No reflectors unless the ceiling is open rafters. At 8'8" ceiling height you want to spread the light out as much as possible to get even shadow free illumination. Light Fixture Layout Collection Posts #14 and #15 (linked) are very close to your specs.

 

[jeff000]

There's no scenario that makes F45T5HO lamps a good option for an 8'8" ceiling. 2 bulb F54T5 Strip lights put out ~9000+ lumens. The glare will make the space very painful. F32T8 or equivalent LED are the way to go. No reflectors unless the ceiling is open rafters. At 8'8" ceiling height you want to spread the light out as much as possible to get even shadow free illumination. Light Fixture Layout Collection Posts #14 and #15 (linked) are very close to your specs.

Thanks, That is kinda what I was thinking.
Do you think the light I pictured would be an acceptable replacement for t8 fixtures?
I'm trying not to load up his garage power to the point where the lights need their own circuit.

 

[Platonic Solid]

I assume he already has some form of lighting in his garage and just wants more/better/upgrade. To accurately answer your question we need an IES file for that LED shop light. Your neighbor can have the T5 look without the pain via F28T5, but there's little point when F32T8 are so much cheaper. I have a very low ceiling 7'3" garage and am planning to go LED flat panel edge lit - and a lot of them. Low ceilings require a higher qty of low output wide distribution fixtures as you don't have enough space for the light to bounce around and eliminate shadows.

Note:
3150Lm 32W LED fixture = 98 L/W
5280Lm 55W F32T8 2-lamp Strip Light = 96 L/W

I would not use an LED shop-light for low ceiling general illumination in my garage as the beam spread is most certainly too narrow. I would use it for its designed purpose = workbench task lighting.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Ran some quick rough numbers for 24'x24'x8'8" empty room:

~90fc avg @ 30" workplane requires ~85,000Lm luminaire output = 16 (4 rows of 4) Lithonia Lighting SB232 2-lamp wrap fixtures. (see previously linked post #14)
55W * 16 = 880W total = 880W/120V = 7.33 Amps

~70fc avg ... requires ~65,000Lm ... = 12 (4 rows of 3) SB323 ...
55W * 12 = 660W total = 660W/120V = 5.5 Amps

Overall Cost: $33 fixture + $4(2 lamps) = $37 (total cost to hit 70fc = $444)
Fixture Output = 5432Lm, thus 5432/$37 = 147Lm/$1
vs
LED Shop Light above = 3150Lm/$50 = 63Lm/$1 (total cost to hit 70fc = $1000)