Lighting for basement garage with 7' ceilings?

[Suprman]

looking for reccomendations on how to brighten my 24x26 basement garage. right now i have 2 standard bulb lights that i replace with daylight LED's but it's not enough and still too dark to get projects done. 7' ceiling is challenging as i work on cars and need all the height i can get. the walls are OSB now if that makes a difference.

 

[ratdoggy]

I'd start by giving everything I can reach white paint.
When I moved into my house I had the standard 2 light bulb thing going on.
I then bought some of those splitter things that screw in and doubled my lighting. Not the best but better than it was

 

[ratdoggy]

Two of these things...
LED bulbs draw so little it should work pretty well for a quick cheap upgrade

 

[Suprman]

I'd start by giving everything I can reach white paint.
When I moved into my house I had the standard 2 light bulb thing going on.
I then bought some of those splitter things that screw in and doubled my lighting. Not the best but better than it was

paint the OSB white? guess i can do that. I've been looking at 4ft LED 1 "bulb" strips that i can strategically place to brighten up the areas i work in most.

 

[Suprman]

Two of these things...
LED bulbs draw so little it should work pretty well for a quick cheap upgrade

apparently they make 3-5+ ones as well... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017B8JA8G/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[mike93lx]

I have about the same size garage, but ever so slightly higher ceilings at 7'4".

I use just basic 4' t8 fixtures. Works fine. If you want lower profile, there are led panels and strips that are quite thin.

If you are worried about breaking bulbs, you can get slip on covers or shatter resistant tubes, but realistically, you have to hit a tube pretty hard to break it.

 

[cybrdyke]

There are linear LED's that are quite small, about 1" x 1", pictured above. You wont need to worry about banging into them. What you need to really look for is a wide "beam angle" of at least 160 degrees. This will ensure that there is light spread outward and not just straight down. Very important for very low ceilings. 4 rows of strips should do very nicely.
Good luck,
CD

 

[Suprman]

There are linear LED's that are quite small, about 1" x 1", pictured above. You wont need to worry about banging into them. What you need to really look for is a wide "beam angle" of at least 160 degrees. This will ensure that there is light spread outward and not just straight down. Very important for very low ceilings. 4 rows of strips should do very nicely.
Good luck,
CD

Awesome thanks, I knew asking here would be a good idea.

 

[PhysicsDude]

Low profile 4' LED tubes are the way to go.

Bright screw in bulbs create horrible shadows.

You can get 6-packs of 4' LED tubes for $50-60 online. Convert your bulb outlet to a regular plug and just plug them in.

 

[Suprman]

Low profile 4' LED tubes are the way to go.

Bright screw in bulbs create horrible shadows.

You can get 6-packs of 4' LED tubes for $50-60 online. Convert your bulb outlet to a regular plug and just plug them in.

any specific brand you recommend?

 

[Todd.Brock]

In my basement I have a boat load of can lights. The fixtures are about 5 bucks each and a BR 30 bulb is 4 bucks each. I think I have 25 or 26 cans in my entire basement. I wired it as if I was going to finish the space. My work area, I doubled up on lights so it’s good and bright. There are some shadows, but I didn’t want to wire in outlets for a bunch of pull chain lights. Plus they are out of the way. PAinting. Your ceiling white and walls for that fact would really help.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Here you go:

See post 1 (link) of best light fixture thread for lamp and housing links.

Qty. 32 of LUMEGEN LG-4T8-22WBB-SM50K 2640 Lumens per bulb

Qty. 16 Maxlite LSS2XT8USE4803 housings or equal

Approx Total cost: $470

Avg illuminance @ 30" workplane = 80fc
Surface reflectance used = 20|20|20 Ceiling|Wall|floor

Dialux PDF here (link), see page 2 for dimensional fixture locations.

​

 

[Platonic Solid]

With a little creative carpentry you can recess the 12 parallel to rafter fixtures between the rafters. The other 4 could be changed to 1x4 flat panels (link) which would only protrude 1/2" if you can figure out a way to hold them up there.

Alternately you could do the exact layout above in 16 1x4 flat panels at a cost of $600.

 

[mike93lx]

In my basement I have a boat load of can lights. The fixtures are about 5 bucks each and a BR 30 bulb is 4 bucks each. I think I have 25 or 26 cans in my entire basement. I wired it as if I was going to finish the space. My work area, I doubled up on lights so it’s good and bright. There are some shadows, but I didn’t want to wire in outlets for a bunch of pull chain lights. Plus they are out of the way. PAinting. Your ceiling white and walls for that fact would really help.

since the OP is lighting a garage, I think it's a bit different than your basement (I'm assuming a basement workshop/utility room on your end). fire control is a bigger concern in a garage, so I'd rather have the continuous coverage of type x drywall instead of a bunch of holes for can lights. this is why i have gone for surface mount instead of cans in my garage.

 

[Todd.Brock]

Mike93lx- you are correct. I said that because he mentioned a basement garage, which I took to Understand as just a part of the basement with garage doors. There is def. a plus to the type x drywall if living space is above. 100 ways to do it- I used cans to eliminate 95 pull chain lights. Looks like Platonic had provided a much more technical suggestion than mine, so I’ll defer to him

 

[EOC_Jason]

I saw a thread ages ago where a guy cut a small "T" groove in the beams and ran strips of LED lights in the groove. This gave him a lot of light but didn't create any additional clearance issues.

I've seen some low profile / thin T8 fixtures too, that might be a more reasonable way to go.

 

[mike93lx]

I saw a thread ages ago where a guy cut a small "T" groove in the beams and ran strips of LED lights in the groove. This gave him a lot of light but didn't create any additional clearance issues.

Won't work for this as the ceiling has to be drywalled

 

[Shiftless]

I too have 7 foot ceilings in my garage. Just like FrankLee, I use 2 tube LED shop lights but I tucked mine up into the cavity between the ceiling joists. With the tubes right at the level of the bottom of the joists, the beam spread is not blocked at all. I put one fixture in every other joist cavity. No shadows!
There is no living space above the garage so no fire block required... Just a flat roof and a deck. In mild climates like here, I don’t need insulation and I don’t feel the need to have a neat clean finished dry walled space to work in.

Edit: Here is a pic of my 7 foot high garage ceiling. I ran EMT along the center beam with duplex receptacles, GFCI protected, every 32 inches. Wall switch controlled.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I put up with 2 bare bulbs in my garage for almost 40 years before going to LEDs. Best thing I ever did for the garage !

They sell a galvanized steel octagon box receptacle plate that allows you to remove the porcelain fixture and install a duplex outlet.



You can easily daisy chain 4 or more LED fixtures off of each outlet. You can remove any cover on an LED fixture and screw it directly into the ceiling.

 

[PhantomEB]

Definitely go 4-8’ bulbs of some sort, but first sheet the ceiling, I would insulate it first after running some outlets first. White paint brightens it up 10 fold!

 

[Suprman]

Yeah it's a split level, so bedrooms above, already insulated, but no drywall or other ceiling. Half the walls are white and half are OSB that I installed

Floor is standard epoxy gray with flakes