lighting help for small 2 car garage

[speedfreak81]

Hey everyone, this is my first post other than casual hellos in the Northern VA mega post. My wife and I bought a 2400 sq/ft single family home with a small 20x20 2 car attached garage last September. After pretty much tearing the inside of the house apart and putting it back together the way I want it.....I'm finally ready to start on the garage. As it sits right now, it has ONE 100watt bulb and the light on the garage door opener, and one outlet.....pretty sad.

Unfortunately funds are a little tight at the moment, so I'm looking to stay within the $150 range for everything if possible. I've got 10.5" ceilings in the garage with the exception of two beams running perpindicular across the top.

I was thinking of running 3 8' T8 fixtures either 4 4' bulbs or 2 8' bulbs per housing, parallel to the cars parked below. If I run 40W bulbs that would give me 480 total watts, more than 1 watt per square foot. I'm a bit short on space because of the way the overhead beams run, but there is enough room to put 2 more 4' housings overtop the tool chest/ work bench area if I so choose. If I put the two additional housings up, I will probably wire them to a separate switch so i can leave them off, or rather just turn them on when I want.

Can anyone help me pick out some lighting? I'm a total amateur here, so I definitely need some direction. Mostly the garage will be used for wrenching on the Vette (and the wife's car too) and some detailing, though nothing too extensive. Also worth noting, the walls will be finished and painted white before the lighting goes up as well, coating or tiling for the floor to follow.

Here are a few pictures, not much to look at.....but it houses a nice tool chest, a beer fridge, and a Vette....so it's a start!!! Once I get a shed out back all of the lawn equipment will go out there, and I'll have some more space.

-Brian

 

[Chris Adams]

Hi, nice Vette.

For the numbers you quote (150) I think you can rule out the eight foot T8 bulbs and fixtures. Those suckers would eat more than your budget for just two. Way overpriced when I looked at them this month.

At the risk of sounding cheap you could hit your goal with one new circuit, a cheap role of Romex from HD, a breaker box, receptacle and switch from HD, and say four T8 doubles at ten buck apiece at Wal-Mart.
Anything else you are going over the budget you set.

That would work, by the way, with 8 bulbs and your dry walled garage it would have more than enough light for most work.
You can always add more lights later if you want. 8 32 watt bulbs wouldn't overload even the present breaker. You could actually skip adding a new breaker.

 

[speedfreak81]

Thanks for the heads up. I'm finding out now as I price them that they are more than I thought.....well, guess I'll just have to wait a little while. I'd rather do it right the first time than skimp.

 

[tfi racing]

First of all,you need to paint that place,that yellowed drywall will **** all the light out of whatever amount of fixtures you put up.If money is tight,just install two or three 2 lamp T8 fixtures for now and add more as time and money permits.A coat of paint and a couple of cheap flourescents will make a dramatic difference!