Lighting in 25x25

[matt151617]

When I first got my house, the 25'x25' detached garage had just 2 incandescents in the ceiling. I added another 4, but it's still way too dim. I was changing the oil in my car the other day and could hardly see anything.

I have one T8 4' fixture over my workbench, which is on one side along the wall and is 8 feet long and 1.5 feet wide. I plan on buying 5 more T8 4ft fixtures and then putting all 6 up to increase the lighting.

I've searched a ton and can't figure out how to put the lights up exactly. I don't need light towards the front of the garage; if I'm working on the rear of a car I'll back it in. All I need the light for is minimal maintenance such as changing fluids.

The best idea I could think of is 3 rows of 2, starting within a foot and a half of the back of the garage.

Also, it's unfinished, unpainted, with 8 foot ceilings, cement floor.

 

[jvitez]

http://www.visual-3d.com/Downloads/Software/Software.aspx

Download the free trial software and go to town. Lots of permutations available. You'll be surprised how many lights you'll need.

 

[rquackenbush]

I've noticed that unfinished spaces tend to "soak up" light. I'm purchasing a 40x26 garage (with a detached house) which is unfinished and it is extremely dark in there, even with a bunch of overhead lights. I'm hoping that it will be a lot brighter once I get some drywall up and painted.

 

[kippieland]

I have a 24 x 30 foot shop that put lights in this spring. I used T8's in sections. First section is by the front door, put two units that hold 2 bulb each. Second was the middle of the shop, I used two units that had 4 lights each, and last section was like the first...two units with two light each. I put them near on each 2x6 next to the middle boards in the ceiling. They are on chains and as high as I could get them. For the most part it was enough light but I add on to the front near the corner where my cabinets are...that help a lot. I also add some work light under some benches for work lighting. I also agree that unfinished does soak up the light...I'm not going to put drywall in...damages to easily...I'm going with osb and paint it white.

Here is a photo of my shop...not the best but you can get the picture.

 

[matt151617]

Kippieland, how many bulbs do you have total? Do you have a diagram of light placement?

I don't plan on putting up drywall or OSB. There's way too much stuff on the walls and it would take forever to take down and replace. There's not much point since I won't insulate.

 

[kngelv]

Unfortunately –and as another poster stated– adjacent areas will soak up the light. The best way is to light the entire garage. I have a 24' x 22' that has 14 T8 two bulb fixtures. I think 16-18 evenly spaced would work for you.

James

 

[isaac338]

My 24x24 has 26 4' bulbs and I'm always looking for more - I hate dark spots, and once you've got significant light in any area, the dark spots get even darker.

 

[matt151617]

Holy **** that many? I thought 6-9 2 bulb fixtures would be enough.

I guess this may be a work in progress... that many lights is going to cost a lot.

 

[isaac338]

Holy **** that many? I thought 6-9 2 bulb fixtures would be enough.

I guess this may be a work in progress... that many lights is going to cost a lot.

I've added them over time, and probably have less than $100 invested in fixtures. They're all old, used T12 fixtures, but it sure beats buying new.

Search craigslist or kijiji for them - remember to search for common misspellings like "flourescent" and "floresent."

I thought I had too many when I started wiring them up, but once you get used to the light it's hard to stop adding more!

 

[BFBOB]

The best I've found is metal halide. Efficiency is at least that of fluorescent, but uses bulbs not much larger than incandescents - medium base. 70W MH's put out a huge amount of light, and can be made steerable with carefully chosen fixtures. I used ordinary clip lights with 12" reflectors and remotely mounted ballasts. Works great. I've been told the high voltage of the ignitors will destroy the plastic sockets, but it hasn't happened yet. I like the fairly directional light from MH fixtures better than 48" fluorescents (though I use both in various applications.)
Down side of MH: Higher cost, though yo can minimize this by careful buying (eBay is Your Friend), and slow turn-on. 2-5 minutes for full brightness. No cure for that that I'm aware of.

 

[djd99]

You can never have enough light I put a outlet on every other rafter on my 30x40 switched into 4 zones. All together I have roughly 30 outlets in the ceiling. I'm installing t-8's on every other rafter and a 26watt cfl on the outlets in between you go from little light to well lit up. Worth every penny in extra wire and outlets.

Also ceramic metal halides are becoming very popular, all your factories and big box stores are switching over to them due to more of a natural light spectrum.

http://advancedtechlighting.com/cmhmain.htm

 

[gatchel]

FWIW. I have 4, 6 Bulb T-8 fixtures located in at the 1/3 and 2/3 points front to back and left to right in a 20' by 25'. It is plenty of light. I will probably add a few more fixtures for a work bench once it is built. Any under hood work is still going to be illuminated with a point light or a drop light.

 

[ForceFed70]

My finished 32x40x12 has 36 4' T8 lamps (9 x 4-lamp fixtures) and I find it to be plenty of light. But it's finished space with white ceilings and walls.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

You are talking a rather small area (the entire garage) and the best thing would be to light the entire area, nice and bright. As noted, wood and dark colors soak up light. Don't plan on lighting up just one end because "that is all you will use", because you will quickly realize you need the whole area lit.

Charles

 

[brucer]

white paint is your friend... It being unfinished is your biggest problem,that ***** up a ton of light.. even shelves and shelving soak up light.


I have a 24x30 insulated and drywalled, but not painted, i have eight 8ft fluorescent lights and two 4 ft fluorescent lights.. my garage is bright, i would like to paint the interior, but at some point i would like to hang metal siding on the interior, so painting would be a waste..

attached a pic of my 24x30, you can see how much difference the drywall compared to the bare spot on the wall makes..

crappy pic, but you can see what i'm talking about.. I also have some old wood cabinets that need to be painted because they **** up so much light..

 

[buzz4041]

My shop area is 24 x 27 and I have installed 9 - 4 bulb 4 footers. My ceiling (9' 6") and walls are both white with a blue floor. I never need any special light for work any where whether it be the workbench or any where else.

 

[matt151617]

So what's the best spacing? I downloaded that program but it's not working right. It only shows 2 lights on my diagram.

I would hate to run wiring and mount everything only to have to redo it later.

 

[gatchel]

Your 25X25 is 625 sqft. If you want 100 lumens per foot you need 62500 lumens.

Each Sylvania T-8 F32/841/ECO bulb that I used is about 2800 lumens.

This comes to 22.3 bulbs. Round up or down to the nearest multiple depending on the bulb count in each fixture.

Space your fixtures so that they aren't directly centered over your vehicles and distribute the fixtures evenly about the garage. Also take into consideration the when the garage door is open you may block some or all of the light. If you have garage door windows you can locate the fixtures so that some of the light comes through the window(s) when open.

If you still aren't convinced, pick your fixture that you are going to use, buy one or two of them, hook up a plug to them and power them with an extension cord. Get up on a ladder, hold the lights up and see how things look. Mount them temporarily if needed. It will help.


Also, I forgot to mention in my previous post that my ceiling is finished and painted white. The walls are open studs. I still have PLENTY of light.

One more question, what is your ceiling height?

 

[GaryRoushkolb]

Try some T-5's. These are like adding a skylite to the garage. They are pricey but put about twice the light of t-8s.

 

[matt151617]

8ft ceilings. I guess I'll do 12 fixtures total , 3 wide and 4 long.

 

[jdub63]

This is my 30 x 30 section before the epoxy flooring using only 9 CFLs. With 8 foot ceilings you won't be able to use the 500W CFLs but you could use the smaller ones inplace of your current 6 incandescents.

 

[BMEdoc]

8ft ceilings. I guess I'll do 12 fixtures total , 3 wide and 4 long.

I just finished hanging my lights in a garage that is almost the exact same size as yours. I'm 25x26 with 8' ceilings. The walls (concrete block) are painted white, and the ceiling is ultrawhite (I don't recall the brand). I also epoxied the floors along with a gloss clear coat (which brightened up the space considerably.

My point is that while I have all of the finished spaces, and 12 fixtures... I wish I put in a few more. Granted, I have a lot of light, but I would rather have either used T5's, or used 4 more T8 strips.

If your walls and ceiling aren't finished, you may want to consider adding extra. I know personally, I'd rather have too much light and deal with glare instead of shadows and darkness...

 

[gatchel]

8ft ceilings. I guess I'll do 12 fixtures total , 3 wide and 4 long.

I was actually thinking that but didn't want to get too specific not knowing your building and other factors. If you are using it as a two car garage than that makes the most sense. Wire each row on a separate switch that way you can focus the light where you need it when you need it.

 

[WILD-BILL]

My garage is a little over 21'x21" and I have 7 48'x4 bulb fixtures for a total of 28 bulbs. Most are the large T12's that I picked up at a swap meet and one T8 over the work bench.

Although you can't see the other there are 2 fixtures above the garage door tracks and those lights are covered when the door is open. I have those 2 on a separate switch so I can leave them off when I work with the door open.

 

[matt151617]

So far so good, I'm going to wire each bay (6 lights) to one switch. Lights go up very quick, including time required to level them. Running new wiring takes much longer but is easy in an unfinished garage. 4 lights are up. I went with the $12.98 lights at Lowes, black, T8, electronic ballast. The third row is a little more difficult since the garage door track is near it, and they can't hang the full length of the chain.

Anyone else having trouble finding T8 bulbs? I was at Lowes today, and they have tons of T12s, but the only T8s they have are 2 packs and expensive. Walmart didn't have any bulk packs.

 

[Todd.Brock]

Geez. All this talk of 25 to 30 bulbs is making my eyes cross. I have a 20 x 24 with 10 ft ceilings. I am using Lithonia 2bulb t8 fixtures. I plan to use 9 of them. That puts me at 300 bucks in fixtures and who the hell knows about bulbs. Haven't priced those yet! It's going to have to be bright as hell. I haven't downloaded a lumen calc but it's better than the 2 65 w incandescents currently in there? My ceilings are drywalled and painted. The walls are crust builder white.

 

[gatchel]

You will probably have better luck buying bulbs at the local supply house by the case.

 

[jvitez]

You will probably have better luck buying bulbs at the local supply house by the case.

+1. And sometimes cheaper there too.

 

[zoomzoomjeff]

I have an unfinished 24x24. OSB walls, open ceiling. Gut feeling said CFL's would be the cheap way, and I wasn't finding too many T8's in the store, nor was I certain about their future. I made an Excel spreadsheet comparing T8's to CFL's, and used the following inputs:
fixture cost, bulb cost, lumens/bulb, lumens/dollar, watts/fixture, total watts, cost for 10k hrs, 20k hrs, 50k hours.

With CFL's, I got nearly twice the lumens per dollar spent, but use about 80 watts more. (insignificant to me)

My conclusion--I went with 20 CFL's, rated at 100w equivalent output each (23 watt usage). Total cost was $50-$75 for everything, plus the cost of wiring. And I have a crazy amount of light in there. I am FINALLY happy with sufficient lighting in my garage. So far, the cold weather hasn't really been a factor.

 

[jdub63]

+1. And sometimes cheaper there too.

I used 1000bulbs.com http://www.1000bulbs.com/?gclid=CKfUtNy5mK0CFWrktgodCXVnOQ

 

[CrashTestDummy]

I have an unfinished 24x24. OSB walls, open ceiling. Gut feeling said CFL's would be the cheap way, and I wasn't finding too many T8's in the store, nor was I certain about their future. I made an Excel spreadsheet comparing T8's to CFL's, and used the following inputs:
fixture cost, bulb cost, lumens/bulb, lumens/dollar, watts/fixture, total watts, cost for 10k hrs, 20k hrs, 50k hours.

With CFL's, I got nearly twice the lumens per dollar spent, but use about 80 watts more. (insignificant to me)

My conclusion--I went with 20 CFL's, rated at 100w equivalent output each (23 watt usage). Total cost was $50-$75 for everything, plus the cost of wiring. And I have a crazy amount of light in there. I am FINALLY happy with sufficient lighting in my garage. So far, the cold weather hasn't really been a factor.

Not sure I'd go with CFLs, but the setup you have there, you can always go with a higher wattage equivalent bulb as your eyes age.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

 

[olytdi]

28x28 here with open trusses at 12 ft from floor (peak is 16 ft). I detest dimly lit shops so I put up 8 fixtures each with four t-8 bulbs. I put another two bulb fixture over each of the two main work benches. This with white walls/ceiling gives enough light....just enough. Painting white and lots of fixtures were the two best decisions I've made putting this building together. I've also noticed that as I add tool boxes and other things that cover or replace areas of white wall, that my light diminishes slightly.

Don't know how old you are but being in my 50s now, my eyes requires more light than they did 30 years ago and it's going to get worse not better!

 

[dougmac]

Hello.
Here are some tips I put together in an earlier thread: Lighting Tips

 

[JBAUTO]

I did 9 dual T8 with 4100k bulbs in my 24x24 garage 10 foot ceiling and the lighting was pretty bright.The inspection guy thought i was starting a grow up lol. They were horzontal standing in front of the garage doors. If you love lighting i would go 12, its a bit over kill but put some on switches.

 

[JBAUTO]

I posted a simlar question few years ago. here is the link may help you .

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74368

 

[matt151617]

Maybe I'll just do 8 for now, 2 rows of 4. The wiring is up for 8, it would be easy to add another 4 if needed.