First of all, I have read a lot of the info in this forum including most of the lighting layout thread and I have used the free tool. Thanks to Platonic Solid and others for great info. I feel like I have "some" idea of what I want/need, but due to some idiosyncrasies of my space I need some advice.
This is for my attached garage which is about 40x25x10.5 with two double doors at the front and two man doors at the rear (one going in the house, one going outside). The main purpose for lighting is automotive work and then of course "other projects."
Garage is 100% finished with drywall and painted white (ceiling) and very light gray (walls). So if I mention, e.g., a beam, assume it's covered in drywall.
Bays of the "4-car" garage are approx. 19x20 and 17x20. Both sides have 10.5-ft ceilings, but are separated on the ceiling by a deep W-beam, the bottom of which is 9'-0" up from the floor.
The front ~6-ft of space drops down to a 9-ft ceiling, with the exception of an area in the SW corner where the ceiling is back to 10'-6". The hatched area in the SW corner is shelving hanging from the ceiling about 2-ft down. Also cabinets and work benches are under the shelves in the hatched area.
The left (east) bay is used for daily driver parking (SUV and P/U) and occasional maintenance. The right (west) bay is where the racecar lives, so that's where most work happens. The racecar is biased slightly to the left/east in that bay due to work benches/other **** and leaving a path to the outside door in the SW corner.
The red symbols on the sketch show existing single bulb fixtures. At one point this seemed like it might be enough light, but as you know it's like a cave in there at night (when most of my work happens). I pretty much use a headlamp to do anything.
My initial run at this has 3x3 48" dual LED Maxlite fixtures in each bay running length-wise with a single 48" fixture in between on each end, and then using seven (7) 48" fixtures spaced out in the front section.
Questions:
1. General thoughts? Too much? I was thinking about using some or all of my existing 6 fixtures as a "walk through" circuit on their existing 15a breaker. So I'd just leave the wiring as is and replace a single bulb with a 48" LED fixture. Then the rest of the lights would be wired with conduit, etc., and split up as necessary on a dedicated 20A circuit.
2. Currently I am planning on staying away from the beam running between bays and having a separate run of lights on either side of the beam. If I could mount lights on the bottom of the beam it would save me 3 fixtures. Thoughts?
3. Should I look at dimming, or just try to control output with switching?
Any other thoughts welcome. Thanks a bunch. Sketch is attached, 1 square = 1 foot.
This is for my attached garage which is about 40x25x10.5 with two double doors at the front and two man doors at the rear (one going in the house, one going outside). The main purpose for lighting is automotive work and then of course "other projects."
Garage is 100% finished with drywall and painted white (ceiling) and very light gray (walls). So if I mention, e.g., a beam, assume it's covered in drywall.
Bays of the "4-car" garage are approx. 19x20 and 17x20. Both sides have 10.5-ft ceilings, but are separated on the ceiling by a deep W-beam, the bottom of which is 9'-0" up from the floor.
The front ~6-ft of space drops down to a 9-ft ceiling, with the exception of an area in the SW corner where the ceiling is back to 10'-6". The hatched area in the SW corner is shelving hanging from the ceiling about 2-ft down. Also cabinets and work benches are under the shelves in the hatched area.
The left (east) bay is used for daily driver parking (SUV and P/U) and occasional maintenance. The right (west) bay is where the racecar lives, so that's where most work happens. The racecar is biased slightly to the left/east in that bay due to work benches/other **** and leaving a path to the outside door in the SW corner.
The red symbols on the sketch show existing single bulb fixtures. At one point this seemed like it might be enough light, but as you know it's like a cave in there at night (when most of my work happens). I pretty much use a headlamp to do anything.
My initial run at this has 3x3 48" dual LED Maxlite fixtures in each bay running length-wise with a single 48" fixture in between on each end, and then using seven (7) 48" fixtures spaced out in the front section.
Questions:
1. General thoughts? Too much? I was thinking about using some or all of my existing 6 fixtures as a "walk through" circuit on their existing 15a breaker. So I'd just leave the wiring as is and replace a single bulb with a 48" LED fixture. Then the rest of the lights would be wired with conduit, etc., and split up as necessary on a dedicated 20A circuit.
2. Currently I am planning on staying away from the beam running between bays and having a separate run of lights on either side of the beam. If I could mount lights on the bottom of the beam it would save me 3 fixtures. Thoughts?
3. Should I look at dimming, or just try to control output with switching?
Any other thoughts welcome. Thanks a bunch. Sketch is attached, 1 square = 1 foot.
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