Lighting layout

[47willys]

I have an attached 3 car garage and I put up a wall to separate the third stall. I'll be insulating and heating it so I can work on my motorcycles during the long MN winters. The finished area is 13' x 19'.

I figured I'd post a scale drawing of the space and my lighting layout to see what you guys think. I'd like to do it right the first time! I plan to use 4' T8 fixtures with 2 exposed lamps. I'll have 2 switches so I don't have to have them all on at once. I have the fixtures marked "A" and "B" on the drawing to show this. There will be upper cabinets over the workbench and desk with under cabinet lighting also.

Let me know what you think.

 

[astroracer]

Think about running them lengthwise, three down each side. Just as much coverage with fewer lights. Also be sure to put one right over your bench/desk on a seperate switch.
If you are not planning to heat the shop all the time look into cold-starts.
You could do this with 4 8' cold starts and a 6' over the bench. Put them on 7 or 8' centers and you will have plenty of light.

My 8 x 24 machine shop is lit with two 8' cold start starts. Running them lenghtwise.

The other end of the room.

Mark

 

[ISurvivednmu]

How high are the ceilings?

I also agree with Mark above in running them lengthwise.

 

[47willys]

It has 9' ceilings.

Maybe something more like this??
4 - 8' fixtures in two rows on one switch and an 8' fixture over the workbench on another switch.

Thanks for helping out guys!

 

[Ray916MN]

Which way do you intend to position the motorcycles in the shop when you work on them and do you intend to use a lift table?

I like to orient lights 90 degrees to motorcycles to work on them when ceiling heights are effectively low. This helps visibility into their recesses and minimize the potential for casting shadows. With a bike on a lift, your effective ceiling height will be somewhere more like 7' and the surfaces you want to light will likely be more like 6-4' away from the ceiling. More coverage is important in this situation.

Lastly, your original layout likely can be set up to leave only 2 fixtures behind the garage door when it is open. If your garage faces north, minimizing the amount of lighting blocked by the open door is worthwhile.

 

[astroracer]

With the above layout, a motorcycle on a lift, in the middle of the shop, will have tons of light the full length of the bike on both sides. Doesn't get much better then that.
Blocking light with the open door is inevitable. My shop is the same way and it really isn't an issue. Most of the work is done in the middle and the door gets shut at night to keep out the bugs...
Mark

 

[47willys]

I have a garage door on each end of this stall. The previous owner of this house stored a small fishing boat on a pad behind the garage. The door on the left side of my drawing is the front of the house and will be used to bring the motorcycles in and out. The door on the right side of the drawing is the rear and wont be used often.

I'll be working on the bikes in the rear half of the stall. That way I'll get the most useable light if the door is open and have room to park the bike I'm riding in the front half of the stall.

I don't have a lift table right now, but plan to start shopping for one this summer after I build and install the cabinets. Right now I'm just using a jack that lifts a bike maybe 20".

Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it!!



Thanks a lot for the help! I really appreciate it!

 

[Platonic Solid]

Somebody shoot me. Do not buy 8' F96T12HO or 6' F72T12HO fixtures! (as if you could even find a 6ft HO fixture) Everyone in the world is replacing these with F32T8 due to incredible efficiency difference. I'm working on a separate thread to try to address this issue for the masses as this question keeps coming up. Keep an eye out for it.

 

[alkknight]

You can buy 8ft tandem T8 fixtures. They use 4 - 4ft T8 bulbs, put out more light, start at lower temps, and are pretty inexpensive. Home Depot usually stocks them.

 

[Ray916MN]

The 4' T8 2 tube strip fixtures I bought from Menards on their 11% rebate sale. They ended up costing about $14 per fixture including 6500K bulbs and tax, net of rebate. Although I maintain 44F minimum in my workshop, as I recollect the ballasts were 0F start rated. Menards on sale was about 30-40% below the next best source I could find for fixtures and bulbs. That was 2 years ago.

Given my very occasional use (about 300 hours/yr of use) and the cost of alternatives when I bought it would have taken multiple decades for a T5, T5HO or LED to produce savings.

 

[47willys]

Thanks for the help everyone!

I think I've been keeping my local Menards in business the last month with this project! I have it all wired, insulated, sheet rocked and heated. Its done enough for me to start working on the motor in my bike. At this point I think I'll wait till spring to tape, mud and paint so I can empty the stall to do it. That will give me time for Menards to have another sale to buy the fixtures too.

 

[buzz4041]

You might want to put a switch for the light fixtures over the garage door so in summer time when door is open you don't need those 2 fixtures on. I would also look at the 4 bulb x 4' fixtures as they really light up a workspace. I prefer them over any 2 bulb fixture. I find the 2 bulb are good for general lighting but shop lighting 4 bulb.