Lighting Questions, wanting opinions!

[jjj_85]

Hello all, my name is Jeremy and I am new to this board. I have been lurking around a couple weeks and have gotten a TON of ideas. I recently purchased my first house after a year of looking. The detached garage is 24x24 so nothing crazy unfortunately... It is completely unfinished which is fine by me. I would rather do it wrong and not like it then have someone else have done it wrong and I not like it. I am in the process of rounding up things and I got stuck. I was not sure what to do for lighting at all. I have seen the simple screw in fluorescent lights that are like 12 to 13 watts in another garage recently and they caught my eye. They are cheap and the place was well lit, but there were ALOT of them. 25 of them I do think in another 24x24, but it would be easy and I wouldnt have to do it all at once as far as putting the lights in. This is what im talking about, any opinions?

http://img.alibaba.com/photo/101084...e_With_Solar_Panel_Power_Generator_System.jpg

Also if I plan on building a enclosure in a storage shed for my compressor could I insulate around it and how close could I???

Thanks to this wonderful board for so many things so far!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jjj_85]

I also have 15 or 20 or these simple porcelain fixtures for lights laying around after a friend finished his basement with recessed lighting...

 

[moogoob]

I just put in 5 4' fixtures in my small 1 car space. two 32 watt 5000k T8's in each fixture. I am more than thrilled with the amount of light. and now that its painted with gloss white, it even better. Each fixture was about 20 bucks, so not so high on the expesivometer either.

you have twice the size, so maybe the 4 bulb (8' fixtures) would be the way to go.

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

I just put in 5 4' fixtures in my small 1 car space. two 32 watt 5000k T8's in each fixture. I am more than thrilled with the amount of light. and now that its painted with gloss white, it even better. Each fixture was about 20 bucks, so not so high on the expesivometer either.

you have twice the size, so maybe the 4 bulb (8' fixtures) would be the way to go.

Where did you get them? I'm looking for lights myself...

 

[Terry Kennedy]

The detached garage is 24x24 so nothing crazy unfortunately... I have seen the simple screw in fluorescent lights that are like 12 to 13 watts in another garage recently and they caught my eye. They are cheap and the place was well lit, but there were ALOT of them. 25 of them I do think in another 24x24, but it would be easy and I wouldnt have to do it all at once as far as putting the lights in. This is what im talking about, any opinions?

That is a lot of sockets, and if you don't do them all at once you may end up with wiring that looks like spaghetti running between different sockets.

Also, those lamps are excellent for replacing existing incandescent lamps, but if you're starting from scratch you'll be better off with tubular fixtures.

Since you say this is an unfinished detached garage I assume it is un-heated? In this case I would suggest HO (High Output) fixtures if you're in an area where it goes below 50 degrees or so. Don't get them from a Lowes / Home Depot-type store - go to an electrical supply house and get a quality brand. You'll pay more, but it will be worth it - when a Home Depot 4-tube fixture with tubes costs less than 4 name brand tubes alone, you can assume that the quality just isn't there.

Here's a somewhat outdated picture of my garage with 2 2-tube T12 HO fixtures. They're Cooper ones with mesh guards. I must have 10 years on those fixtures / lamps by now, and have never had to replace anything, not even a lamp.

 

[moogoob]

Where did you get them? I'm looking for lights myself...

home depot lithonia lights. I was there tonight looking for a replacement diffuser ( i was too rough with one) and the lamps were $18 for the lamps, no diffusers.

 

[firebird 97]

I have one 8 foot T-8 light in my 2 car garage and it looks like daylight when I have it on. My bother-in-law is a contactor up in VA and he had 2 left over from job he did and brought them down for me. After we put in the frist one decide to give the other one to the guy next door to me since I was not going to use it.

I am going to go with a few smaller bulb type lights later on over my work bench and in front of the cabinets I plan to build.

 

[jjj_85]

I just bought this house and I am broke....so $50 to $100 max

 

[Charles (in GA)]

A 13 watt Compact Fluorescent screw in bulb is equal to a regular 60 watt light bulb in light output. That is why you saw lots of them in someones shop. You would really need to spend the money and buy the larger CF bulbs that are about 25 watts and equal a 100 watt bulb, to get a decent amount of light, without the place looking like a Christmas tree.

Spend the money on some decent 4 ft T8 fluorescents to get what you really need.

Charles