I am building a small garage, 16X21 with 12' ceilings. It will have a 4 post lift, PTAC A/C, and I am planning on 12 each 4' T8 2 bulb fixtures in rows of 3 perpendicular to the entrance for overhead lighting. I am thinking of adding at least 2 each 4' T8 on the 21' walls for fill lighting at 7' off the floor. Any thoughts, has anyone put lighting on the walls? The garage is mainly used to house my hot rod and the excessive lighting is to help with the care and polishing day or night.
Lighting
- Thread starter proeagles
- Start date
I like this idea. I am planning to do the same thing, near the lift. Over the workbenches I'll build cabinets and have lights under them for more task-specific lighting.
However, I haven't gotten to lights yet. Stuck on tedious drywall
Aceman
Well-known member
I'm just curious, why not 8 footers? I'm always surprised at how many people on here buy 4 footers....
I only install 4 footers if the room isn't physically at least 8 feet wide. Hanging lights isn't fun, plus keeping the rows straight. Using fewer 8 foot fixtures is the way to go IMO.
I only install 4 footers if the room isn't physically at least 8 feet wide. Hanging lights isn't fun, plus keeping the rows straight. Using fewer 8 foot fixtures is the way to go IMO.
The lights will run perpendicular to the entry which means they will be on the 16 foot wall. The actual interior wall space is less than 16 feet and therefore 12 feet of lighting fits perfectly and 16 or 8 feet won't work. Eight feet doesn't cover enough of the car without creating shadows which is also why I am adding fill lighting on the wall. Twelve foot ceilings eat up a lot of the light before it reaches the ground. I can't run them the other way because of the way the ceiling is constructed. The gable runs perpendicular as well and the interior height varies with the slope of the roof with only about 10 feet being flat in the center of the room. The garage is attached to the house and not free standing and had to follow the original construction of the house. HOA, FEMA, LOMAR, don't ask. Our associations and govenment hard at work.
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The way the room had to be constructed forces me to install the lights perpendicular to the entry on the 16 foot wall which is actually less than 16 feet on the interior. Rows of 8 foot light would cast shadows and not cover enough of the floor while rows of 12 feet covers almost the entire width of the floor. I am adding the wall lighting to fill in the shadows that would likely be created anyway because of the 12 foot ceilings based upon my experience at the golf maintenance shop I worked at with high celings. We had lighting mounted on the wall on a seperate circuit and when those lights were turned on, it made a huge difference when working close to the floor or under a piece of equipment.
rwhite692
Well-known member
That lighting coming out of the walls at 7' high is going to be annoying as heck and blaring right into your eyes. If you do decide to do it, you'd want those lights on a separate switched circuit, for sure.
If you are really concerned about side lighting for detailing cars, IMHO you would be much better served with a light source on a wheeled tripod or similar setup that you can position exactly where you want it.
If you put enough light on the ceiling, you won't have any shadows.
If you are really concerned about side lighting for detailing cars, IMHO you would be much better served with a light source on a wheeled tripod or similar setup that you can position exactly where you want it.
If you put enough light on the ceiling, you won't have any shadows.
rwhite692
Well-known member
^^^^This.
z28toz06
Well-known member
A garage/shop by me has 8 footers about 4 to 5 feet off the ground. @ 7', the car will block the light I would think when its on a lift. if u arent looking at them they do a good job of uplighting the bottom of the vehicles rather nicely.
Full Size 66
Well-known member
I too am about to tackle the lighting. My thought is the 4ft. bulbs are easy to handle. I think I will recess the fixtures to give a clear ceiling. At 28x32 I figure on about 12-14 fixtures. The biggest thing I found to help the lighting is nice smooth walls, white semi-gloss. Then things get bright!
That is awesome.
Your garage is awesome. I have decided to go with side lighting at 8 feet off the ground which is what is was in our maintenance shop, no glare and plenty of fill lighting. For the ceiling, I am going with 5 rows of 4 foot fixtures on circuit one (Covers the work bench area and entrance), 5 rows of 8 foot fixtures on circuit 2 to complete the overhead lighting, and 16 feet on the walls on circuit 3 when needed. My walls will be semi gloss white. I'll let you know how it turns out.