whats better 4' fixtures or 8' fixtures? economicly the 8' is the better buy..any down sides? reflector or no reflector for a 10' ceiling? anywhere i can get an ideal of how many i would require to illuminate a 24*28 garage? im looking at the price of these coldstart things and i cant really see it....ive never had problems starting the others they just flicker for a few minutes then there fine as far as i know?
lighting
- Thread starter RAMBIN
- Start date
vettescout
Active member
In one section (24x36, 10' ceiling) of my garage that is almost finished I put in 12 of the 8' (four 4' bulb 32 watt) T8 fixtures that I bought from Home Depot. The color and the light output is great!!! The fixtures are consumer grade, cost about $40.00 apiece, but I believe I definetly got the most bang for my buck., Will try to get pictures later...Paul
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Davey4000
Well-known member
vettescout said:
Whups! I just bought 6 of those to light approximately the same size area. I guess I need more. How do you calculate the requirements?
so 12 of those only did part of your garage??? how much approximatley? i know the fixtures ur talking about, any reason why u didnt go with the 8' bulbs?..pics would be great...there must be a way to figure this out a formula or something?vettescout said:
vettescout
Active member
The garage is 36x44, have a 18x20 room for my Bridgeport and lathe etc and another 18x20 that just general purpose work. The ceiling in the smaller rooms are 8' and I have four of the same fixtures in each of the small rooms. About figuring out the lighting requirements, I read an article in "Fine Woodworking" that really handled the subject quite well,sorry don't remember what issue, you might try to go to the magazine on line and find the information. Also, Lithonia lighting are the people who made my fixtures and I believe they have on line help with the subject...Paul[email protected] said:
mjribeiro
Well-known member
I have 16 of the HD T8 4' fixtures - Sounds like alot, but I over lit two bays with 4 fixtures each, one where my woodshop is located, and the other where my lift bay is. Each other bay only received two fixtures. (6 bays total)
PS I went 4' for ease of transport, replacement and disposal.
PS I went 4' for ease of transport, replacement and disposal.
MarksM
Well-known member
I just installed 4 of the 8' dual fixtures in my 24x36 garage. It is very adequate light for general purposes.
Has anyone tried to use a 4' lay-in fixture in there buildings? If your not sure what I am talking about, below is a standard fixture they sell at Lowes.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=79792-13537-PET432RC&lpage=none
I am thinking this would give you a very nice / clean look across the ceiling. I am not planning on installing a drop ceiling but, I am sure I could make this work somehow in my ceiling. The last time I bought these, I paid like $30 each from my local electrical supply house.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=79792-13537-PET432RC&lpage=none
I am thinking this would give you a very nice / clean look across the ceiling. I am not planning on installing a drop ceiling but, I am sure I could make this work somehow in my ceiling. The last time I bought these, I paid like $30 each from my local electrical supply house.
larry4406
Well-known member
I searched this site for lighting information as well. One post recommended a minimum of 0.5 watts per square foot of floor space. If you do the math (total watts divided by square footage) of the various examples that people post as having good to great lighting, you will see that they are in excess of one watt per square foot.
In my garage that i am building, I will be using 12 of the 8' fixtures which each use 4 T8 bulbs of 32W each. This gives 1536W of total output. The net floor space is 28x48 which is 1344 sqaure feet. Thus 1536/1344 is 1.14 watts per square foot. So, I think I will be happy. I will also choose a good bulb when the time comes.
Also, keep track of the wattage on your circuit. Power (watts) is volts times amps. Thus a normal 15A circuit at 110V can supply a maximum of 1650W which would mean 51 32W bulbs (or in this example 12 eight foot fixtures of four bulbs each). Obviously, don't size the circuit to the maximum.
In my garage that i am building, I will be using 12 of the 8' fixtures which each use 4 T8 bulbs of 32W each. This gives 1536W of total output. The net floor space is 28x48 which is 1344 sqaure feet. Thus 1536/1344 is 1.14 watts per square foot. So, I think I will be happy. I will also choose a good bulb when the time comes.
Also, keep track of the wattage on your circuit. Power (watts) is volts times amps. Thus a normal 15A circuit at 110V can supply a maximum of 1650W which would mean 51 32W bulbs (or in this example 12 eight foot fixtures of four bulbs each). Obviously, don't size the circuit to the maximum.
mjribeiro
Well-known member
VvvJRvvV said:
JR - that's exactly what I have 16 of.....I bought the $40 version that came with four bulbs....
VvvJRvvV said:
do these type of lights set inside of the ceiling i was thinking of using something like this but i do not have a drop ceiling in my garage i was thinking of cutting them into the dry wall and having them resesed that way.i think that would leave a cleaner look ........any opinions?
mjribeiro
Well-known member
Guys - I'll get pictures this weekend. They do set into the ceiling - I don't have a ceiling yet, I just set them at a height that will work with the drywall.....someday. PS no need for a drop ceiling with these.....
mjribeiro said:
Cool. I look foward to seeing those pics. These would work perfectly above my high lift garage doors, in the part of the garage with scissor trusses. It would help me preserve ceiling height for the lift.
mjribeiro
Well-known member
Hope this helps. I mounted them about 5/8" lower than my trusses to allow for the (someday) drywall....
From far away you can see the where I wanted to overlight the work area, two areas, 18X20, with 4 lights each. One is a wood working area, the other is the bay in front of the lift, These two spots are actually 1 1/2 bays each.
The front half of the garage is parking, 3 bays 12x20, with only 2 lights in each bay.
little closer up..
From far away you can see the where I wanted to overlight the work area, two areas, 18X20, with 4 lights each. One is a wood working area, the other is the bay in front of the lift, These two spots are actually 1 1/2 bays each.
The front half of the garage is parking, 3 bays 12x20, with only 2 lights in each bay.
little closer up..
TNToy
Well-known member
You know what's funny?
When you described what you had... it sounded VERY excessive.
Now that you've got a picture up, I'm wondering if that's enough.
When you described what you had... it sounded VERY excessive.
Now that you've got a picture up, I'm wondering if that's enough.
mjribeiro
Well-known member
That's funny - I am usually the king of excess. For the two 'overlit' areas it's everything I'd hope for. The parking areas are too dark with only two lights for detailed work. But usually I'm not doing any of that back there. Each one of those fixtures has 4 T-8 bulbs. So the two work areas have 16 bulbs each....