Lights for Crawlspace

[nafterclifen]

I need more lighting in my crawl space. I store a lot of things in there so I'm probably going in/out about once a week. It's about 38x26 (988 sq ft) and about 4' high. There are currently only (2) porcelain bases, one at each end, and even with 200w bulbs in them, I need more light. I originally was going to add more but I worry about breaking the bulbs. I already broke 2 or 3 of them and the 200w are not eactly. I guess I could add covers to them. Or I could buy these...

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-...ess-Lamp-Holder-White-R50-09860-0BL/202077743

My concern with those lights is the low output. My original plan was to install 4 more porcelain bases and continue to use 200w bulbs. To get that much light, using the Leviton fixtures, I'd have to install a lot more than 6.

Any other, reasonably priced, lighting options? I thought about mounting flood fixtures in each of the (4) corners. Yay or nay?

 

[PhantomEB]

I am gonna put two motion sensed LED bulb up in my attic. Rarely ever up there but when I am, there will be light!

 

[sands35]

jelly jar light fixtures are dirt cheep. Not much more than a porcelain screw base.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-...Outdoor-Jelly-Jar-Wall-Light-WB0317/202021766

Put in 4-5 of those suckers and some 60-75 watt bulbs.

With a small headspace area, few lamps with high watts isn't going to put light where there aren't bulbs. Better off with more lamps with lower wattage for better coverage.

 

[Gidge]

jelly jar light fixtures are dirt cheep. Not much more than a porcelain screw base.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-...Outdoor-Jelly-Jar-Wall-Light-WB0317/202021766

Put in 4-5 of those suckers and some 60-75 watt bulbs.

With a small headspace area, few lamps with high watts isn't going to put light where there aren't bulbs. Better off with more lamps with lower wattage for better coverage.

Good solution, but if the area is small (as crawlspaces tend to be) maybe something a bit more streamlined ?

 

[happy2rv]

It's hard to make a good recommendation without knowing more about the space and your budget tolerance. I'm becoming more and more partial to LED lighting, but it is still a bit pricier than fluorescent or incandescent.

Gidge's solution ^^^^ is only equivalent to 1 60 Watt bulb. Lots of these spaced throughout the area would probably be the "best" solution for even lighting, but would be expensive both in cost of materials and labor.

This Light is equivalent to 2 75W bulbs, it relatively flat, and there are no "bulbs" in it (it has a matrix of smaller LEDs). But at $40 each it might be pricey for the application.

This fixture with Thes LED bulbs is far cheaper at $12 for the fixture and a little under $3.50 for each bulb, but only 2 60 watt equivalents. It's also not quite as compact and has a glass globe/diffuser instead of plastic.

Another option might be wall mounted fixtures along one or both side of the area. I've seen fluorescent wall fixtures in stair wells and similar locations. I'm sure they make LED and fluorescent tube fixtures that would work well for light, but would likely be pricey and potentially difficult to mount assuming the walls in the crawl space are the masonry foundation walls.

I would probably be tempted to try to work something out with these or these work lights, but they aren't meant for permanent mounting and I'm sure wouldn't be approved for any type of permanent installation. I'm not sure how they would hold up to constant use. The first one indicates it has an AC adapter, the second one doesn't have an external adapter and has a 5 year warranty (probably not valid if they aren't used as intended for occasional use work lights). The could be plugged into outlets along one or both walls that get switched on and off with or in place of the original light fixtures.

 

[dave*99]

I light my similarly sized crawl space with 6 porcelain base fixtures. 100W bulbs in each. I'm not in that space much so I don't break the nbulbs. I have plenty of light though.

I saw a similar space lit with a string of Christmas lights. The large incandescent type. C9 I think. Seems kind of a hobo approach but it worked great. And if it is stapled to the ceiling it will move when you hit it rather than break.

 

[nadogail]

Compact Fluorescents or PL Fluorescents have been inexpensive and economical for me.

 

[Muzzy]

As suggested above, Christmas lights come to mind to provide some more ambient light.

I would also consider the under cabinet mount LED bars that you can daisy chain together. A string of those running either way out of the current light bases would certainly be easy to install. They are flat so they'll be out of the way. I put some in a closet, and remember the lowes house brand being roughly $20 for a 12" light. Of course, it doesn't take too many $20 lights add up to a lot of money for a crawlspace....$100 would buy a lot of headlamps!

 

[rsnip988]

Compact Fluorescents or PL Fluorescents have been inexpensive and economical for me.

jelly jar light fixtures are dirt cheep. Not much more than a porcelain screw base.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-...Outdoor-Jelly-Jar-Wall-Light-WB0317/202021766

Put in 4-5 of those suckers and some 60-75 watt bulbs.

With a small headspace area, few lamps with high watts isn't going to put light where there aren't bulbs. Better off with more lamps with lower wattage for better coverage.

Slap up some 100W CFL equivalent bulb in jelly jars and call it a day! lol
but at 1600lu each they put out a ton of light... way more than you want to stare into as you crawl in/out...

 

[bentleyrb]

Do you have plugin ceiling outlets? If you do I could send you a couple 4ft led shop lights.

 

[Chukster]

This Leviton fixture here is also available as a motion sensor fixture, for a little more; #9863-OCC. No more forgetting to turn the lights off in the damn crawlspace when you leave!

http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ProductDetail.jsp?partnumber=9863-OCC&section=39796&minisite=10251

I need more lighting in my crawl space. I store a lot of things in there so I'm probably going in/out about once a week. It's about 38x26 (988 sq ft) and about 4' high. There are currently only (2) porcelain bases, one at each end, and even with 200w bulbs in them, I need more light. I originally was going to add more but I worry about breaking the bulbs. I already broke 2 or 3 of them and the 200w are not eactly. I guess I could add covers to them. Or I could buy these...

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-...ess-Lamp-Holder-White-R50-09860-0BL/202077743

My concern with those lights is the low output. My original plan was to install 4 more porcelain bases and continue to use 200w bulbs. To get that much light, using the Leviton fixtures, I'd have to install a lot more than 6.

Any other, reasonably priced, lighting options? I thought about mounting flood fixtures in each of the (4) corners. Yay or nay?

 

[nadogail]

The latest thing is LED lighting, here they are being pushed at low subsidized prices so we will replace our incandescents.

Bought some floods, both 60 and 100 watt equivalents, at the ridiculous price of 3 bulbs for a dollar.

 

[sands35]

They make rope lights pretty cheep. Used for under cabinet or soffits. More robust than Christmas lights.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commerci...cent-Rope-Light-Kit-ML-2W-48Ft-Ex-E/205104659