Lights in the floor

[Lost Drive In]

Great Site!

I'm designing my new garge now, I plan to break ground in the spring.

A few years ago I was in a shop that had lights in the floor, pointing up. I intend to do the same. I've designed a light box that I can make, but if I can buy these I'd rather not go to the hassle. Anybody have a source for in-floor lights?

Thanks!

 

[ranger_dood]

Wow... that could be the end of crawling under my truck with a drop light... Cool! Never seen this done before..,.

Where are you located in PA, just out of curiosity.

 

[TOO Z MAXX]

That would be cool. The fixture would have to be very strong. I have never seen it in a garage but I did a lighting job using marble tiles and the lights shined through from the bottom. Looked very cool

 

[Lost Drive In]

I'm in Southeast PA, near Allentown.

I plan to use 1" thick Lexan for the lenses, making them at work is no sweat. I have some small 9 watt Fluorescent outdoor fixtures that I can adapt the lenses to. I considered Halogens but I think they'll get to hot. I want them fully sealed against moisture.

 

[OI812]

If someone finds a link on the web please post it here. This is an absoultly great idea.

 

[Luckydevil]

I found these.

http://www.hightechlighting.com/index.php/cPath/50_157

Not cheap, but supposedly they are pretty strong.

$284.50 for the white brick light.

Voltage: 24V
Amps: 218mA
Watts: 5.2W
LEDs: 72
Extrusion Size: L7.87×D7.87×H2.17 (inches)
Protection Grade: IP65

 

[Concrete Video]

It may be easier to come up with ideas if we knew the intended purpose. If it's just to light the underside of a car, you could use led strips about 3' wide and straddle them with the car (kinda like avoiding the hole in the floor at an oil change joint I guess)

If it's cosmetic then you'd need something strong. I'd probably put pieces of pipe into the concrete and recess a light into it with the thick lexan lenses you were talking about. This would work well with a racedeck type floor. The lexan could sit atop the concrete inside of a hole in the tiles. If the lexan was frosted, it should light pretty evenly even with a round light underneath.

 

[ultgar]

If you're not using fiberoptics, make sure your fixtures are rated IP67 or better. There are some nice PL equipped in-ground landscape lights that would work well in this application.

Its actually a good idea which I didn't think of 3 years ago when I was pouring my own garage workshop floor. SD

 

[Luckydevil]

Steve- what do the IP ratings mean?

 

[Wile1Coyote]

Richard Griot just did this in his Dream garage. I saw pics of it in mY Haggerty Insurance newsletter of all places. I think he used pool lights!

 

[Lost Drive In]

My intention is to light the underside of the cars while I work on or clean them, on or off of the lift (yeah, I'm putting a lift in).

I hadn't thought of pool lights, I have to look at some of those.

The lights in the link seem pretty pricey, ambient lighting isn't really my aim.

Thanks!

 

[Luckydevil]

This is the best pricing I could find on pool lights. Don't these things get pretty hot though?

http://www.cheappoolproducts.com/1_0_0_Pool~Lighting_54~supplies.html

 

[Lost Drive In]

My intention is to light the underside of the cars while I work on or clean them, on or off of the lift (yeah, I'm putting a lift in).

I hadn't thought of pool lights, I have to look at some of those.

The lights in the link seem pretty pricey, ambient lighting isn't really my aim.

Thanks!

 

[ConstructionBoss]

You really wouldn't want to use a pool light. Those are 300 Watt+ bulbs that rely on the water in the pool to keep them cool. While remodeling my pool this winter, I read somewhere that you should not turn on the light until the water is in the pool pecause you can burn out the bulb really fast.

 

[ultgar]

Steve- what do the IP ratings mean?

IP is "ingress protection" . Essentially how well the fixture is protected against exposure to solids & liquids. The first digit (0 thru 6) indicates protection against solids like dirt/dust and other objects. The 2nd digit (0 thru 8) is protection against liquids. The higher the rating, the better.

An IP67 has total seal protection against dust and is protected against short term immersion in liquids up to 1m deep. For pond and pool lighting, an IP68 offers better long term seal protection against immersion in liquids.

SD

 

[wythors]

Richard Griot just did this in his Dream garage. I saw pics of it in mY Haggerty Insurance newsletter of all places. I think he used pool lights!

His catalogs always have pictures of it somewhere in them. Looks really cool.

 

[dkn1997]

I build and repair inground pools for a living. I would not use a halogen pool light for the aforementioned heat issue. but, many older style lights, like the hayward astrolite in the previous link, use bulbs that screw in like traditional light bulbs. Yes, they can be 300w or even 500!! but you could screw a much lower watt bulb into them and it would probably live.

the nice thing about pool lights for this is that you can choose steel, or plastic for the niche. also, there is already a provision to run a conduit into it. plastic niches have glue in sockets for the conduit and steel have threaded holes for the conduit.

now, I don't know if a pool light will stand up to being driven over. the glass is very thick, at least 1/4" and the rest of the actual light is stainless steel (the rim is thick also) I suppose if you recessed it into the floor enough, it could work.

another positive is that the light itself is sealed very well, so no moisture is going to get in it and if you spill something on it, it won't get into the actual bulb.

another down side is the expense. usually a pool light will run you at least 150 bucks.

 

[ultgar]

The landscape in-ground lights I mentioned earlier use compact fluorescent (PL) bulbs. They are rated for exposure to moisture and dirt and give a fair amount of light using very little wattage. Six would be appropriate for under the lift.

Fiberoptic is another safe and "cool" option but can get a little expensive to do it properly. Hopefully prices will continue to drop as fiber competes with LED technology. SD

 

[avsfan733]

only problem i see with actual in ground lighting is that you'll be standing in between what you want to light and what your trying to light...perhaps a better solution would be to mount somethign on the insie edges of the lift (assuming four post) that is angled upwards with a diffusion lense... http://www.ledtronics.com/ds/stp527/ or http://www.ledtronics.com/ds/STP306C/default.asp somethign like that? maybe rig up a microswitch and a relay so it turns on at a specific heitgh...plus led's would be better being longer lasting...the problem with the inground would be when the light goes out you gotta change it

 

[Double Venom]

I have seen those light strips mentioned above, never gave them a thought for the lift! Amazing idea and no glare, but the cost to do a lift would definately fal into the pricey range! Oh-well, what isn't?
DV

 

[avsfan733]

well say a lift is what 15ft x 8 ft? thats 180" x 96" which would require around 25 strips which means your talking about $700 so ya i guess it would be but on the other hand it replaces drop lights, and cords, and may even reduce the amount of overhead lighting you would need...guess its always a tradeoff huh maybe not run them all the way around....only on the sides? then your talking only like 450 which really isn't that bad compared to everything else

if you were really confident in your parking ability just build an enclosed flourescent fixture on the inside of each rail...probably only need a small one on the left and one on the right...just a though

 

[ConstructionBoss]

Hmm..got me thinking....I believe they make a white neon kit that is used for mounting under the car (South Beach Style ) they run on 12 volts and with a voltage converter could be mounted to the hoist . These neon if I remember correctly from my Circuit City days is in a protective tube that helps keep the neon tube from breaking. I believe they stayed pretty cool as well. A kit with 2 four footers and two three footers usually are about $100. I just checked out on ebay and this guy has a kit for about $45 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7959090963&category=33714

Just thinking outside the box again.

 

[VPRKLR]

You also need to remember that as soon as you step on or put something over a light your going to have a dark spot or shadow where your hands are. The better quality landscape companies(SPJ, Focus & Lumie) make inground fixtures you can drive over. Or you can go with comercial fixtures and lamp them down.

 

[kevncarnemma]

What about something like this.

www.tahoelighting.com

I put in 9 pallets of pavers in my backyard and down the side of my house and wanted to use some of these.

Kevin

 

[Luckydevil]

Those look promising. Check out them driving on one...

http://www.tahoelighting.com/quality.stm

 

[VPRKLR]

You need to use a fixture that is rated for vehicles to drive over, a pool light is not. Also a PL9 is not going to give much light, I would use at least a PL18 lamp.
Just my .002 worth

 

[ersatzs2]

Anybody ever wind up trying something like this? It looks pretty interesting but I'd rather not be the pioneer. Getting ready to pour the floor and getting paranoid about things I should do before it's, well, cast in concrete. I like the idea of backlighting the entire underbody of the car while it is up on the lift...

 

[Tom]

Why worry about whether they can be driven over? I would place them near the centerline of the car where the tires aren't.

 

[ersatzs2]

Why worry about whether they can be driven over? I would place them near the centerline of the car where the tires aren't.

Yes, but they will still have to stand up to lots of weight and impact, eg loaded hydraulic tables lowering stuff from a car on the lift, a dropped wrench or brake rotor, floor jacks etc.

This just seems like a pretty cool idea, easy to do prior to pouring floor and impossible to do afterwards; I'm surprised no one has done it...

 

['29MurrayTub]

If you made them flash in different colors you could rent it out as a retro dance floor. One word: DISCO!

 

[DAMONE]

http://www.ccl-light.com/docs/outdoor/in_ground/pg466/index.html
These were the best that I could find. I would put them on a dimmer switch.

 

[JohnZ]

In assembly plants where we had an overhead line with the bottom of the car 6' off the floor, we had continuous fluorescent fixtures inverted in a 10" or 12"-wide "trench" in the floor, with 3/8" or 1/2" thick Plexiglas over them, screwed down along the edges, flush with the finished floor surface.

 

[theloudroom]

I stumbled across this and had to post a link to these:
"Fixture and mounting base rated for 44,000 lb. load."

http://www.flightlight.com/airportlighting/2.5.2/2.5.2.html

The company makes airport runway lights
(The kind a 747 drives over.)

I don't imagine there's anything better out there. Probably not anything more expensive either

 

[DAMONE]

I ordered the lights from ccl-light, I got them in a 35 deg. angle light. I will post pics when I get them

 

[Randy Forbes]

I ordered the lights from ccl-light, I got them in a 35 deg. angle light. I will post pics when I get them

Does anyone have any updates on this subject? If all goes as planned, I'll be doing the electrical installation in a house being built for us around Sarasota.

I'd like to include infloor lighting under a 2-post lift while doing the rest of the stub-ups prior to "the pour".

Thanks in advance

Randy