Lights on the horizon

[Yingpin]

Hey guys, long time lurker, infrequent poster and a very busy dad.



I am slowly making progress on my two car attached garage. The garage is not pre-wired for electric and the only source of power/light is the two lampholders that the garage operators are plugged into. The attic also has a switched light that may or may not be tied to two non working flood lights over the drive.



I have made do for the past two years by using a 3 way slitter in each lamp-holder to allow for an shop light reel, and extension cords to run a compressor, floor light or any power tools. I also have a fridge plugged in via extension cord to one of the lampholders. I never run everything at once because it does not take much to trip the breaker.



I have plans to address all of that but this weekend a colleague of mine is going to install lights. We are going with 5, 4ft LED lights to be mounted throughout the garage and tie them one of the existing switches. (Currently shuts all power off in the garage from the garage itself and the adjacent laundry room)



Although I am not sure what brand he is looking at, it looks like the LED lights are about $50 each. He is going to charge Labor at about $300. Not sure if this is the best price but he is going to install everything tomorrow so I am happy to this phase started.



Phase II - Wire outlets in the ceiling and walls

Phase II-III - Try to run a sub panel for all outlets

Currently.....

 

[wes557]

Congrats on taking the first step. Enjoy the rabbit hole...

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[Richard Cranium]

you will always find upgrades that you would like to make.

 

[Yingpin]

So we finished installing the lights on Saturday and used 5, 4ft fixtures. Upon installing them I realized ho much my drywall ceiling was sagging in spots. I will have to address this at a later date. Pretty happy with the results, made a big difference for sure. I asked the wife what she thought and she said “looks good, but now you can see how dirty the floor is”. Very true!!



Before ;during the day

After- at night

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[matt_i]

Its gotta feel better to go out there and have nice light

What never fails to impress me, with the LEDs, is how they turn on instantly to full bright when its super cold out.

 

[cory58]

Looks great!


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[wes557]

Looks good. I just went from 12000 lumens to around 96000. It's amazing what light can do.

BTW The concrete isn't dirty it just has a story to tell now.

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[Yingpin]

Thanks guys, although it is not like the lighting in some of the garages on GJ, it is a great upgrade for me. Could have and may still add a few lights but these lights were $50 per light and I was working on a budget this go around.

These lights were Lithonia brand and IIRC they were 2380 Lumens per light so we went from little to nothing to almost 12K so I can finally see. They are 4000K color.

If I can build a shed, I can get some of this stuff out of there and move the ladder that is on the ceiling which would help with light disbursement. Need to stay focused on getting the outlets wired and installed as well as a sub panel first. No idea what that will cost but I am sure it will be an investment.

You can see the light in the last picture with light escaping from underneath. That is one area where the ceiling is slipping and causing the light not to sit flush.