Need Advice on 24x30 Garage Electrical/Lighting

[SilverGT]

Well i just recently epoxy my floor and now the task of finishing it and running the electrical. I only have a 15amp 110v line running to the garage now.
Specs:
24ft deep x 30ft wide
8ft drywall ceiling

a 14ftx24ft section is 12ft ceiling [to later accomdate a 2 post lift]
the other 16ft will be 8ft with attic storage.

I currently have like nine 4ft- 2bulb shop lights that were in my basement before it was finished. would i be able to used this?
Thanks

Also would be adding in like ceiling and wall outlets.

 

[eljefino]

You could but if they're T12 fixtures I would strongly consider switching to modern T8s.

How are you going to power the lift? May as well plan for that now even if wiring it later.

My setup, likely imperfect, is a 20 amp 110 service for lights and a 40 amp 220 subpanel that runs the occasional welder and (not at the same time) outlets for the air compressor etc.

My thinking was if I had a welding fire or other emergency and coincidentally blew the 40 amp breaker in my house box (that feeds the subpanel) I would at least still have lights.

 

[sberry]

Attatched or detatched is the first question and how far is it from the main panel?

 

[TWX]

My old house had a 20' by 20' garage with about 9' ceiling, and we installed four 8' two-bulb T12 fixtures in roughly a box shape. This was to ensure that I had the light of three of them even with the door rolled up open. I *think* they were on a 15 amp circuit. They shared power from a pair of small lights that had already been installed, the electrician installed a double box where the old switch had been and split off to two switches, one supplying the two little lights and one supplying the four big ones.

I don't know if three more lights would have been safe on this setup or not. That would have allowed for two box shapes right next to each other, which might work well in your setup.

My current workshop doesn't have room for anything running perpendicular to the doors because the air conditioning vent runs laterally down the center. Otherwise I'd consider rearranging the lights to something less blocked by the open doors.

 

[sberry]

I know a lot of guys are **** about finish but in a common garage/work area I might be tempted to romex the back out of the way areas but locate panel so its easy to surface pipe into a work area. You can plan all you want but till you work or move in the place there is no magic formula for where all the outlets, switches need to be and the lights for that matter, no use spending effort over the roof unless you are waxing it. 4 ft florescent with plug and move as needed. Ideally a garage should be wired and lit "as you go", ideally panel located near any heavy loads, easy to add to.

 

[sberry]

One of the main function of a garage or a hose for that matter besides shelter is that is a raceway for the utilities. Its a place to hold all the wires and hoses to all the equipment I want to run, convenience or comfort. A lot of stuff has been developed in code as to requirements especially in homes but many garages especially by spec built types are under served or minimal at best. It would be one of my first design considerations, will I have service to hook on equipment? If I even had a ********* that I was going to hook something up wouldn't give a second thought to adding service to a garage or building from existing. I did one a while back, really needed the panel space anyway so scored a piece of 6 Romes and put a panel on the second floor, saved spaces in the main and a lot of branch wiring.

 

[SilverGT]

The garage is a detached garage, it has a line that is there was already trenched before garage was.built so im just using it for lighting service. I plan on furthering it by retrenching it with a service panel/fuse box. But for now i only need electrical for lighting only. So would running 9 of these shop light be ok to running this line? Plan on having 3 light switch controlling 3 lights, each lighting section is a 10x24ft section