Need help with garage lighting

[scottmoyer]

I'm looking for some advice from others on adding light to the garage, without overdoing it. I have a 3 car garage, about 29x21, that the builder put two 2-bulb, 4 foot light fixtures in. The lighting was barely sufficient before I put the lift in, but as you can see in the picture below, one of the two lights is directly over the car and is blocked by the car now. The other light, not shown in the picture, is directly behind the garage door opener, covering the two parking spots.

My thoughts are to remove the two fixtures, and install four new ones. I was thinking about changing the direction of the fixtures 90*, running from the door to the rear wall. I will be installing 2 fixtures between parking spaces 1 and 2, and then the other two between spaces 2 and 3.

What do you guys think about this? Will it provide ample lighting in the right places, or is there a better way to light up the garage. I also need to install LED lighting in the lift so I can see the under side of the car better, but that's a different day.

 

[ratdoggy]

There really is no such thing as overdoing lighting..
I have 6 4' LED and another 6 4' flourescent lights in basically a 3 car garage...
Like to add more too

 

[casmurbax]

I asked about lighting on my garage 18x24 and was fortunate enough to have PlatonicSolid reply with a great layout and links on where to obtain the fixtures. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=370304

There is also these two threads, plus countless others....

The Best Light Fixture Ever!
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=278420

Light Fixture Layout Collections
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=289441

What year is that IROC? I had a 86, black and gold it was pretty nice car.

 

[lakelandcat]

you can get a 96" LED @ Lowes between $100-$200, over 5000 lumens each.

 

[HappyCamperIV]

I'll second the comment about you can never have enough light.
In a garage that big I would have 10 - 4' LED fixtures. Many LED fixtures come with an option to link them end to end (many come with the linking cord in the package!). This minimizes wiring complexities and allows for many fixtures on the same circuit because they use so little power.
String em up!

 

[Jackfre]

In my 30x34 I have 16 of the 4' twin bulb LED's from Costco. I have the lights switched in banks of 4. I can see. Two years and no problems. That business is moving quickly so I'm sure there are plenty of options today.

 

[scottmoyer]

casmurbax, thanks for the links to the other threads. I'll look them up.

BTW, the IROC-Z is a 1987 with 20k original miles. It's a national platinum award winner, earning a best 996 out of 1000 points. It's been featured in books, magazines, and also used on official GM licensed products. I need to see to be able to detail the car!!!

 

[stm317]

I just want to talk about the fact that you've got Camaros and Mustangs in the same garage!

 

[driz]

I just want to talk about the fact that you've got Camaros and Mustangs in the same garage!

It’s just so awfully wrong WHAT IF THEY GET TOGETHER AND BREED[emoji33]


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[stm317]

It’s just so awfully wrong WHAT IF THEY GET TOGETHER AND BREED[emoji33]

The resulting creature would probably have some sort of super mullet that could not be tamed

 

[Falcon67]

You'd get a Camstang who's interior would come apart like a cheap suit or Mustaro that would leave fluid spots on the floor.
(Ford guy that has actually owned GM products at one time)

What I did in the house garage was take the one bulb socket and put a extension box over the 4", then run conduit and plugs out from there. Suspended 4 2 bulb fixtures with plug cords. I don't do any work in the house garage, so it's minimal for just getting around but it'd be easy enough to mount 4 more with a little bit of wire and conduit.

 

[RWorth]

It’s just so awfully wrong WHAT IF THEY GET TOGETHER AND BREED[emoji33]


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I would put 8 4' double LED's on the Ford side and get rid of the one on the chevy side.

 

[zmotorsports]

I agree with others about never having enough lighting. I went WAY over the top on lighting and now it feels normal. No shadows or dark spots and I love it but it did come at a cost.

 

[jjscott]

I agree with others about never having enough lighting. I went WAY over the top on lighting and now it feels normal. No shadows or dark spots and I love it but it did come at a cost.

Can you share what you did?

After I finish installing my garage heater, lighting is my next project. I have an oversized three car garage with three light bulbs. It's terrible!!! I'd like enough light to be able to detail my cars & bike, but I don't want it lit up like an operating room if you know what I mean.

 

[zmotorsports]

Can you share what you did?

After I finish installing my garage heater, lighting is my next project. I have an oversized three car garage with three light bulbs. It's terrible!!! I'd like enough light to be able to detail my cars & bike, but I don't want it lit up like an operating room if you know what I mean.

Yes, I know exactly what you mean. My GC has told people he has never put in as much electrical and lighting as he has in my shop. When I started out I was shooting for 100 fc minimum and I landed around the 110-125 range throughout most of the shop. It is absolutely fantastic to work in.

In my Shop/RV garage build thread I have all of the details on what I used and how I laid them out. The lighting part of the documentation is on page # 65.

Here is a link that should take you right there.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=351489&page=65

Or you can click the link in my signature for the entire thread.

 

[cybrdyke]

being under too much artificial light for extended periods of time causes alot of health issues, including extreme eye strain, headaches, rapidly increasing retinitis, and for some folks can increase anxiety and depression.
But beside that, you'll over-spend on too many fixtures and needlessly send too much money to the power company.
Better to get a nice lighting job for the money you're gonna spend. Get a lighting layout for your space.
Good luck,
CD

 

[scottmoyer]

cybrdyke, that's exactly what I was asking about. I know I can add so much light that I can get a tan at night, but I don't want to do that. I want enough light to see fine, without excessive shadows, but without overdoing it. My eyes are already starting to go and I don't want to make them worse.

BTW, I also had a Dodge Charger **** Pack in 2015 that we recently got rid of. Having Chevys, Fords and Dodge in my garage confused many of my friends and neighbors.

 

[Platonic Solid]

So how much light is "too much light" exactly? This will rapidly become a discussion about lighting effects on melatonin levels and how that effects your circadian rhythm.

Aiming for 100fc @ 30" workplane in an empty room with standard 70|50|20 Ceiling, Wall, Floor reflectance is not excessive for detail oriented tasks and aging eyes.

scottmoyer - Try the Visual Photometric Tool. See instructions here (link). Fixtures should be placed between the vehicles and vehicles and walls. Fewer fixtures = more critical placement and more shadows.

For full control, aim for 100fc and put them on a dimmer.

 

[phor53]

Following

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[zmotorsports]

I love how the too much light comments always seem to work their way in to lighting threads. Usually from people who have anemic lighting in their shops and have to justify not upgrading or adding.

I had a relative and two friends telling me the exact same thing when I was waffling on going to LED's rather than the T8's that my contractor bid for my new shop. My last shop had lighting that was fairly good (T8's) but I always seemed to need auxiliary lighting at my work stations, machines hell many times if I was doing a stinking brake job and I wouldn't have called my last shop anemic in the lighting department.

Now that I have so much better lighting I can't even think about what it would be like to go back. My cousin and friends are also in the middle of upgrading their lights after being in mine off and on over the last few months. My buddy said he hates going back to his shop and working after coming by mine because he feels like he's working in a cave, and he has a very nice shop.

 

[terabitdan]

I have 7 rows of 2 4’ LED in my 32x20 garage/Shop controlled by 4 switches. Switch 1&2 control rows 1,3,5&7. Each switch alternates between East and West sides. So one switch on distributes light across the entire garage. Most of the time one or to switch’s provide enough light to comfortably work, but occasionally all four are needed for detailed work.

Too bad most of the lights don’t support dimming, that would be nicer, but this approach was easy to wire with 14/3 to each lighting outlet box.


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[DynoDave]

I have 7 rows of 2 4’ LED in my 32x20 garage/Shop controlled by 4 switches. Switch 1&2 control rows 1,3,5&7. Each switch alternates between East and West sides. So one switch on distributes light across the entire garage. Most of the time one or to switch’s provide enough light to comfortably work, but occasionally all four are needed for detailed work.

I'm planning on breaking my lighting into 2 or 3 switches/circuits for this same purpose.