Need more light in my garage, clueless here

[learfxr]

I don't know much about household elect stuff. I only have 1 twin tube light assy in my garage. I'd like to add 2 more twin tube setups in the ceiling and prob some kind of light in there that won't be blocked by the door when it's up.

I'm rebuilding my Jeep out there and the lack of light is killing me.

I need to get it lit up decent and what I can learn from this I can use when building my 60x40 later. I plan to have the foundation for that done in a month or so.


Please give me some advice on what I can add without major work. I can do the work, just need a plan.

Thanks

 

[RossRinSD]

Is your light hardwired, or plugged in to an outlet? I'm assuming its hardwired... Shouldn't be too hard to add a couple more similar lights and hardwire them up.

I'd pick up a couple more surface mount, twin tube fixtures from The Depot and just dewit.

 

[learfxr]

It's hardwired. House was built in 2008, we just bought it in March. Garage just has the small twin tube light and the light on the door opener. I had to use the door opener light to help see what I was doing when I pulled the engine out of the Jeep. I can't stand it the way it is. I'm sure I could install the lights pretty easy, but I don't want to tap into the wires for the other light unless I can do the math to make sure I'm not screwing up

If I have to call out an electrician that's ok, I just can't afford it right now cause my Jeep has eaten up all my funds. I had the local company come out and install a 220V outlet below my panel so I could run my Mig and Plasma. They seemed like good guys and that job was a resonable price I guess. I know I can do the work, I just don't know the math to make sure I'm doing it safely. I have no plans of doing redneck wiring on my new house, so if I have doubts I'll just call out a pro

 

[KCarGuy]

My old garage, I had mounted an 8 foot light fixture high on the garage door (sideways).
this gave me good light when it was down and great light when it was up, above me facing down.
it had a clear plastic protective cover on it and a short power cord that I plugged into a cord reel.
worked great.

 

[z28snksknr]

get some additional twin tube T8 or T12 fixtures are depot or lowes - i picked some up a while ago for <$15 each. Mount them where you want, then run the wire from the first one (that you have now) to the next closest, then back out to the third, running the wires up in the ceiling (i hope you have attic access above the garage). Use 14-2 wire and good wire nuts - simple job - may take you 2-3 hours tops.

 

[sams]

I agree with the above, one thing though whats a wire nut?

you shouldnt have to call an electrician out as there is only 3 main wires, the earth (green), active (red), and the neutral (black). Well that's assuming you guys have the same wiring colour codes as here. So you just put an additional wire in each of the three terminals and loop the cable to the next fitting and so on. So what you end up with is all the Actives together and earths, etc.. At the minimum you can hang all the lights up and get an electrican to just supply the cable and hook it up if you decide that option. I think some triphosphor 36W (4') 6500K globes in twin fittings would be the best choice. 6500K doesn't feel warm and cosy but it is by far the most functional being a pure white. I prefer the Philips Alto 36W/865s globes myself, low mercury and cheap with stacks of light output.

 

[Norcal]

I agree with the above, one thing though whats a wire nut?

you shouldnt have to call an electrician out as there is only 3 main wires, the earth (green), active (red), and the neutral (black). Well that's assuming you guys have the same wiring colour codes as here. So you just put an additional wire in each of the three terminals and loop the cable to the next fitting and so on. So what you end up with is all the Actives together and earths, etc.. At the minimum you can hang all the lights up and get an electrican to just supply the cable and hook it up if you decide that option. I think some triphosphor 36W (4') 6500K globes in twin fittings would be the best choice. 6500K doesn't feel warm and cosy but it is by far the most functional being a pure white. I prefer the Philips Alto 36W/865s globes myself, low mercury and cheap with stacks of light output.

That color code does not apply to North America, normal is green/bare for grounding, white for the grounded (neutral)line & black for the ungrounded (hot)line. AU/NZ standards would be green w/ a yellow stripe grounding/earth, brown live, blue neutral. DIY electrical work is illegal in OZ too....

 

[sams]

the brown active and blue in AU is for flex wiring, fixed wiring such as TPS cable is still red/black. Yeah I know it's illegal here but apparently not there. Lucky for me I have an unused liecence.

 

[kms254]

I am doing the same thing soon, but what if you don't have attic access? I have a bonus room over my garage? What would you recommend then?

 

[sams]

just run conduit fittings between the fittings, this is what I would do regardless