New Garage with Workshop- Lighting Super Important

[mas8849]

Hi Guys,
Building a new attached garage with workshop and looking for lighting advice. Garage will be 30x60 with integrated 2.5 bay workshop and lift. The garage ceiling is based on scissor truss geometry. The peak is 14 ft and the ends are 10ft. Workshop is for metal fab and woodworking. For large projects all bays can be converted to project space. I like lots of light and prefer LED. I'm open to all suggestions including 4' or 8' light options or any of the flood lights that are available. I really have no preference and am open to experience that each of you may have from your builds. How many lights would be needed and at what spacing?

 

[sanddan]

Watching this one. I have a ton of old florescent 8' fixtures in now and would love to upgrade to LED.

 

[mas8849]

One other comment is that the walls and ceilings will be dry walled and finished.

 

[Black Oak]

many will suggest the LED 10 pk. from costco . guys love them . I tried an amazon find from china . Brand name is Barrina , and I'm totally happy . A 6 pk. was $120 , so not too bad . I have 8 ft. ceilings , and liked the diffusers that helped to light a very wide area . 5000 K / 4800 lm. - they re so bright , wow .12 fixtures in a 650 sq. ft. shop , almost too much . You have a big shop , good luck and enjoy it .

 

[jfrazier30]

I'm curious about this Costco LED 10 pack.. Can you provide a link or an item number?

Thanks

 

[anythingyoucanimagine]

I have a 25x25 space with a car up on a rotisserie. I don't have anything new/LED. Pretty much it's all stuff I found cheap used (craigslist or have buddy who is contractor... one man's trash...)

I cut 2x4's at 45-degree angles and I put 8-foot lights along the wall of the garage (aimed down at the 45) so when I rotate the car 90-degrees (to weld or grind) I have plenty of good light. I thought about putting lights down lower on the walls (3-feet tall or lower) which I thought would be perfect for when I'm under a car (I don't have a lift but even the tall jackstands). Would have to be LED lights though and probably protected.


One thing I did that's a bit of a pain in the *** is put the main lights on motion sensor switches. Sometimes if the motion sensor can't reach or see me, a lot of the garage goes dark. It's nice being able to walk out with your hands full and the garage lights up --but it's also nice to not be left in the dark.

 

[mas8849]

Both great inputs, thanks guys. I hadn't looked at the costco items but see a lot of positive reviews.

I like the idea of the lights on the wall of garage idea. My buddy has an auto shop and even with his cars on a lift or on the rotisserie, there is a lot of light.

 

[Fisherguy]

You should check out High bay lights, lotsa info on here.

 

[xyster101]

I bought and installed 28 of the 4 ft Costco LED lights 5 years ago and love them. They are really bright, come on instantly, do not hum or buzz and use very little power. I just zipped 2 screws through each one and daisy chained 4 together. If you look at the pictures I posted, every other light is connected. They are on sale right now for $49 for a 2 pk. If you are not a member there is a charge that brings them to $60 I think. Still a great value.

https://www.costco.com/Feit-4-ft.-L...or-Shop-Lights,-2-pack.product.100415188.html

 

[xyster101]

A more recent picture.

 

[cybrdyke]

Mas,
You are spending, what....$50,000 on this project? You're going to do metal work and wood work and will have an auto lift, etc., so you'll be in there a lot, correct? You intend to be productive in there, and probably want to be proud of this building. And you even have it in your headline...lighting is super important.
Do yourself a favor, get good light fixtures, not cheap Costco ****. Get someone to do a real lighting layout for you. In fact, there a many of them already done for you in the lighting layout sticky at the top of the lighting forum. Get LED highbays, and use task lights over benches and wherever a lifted car blocks your light. Dont cheap out on something that's "super important".
Good luck,
CD

 

[mark flucke]

could not agree more-get an official lighting layout-they are free and can save you time money and frustration

 

[pv74]

I recently built a 24X36 pole barn shop.
I was leaning towards hard wired fixtures. However, with all the positive reviews and a neighbor who recently built a shop raving about them, I decided to give the fixtures from Costco a try. At 20 or so bucks each I didn't have much to lose.

I tossed the mounting hardware and simply mounted the fixtures to the bottom of my trusses using 3/4 hex head screws shot right through the back of the fixture. I wired up a 15 amp circuit with outlets so that each fixture can plug in individually. That way, I can replace them easily with any standard LED shoplight on the market. If a fixture goes bad, I'm out 20 bucks and 15 minutes replacing it. I'd rather do that than chasing a warranty claim on a pricier fixture.


My trusses are 12 ft high and I have 10 fixtures. The shop is nice and bright and the color temperature is just right for a work environment. For the money, I'm quite pleased with them.

I plan to purchase a few more for lighting under a loft I intend to install soon.

There are two versions of these shoplights, with and without motion sensors.. mine are the ones without the motion sensors.

 

[Black Oak]

I think it is good advice to look at the better built , commercial options out there . The Barrina brand lights I chose had to meet a certain " price point " . I was very surprised to have them in my hand , to find they don't weigh 1lb. The plan was always to get em' up and don't touch them again for hopefully 20 year . I also liked they were linkable with provided cables , or hardwired (cable provided ) Will they last , who knows ?