New guy here with light question

[wizness]

I have read multiple threads here and love the forum. I will be having a detached 2 story garage that is approx 20 x 40 with 10 foot studs and was wondering for some suggestions for lighting. The builder only installs 2 single fixture lights and that will not cut it. I was thinking about 8 or 10 4ft fluorescent lights but am open to suggestions. Any opinions? It will be dry walled eventually but it will be a ways down the road. I will be sure to update with future projects. Pretty excited about finally getting my own garage.

was thinking something along these lines
http://www.lowes.com/pd_163719-337-...L=?Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=

Here's a pic of the garage

 

[wizness]

No one?

 

[Mustang51js]

8-10 of those would be plenty of light.

 

[bcassel]

4 foot, dual bulb, lights on 8 foot centers would be the most effective way to keep shadows from developing.

 

[marzo91]

Will the garage will be used as a garage or will it be used as a workshop where you work in it for hours at a time? Do you want the entire garage lit evenly? If so, you're going to want to use 20 or 21 4' fixtures. Half as many 8" 4 lamp fixtures. You can space them out however you want. Sounds like a lot of lights, but it is not too many.

Check out some of the lighting calculators and see what you come up with.

http://www.visual-3d.com/tools/interior/Default.aspx?id=14783

 

[frankush]

Welcome to the forum. Looks like a nice place to spread out in. Generally, forum members like to see that you've done a little homework and searched some prior posts. You'll find a million posts with basically the same question as yours. The consensus here is that 8' tandem, T8 fixtures with 4 lamps will give you the most bang for your buck. When that new drywall ceiling goes up, you'll know if your first choice was right or not.
Lay out your new fixtures so that you can add additional fixtures between them if you need to. What you'll be doing in the space will also be important. I'd go with a minimum of 8 of the T8 tandems to start. Might as well look up RF interference while you're searching.

 

[Jefe]

I did 9 of those 4' 2x T8 fixtures in my 24x30 garage. I'm happy with the lighting. You have slightly more square footage than me and higher ceilings, so i'd say if you went with your plan of 8-10 of them you'd be fine.