Pot Lights

[THEIKM]

Hi everyone. I have been trying to find some info on pot lights for my garage. I am trying to find something similar to the link below. Does anyone have any info on pot lights with standard fluorescent lighting? I would like to do both on separate switches. I have a 2 car 21x21

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25148

Thanks

 

[2ManyProjects]

Hi everyone. I have been trying to find some info on pot lights for my garage. I am trying to find something similar to the link below.

Had you not posted that link, I would have interpreted your request in an ENTIRELY different (and far more nefarious) manner.

Does anyone have any info on pot lights with standard fluorescent lighting?

What you are apparently referring to as "pot lights" are normally called "recessed cans". As a general rule, they are not very useful in a garage, save for decorative/accent lighting in "Toy Palaces" such as the one you linked to.

That said, exactly what sort of "information" are you looking for?

I would like to do both on separate switches.

In and of itself, that is not a problem. But I sense that you are getting WAY ahead of yourself here. At the very least, we'd need to know a LOT more about your garage -- and especially about how you plan to use it -- to even begin recommending appropriate lighting.

I have a 2 car 21x21

And let me guess... With the typical 9-10 foot ceiling?

 

[laser3kw]

pot lights?

 

[THEIKM]

Had you not posted that link, I would have interpreted your request in an ENTIRELY different (and far more nefarious) manner.



What you are apparently referring to as "pot lights" are normally called "recessed cans". As a general rule, they are not very useful in a garage, save for decorative/accent lighting in "Toy Palaces" such as the one you linked to.

That said, exactly what sort of "information" are you looking for?

In and of itself, that is not a problem. But I sense that you are getting WAY ahead of yourself here. At the very least, we'd need to know a LOT more about your garage -- and especially about how you plan to use it -- to even begin recommending appropriate lighting.



And let me guess... With the typical 9-10 foot ceiling?

Sorry about the lack of information. As far as the use of the garage, I want the best of both worlds. I want to be able to "work" in the garage (weld, wood working etc), and clean it up when I want the "detailed" look. This is the reason why I want the two different styles of lights - recessed cans, and the fluorescent tubes. I saw a few different threads on this site with both and I really like how it turned out.

My garage is an attached 21x21 with 10ft ceilings, with a upper storage area that is near the man door to the home. I have attached a few photos to better explain. I am also in the process of finishing the drywall work myself - The plan is to paint the upper walls white, lowers grey, with a green stripe. My father in law is going to help me with the cabinets, electrical and heater.

I don't feel that I am getting ahead of myself - just looking for general information on the recessed cans ( install, layout etc) in efforts to get a "master plan" together.

Anyways, I have attached a few photos to help explain my situation.

Thanks for the help!

-Ian

 

[THEIKM]

I am having a hard time uploading the photos....keeps kicking them out with "security token missing...." any idea what I am doing wrong?

 

[Norcal]

"Pot lights" are Canukistani lingo for recessed cans, or someone who watches Holmes too much.

 

[2ManyProjects]

Sorry about the lack of information. As far as the use of the garage, I want the best of both worlds. I want to be able to "work" in the garage (weld, wood working etc), and clean it up when I want the "detailed" look. This is the reason why I want the two different styles of lights - recessed cans, and the fluorescent tubes.

In which case, i suspect you're looking at installing two completely separate (and mostly redundant) lighting systems. As such, each one can be designed independently of the other.

My garage is an attached 21x21 with 10ft ceilings, with a upper storage area that is near the man door to the home.

Given that, the "work" lights are probably fairly easy: Two or three semi-continuous "runs" of 4-foot twin-tube fluorescents, running front-to-back, and placed to avoid being blocked by the overhead door(s). Whether or not you want/need the third (middle) run will depend in part on whether you have individual single-bay doors, or one large 16-footer (or similar). Then, across the back of the space, another "run" going crossways. In all cases, these runs should be kept 2-3 feet off their respective walls, if at all possible (this might be tricky in the vicinity of the overhead doors). Augment with task lighting as appropriate over workbenches, permanently installed machines, etc.; a drop light on a retractable cord reel can be mounted to the ceiling near the center of the space, and will come in handy for all sorts of things. Set up the switching so that you can effectively vary the brightness on an as-needed basis (for example, you won't need as much when working with the door up on a bright sunny day).

The "mood" lighting is another matter entirely, and will depend largely on just what you plan to put where within that space. No way to really define this any further based on the current info. Just as a random data point, I tend to like very small, narrowly-focused "wall-washers", especially when augmented by some more general lighting.

 

[Zeke]

I am having a hard time uploading the photos....keeps kicking them out with "security token missing...." any idea what I am doing wrong?

Do you have cookies turned off? Where are you loading them from?

 

[Jagmandave]

I think the problem you're having with your photos is they're too big, resize them to 600x800 and they'll load fine.

 

[THEIKM]

Here are a few photos

 

[2ManyProjects]

Here are a few photos

Well, at least you're starting with a relatively clean slate. In my case, one of the biggest parts of the job will be relocating all the accumulated ****, so that I can actually start working on the garage itself!

One thought: It might be worth calling a local overhead door installer, to see what it would take to convert your door tracks to "ceiling hugger" types. In this way, you get the door itself up high enough (when open) that it constitutes less of a problem in terms of blocking the output of any lights mounted immediately beside it. Given that you would only be replacing a few feet of track, at most, I doubt it would be all that expensive (tho' there WOULD be some labor involved).

In a related vein, it looks like you already have a torsion-type counterbalance spring. That's good in and of itself (neater, cleaner installation, with less dust-catching "stuff" along the sides/tracks); but just as importantly, it lets you use a side-mount door opener (such as the LiftMaster 8500); which in turn means no GDO track hanging down the center of your ceiling, looking ugly and generally getting in the way.