recessed CANS How many??

[v77v77]

I have decided to go with recessed can for my Garage and Mancave.
Can someone help me with spacing and how many i"ll need.

The garage is 30x40 and has 10 foot ceilings. I'm planning on buying new work I.C. contractor packs about $60. for 6 cans. I'm gussing I'll need a lot to get good lighting.

Right now my plan is 42 cans about 6ft apart in a grid pattern on three switches and 2 circuts.

Anyone think I'll need more? I plan on having extra outlets in the ceiling for work lights and if need be add plugg in shop lights.

Thanks!

 

[gatchel]

I have heard rule of thumb to be to space the cans half the distance of the ceiling height.

I too am stuck in the dilemma of using cans or T5 fixtures...

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

Throw up 3 or 4 lights, power them, see what kind of coverage you have on the floor, and you will figure it out from there. Thats allot of cutting of the sheetrock for a garage that size, if youre going to have "brite" lights. Just saying.

The bulb you run will also have allot to do with how much and where youre light lands, and Ive heard we are being saved from ourselves next year, by no longer being able to purchase incandescent bulbs (Im betting the rest of the world will continue to make and use them, but I'm sure that even though we only make up 4.5% of worlds population, we will save the planet, one bulb at a time ), so figure out your long term alternatives will be.

 

[v77v77]

It will be a lot of cutting! I like the ideas of testing out a few cans and see what works. Maybe it will save me some cutting.

Thanks guys.

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

If your new to can lights and sheet rock, look into a roto-zip. Will make the whole project go much easier.

All "cans" in the shop, will give it a way different "look" than surface mounted or even recessed fluorescents. Not sure what your going for. Ive got allot of cans in my house, because I built it (literally), and I don't like lamps on the floor, so I get it, its just more work then most are up for. .

Not sure what all your up to, but I should mention that you might want to look for "IC" (insulation contact) rated cans, if you are insulating the lid your hanging the lights in. Check out the price of the trims before buying the cans, Ive seen the trims run more than the cans themselves, how screwed up is that ?

 

[bugnett]

If you can hang on about one more week, I'll be able to post pics of my garage/hangout which is all 6" cans. I put in 28 of them and my garage is a little under 800 sq ft. ~25 x 26 plus a 12 x 12 bumpout on one side.
They painted over the weekend, so they should probably be finishing off the lights with trims by this coming weekend.

 

[bczygan]

Cans can create different light patterns depending on the bulb and fixture type. It can be a flood, spot, narrow spot, wall washer etc. It is not a good choice for overall general illumination because it creates hot spots and areas between the cans with lower light levels. In addition, the true cost of the cans isn't just the cans themselves, but added to that, the baffles and trims. When incandescent aren't available, you will need fluorescent or LED. With high ceilings as in these garages, you need diffuse indirect general lighting up high, and then task lighting down lower for specific tasks.

I would use high intensity fluorescent fixtures like those shown in this hangar. They space out further than typical fluorescent fixtures. PS, that's my airplane and trailer.

Here's one mfg.:
http://www.deductiveenergy.com/integrated-systems/lighting-systems

Bill

 

[haugy]

I've got cans around the perimeter of my shop (40x30x14) at 5' apart. They do a good job. I'll take a picture if I remember tomorrow. How's the power draw going to be? That's a lot of wattage.

 

[D.J.]

If I figure correctly that is only one can for every 28.5/sq ft. I don't think that would be enough lighting for your garage. But this is only my opinion. Also think it would be very expensive to power all those with incandesents and be sure not to exceed the maximum wattage for the cans. Maybe use the cans for the perimeter of the space over the workbenches and other task areas?
________
Arizona marijuana dispensary

 

[v77v77]

Sounds good, look forward to the picture, I"m starting in a week or 2.

 

[haugy]

My bad on the delay. I kept getting busy. As you can see. Some of the pics are right before I put the drywall in. And then after.

There are a total of 13 6" cans in there. They were put in as accent lighting. I'll be putting in T5 high bays through out the shop in the middle. There are 2 of the 13 cans right in the middle of the shop as standby lights, so only 11 are along the walls.

 

[v77v77]

Looks good! I bought 48 cans this weekend and daylight CFL bulbs. I don't think it will be enough light, but I've added outlets in the ceiling for extra lights when and if needed. The space is going to be a garage/shop/gym/mancave so i needed to balance the effectiveness of the lights with the look.

 

[Weedwaka]

Have you considered the 3rd option of using lamp holders that allow the bulb to project the full 360 degrees ?

We were going to do the same thing with about 50 cans in the garage until we installed a bunch upstairs. I couldnt get them to project enough light and figured I would have needed 100+ for a good even light downstairs. Thats just not practical or good looking any longer.

We ended up installing 48 simple lampholders at about 1.50 each on 4 circuits using 1750 lumen daylight cfl's at about 1.25 each and it is wonderful. Its cheap and easy and looks great. The light is full and even and the bulbs are very inexpensive and easy to store. They fire fast too.

Also, we started with 36 open bulbs and upped it to 48 to fill it out more. We are 32 x 48. Everything is down for the drywallers but I will get a photo up once they are re-installed. That doesnt include lighting for teh storage area, just main shop.

Hope it helps

 

[v77v77]

Never thought of that, it's a good inexpensive option. I'd love to see the pictures. I spent about $600.00 on 6" cans and cfl"s this weekend. I may consider returning them and going this route.

 

[haugy]

Never thought of that, it's a good inexpensive option. I'd love to see the pictures. I spent about $600.00 on 6" cans and cfl"s this weekend. I may consider returning them and going this route.

So are High bays out of the question? I can by 4 of my super bright as hell high bays for less than $600.

 

[Notch1988]

I have decided to go with recessed can for my Garage and Mancave.
Can someone help me with spacing and how many i"ll need.

The garage is 30x40 and has 10 foot ceilings. I'm planning on buying new work I.C. contractor packs about $60. for 6 cans. I'm gussing I'll need a lot to get good lighting.

Right now my plan is 42 cans about 6ft apart in a grid pattern on three switches and 2 circuts.

Anyone think I'll need more? I plan on having extra outlets in the ceiling for work lights and if need be add plugg in shop lights.

Thanks!

Keep in mind you will need a minimum of 4 circuits for all those lights as you are only allowed 12 fixtures per 15 amp circuit.


My garage is 24X40 and I'm running 30 6" recessed lights. I put fewer cans over where the daily drivers park and more over the hoist/benchs area. My work area works out to ~24sqft per can and I'm happy with it. I'm running 23 watt (100w equivalent) CFL's. I started with the 6500K daylights like you bought but found them hard on the eyes. I switched to 5000K lights and find them to be perfect.

Not sure what you're doing for insulation or if you are but I did blown-in and bought the vapor barrier boxes and installed them first before the lights.

 

[jvitez]

Honestly, I'm not as enamoured with cans now that I've lived in 2 houses with them. Previous house had 5" cans with R-lamps that I changed to PAR-30's. New house was built with low voltage cans using MR-16 lamps. Our paint is quite dark, and I'm finding the house darker than I thought because of the "cave" effect: punches of light from the fixture with no reflecting light bouncing off the ceiling.

We have above- and under-cabinet T4 fluoresent lights in the kitchen and a hanging fixture over the kitchen table that does bounce light off the ceiling, and the kitchen looks much brighter because of it. We picked cans again because our house is quite contemporary and it's the correct look.

For my garage, I'm going to install rows of 2 lamp T8 fluoresent fixtures with enclosed diffusers. This will illuminate the sides of the fixtures reflecting light off the ceiling, plus direct downwards illumination.

Depending on your garage ceiling height, one thing to consider is how often will you be swinging long ojects about. CFL's make a nice shower of glass when whacked. Enclosed T8 fixtures protect the lamps.

 

[danski0224]

I have decided to go with recessed can for my Garage and Mancave.
Can someone help me with spacing and how many i"ll need.

The garage is 30x40 and has 10 foot ceilings. I'm planning on buying new work I.C. contractor packs about $60. for 6 cans. I'm gussing I'll need a lot to get good lighting.

Right now my plan is 42 cans about 6ft apart in a grid pattern on three switches and 2 circuts.

Anyone think I'll need more? I plan on having extra outlets in the ceiling for work lights and if need be add plugg in shop lights.

Thanks!

Lighting layout: http://www.forteelectric.com/Howtolayoutcans.html

 

[Weedwaka]

Drywallers are finishing up boarding today so Ill hang them and snap a photo.

 

[v77v77]

Lighting layout: http://www.forteelectric.com/Howtolayoutcans.html

That link was very helpful Thank you!

 

[v77v77]

High bays are out. after checking out the link from danski0224 I'm sticking with the 6" Cans. I'll have them up right after new years and I'll post some pics. Thanks guys

 

[garage_man]

i have a 22x26 garage and have 9 cans in it, at 8' high, 6" cans will provide you with a 5' circle of light, the 9 i have is plenty, great way to light that space, i added a ceiling fan also to disperse the heat a little better

 

[ddawg16]

I used 18 cans in the 1st floor of my garage 20x25.

I have them layed out in 3 zones...6/zone...front, right rear and left rear.

The below pic was taken in the daytime and a couple of fixtures did not have lights in them....this is using 23W CFL's.

As soon as I get around to getting the trims installed, I'm going to swap out all the CFL's with 30W daylight CFL's. I see a big difference between warm white and daylight....the warm white has too much yellow in it for me.

I do a lot of wood working so the placement I have works well for me....

I also have some under-cabinet lights for task lighting...that is about the only way to eliminate shadows caused by your body....

 

[TheJulian]

High bays are out. after checking out the link from danski0224 I'm sticking with the 6" Cans. I'll have them up right after new years and I'll post some pics. Thanks guys

Any pics of the lights up and in action?

Cheers,

-TheJ

 

[jonny43]

for your garage you should follow this steps:
1- Determine the area per (ft²) of the room that you want to light=30*40= 1200 ft²
2- Determine the total wattage required for this area by Multiplying the area by 1.5, which is the average watt/ ft²=1200*1.5= 1800 W
3- Divide the total wattage by the wattage of the bulb that you are using or plan to use, so you get the number of can lights in this area.
let say you will use 110W (approximatly equivalent to 7w LED bulb) output bulb 1800/110= 16 cans
then you need to known how to evenly space them?