mflora98ss
New member
I have a 32x32x10 garage that I'm trying to figure out how many recessed lights I'll need. I plan on using 6" cans with LED bulbs. Any ideas?
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Recessed lighting calculation?
- Thread starter mflora98ss
- Start date
pattenp
Well-known member
The trims you use will also be important. Open or closed? Will the lamps be reflector type or an A style, which is a standard type of bulb? Both versions are available as LED's. I would try to get a photometric drawing for the fixture you are going to use with the appropriate lamp and trim. They are available from the fixture manufacturer. If you provide them with the desired lighting level, they will even lay out the fixture arrangement for you. A few other things come into play, but that will get you what you want. Any good electrical supply house can contact their distributor and will provide this information free of charge.
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gatchel
Well-known member
Just thinking and doing some basic math here...
1024 Sq ft at 100 lumens per foot (bright but not really bright) means 102400 lumens total f you want even coverage with no hot spots.
If you use LR6-DR1000 Cree fixtures (at $120 each) you'd need 103 of them, approximately. $12,000 for just LED trims not including the cans, time, and labor to wire them all in.
If you use CR6-800 Cree fixtures (at $55 each) you'd need 128 of them, approximately.
$7,000 for just LED trims not including the cans, time.......
If you are only using them for lighting on focused areas than that is a different story.
Usually, LED's are not cost effective to light up a whole garage especially if it if for occasional use, not 12 hrs per day where the electric savings would possibly pay off some day.
Also, a T8 tube gives you about 93 lumens per watt at 3000 lumens per tube.
An Cree CR6-800 gives you 67 lumens per watt.
1024 Sq ft at 100 lumens per foot (bright but not really bright) means 102400 lumens total f you want even coverage with no hot spots.
If you use LR6-DR1000 Cree fixtures (at $120 each) you'd need 103 of them, approximately. $12,000 for just LED trims not including the cans, time, and labor to wire them all in.
If you use CR6-800 Cree fixtures (at $55 each) you'd need 128 of them, approximately.
$7,000 for just LED trims not including the cans, time.......
If you are only using them for lighting on focused areas than that is a different story.
Usually, LED's are not cost effective to light up a whole garage especially if it if for occasional use, not 12 hrs per day where the electric savings would possibly pay off some day.
Also, a T8 tube gives you about 93 lumens per watt at 3000 lumens per tube.
An Cree CR6-800 gives you 67 lumens per watt.
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In case you plan for using LED bulbs you have to know that 7 watt LED bulb can practically produce a similar light output as a 60 watt halogen bulb.
caculate your area 32*32=1024 ft²
calculate required average watt=1.5*1024=1536 watt
consider we use 7W LED bulb which produce 60W
no. of lights=1536/60=25.6 so, 26 bulb required and the remaining question is how to calculate the spacing to get where exactly install these cans?
caculate your area 32*32=1024 ft²
calculate required average watt=1.5*1024=1536 watt
consider we use 7W LED bulb which produce 60W
no. of lights=1536/60=25.6 so, 26 bulb required and the remaining question is how to calculate the spacing to get where exactly install these cans?
Notch1988
Well-known member
A lot. I did 6" cans in my last garage... 30 of them in 24x40x12 with 100w equivalent CFL's. My current garage I did T8's and it's twice as bright for half the cost.
Mustang51js
Well-known member
Figure about every 6 feet each direction
James-W
Well-known member
Granted, it does take a little time for a CFL to reach its full brightness, but it is only a minute or two. Quite frankly, I have never found it to be a problem. I go out to my garage, flip on the lights, turn up the heat, take a look at the project I want to work on and get out the tools I will be needing. By that time the CFL lights are up to full brightness. It's not like I have to wait half an hour for the lights to get brighter.I always recommend to use LED bulbs since, it is brighter than fluorescent bulbs which take time to reach its max. brightness.
I always recommend to use LED bulbs since, it is brighter than fluorescent bulbs which take time to reach its max. brightness.
The last three lines of post #4 does not support that on lumens per watt........then fiqure in the cost of LED it starts to be a problem.
My rule of thumb is 3' from the walls and 6' between them. +/- 12".
IMO, don't put can lights in a garage. It's not cost effective. The amount of cans you will need to fill that space, plus the lamps, plus the inefficiency of the cans, you would be better off going with some nice LED strip lights.
If you must have recessed fixtures, you can get a 2x4 fixture and buy recessed trim kit. Your light output will be more acceptable for a garage than can lights will produce.
IMO, don't put can lights in a garage. It's not cost effective. The amount of cans you will need to fill that space, plus the lamps, plus the inefficiency of the cans, you would be better off going with some nice LED strip lights.
If you must have recessed fixtures, you can get a 2x4 fixture and buy recessed trim kit. Your light output will be more acceptable for a garage than can lights will produce.
I need calculation method to get the most uniform lighting
calculate your area per ft²
calculate required average watt=1.5*area per ft²
bulb number= required average watt/chosen bulb watt
also you can check out recessed lighting layout to know how to space the recessed lights.