what type of lights do you have?

[gussteve]

So I'm finally electrically piping my garage, not sure if I want to use fluorescence lights. Any recommendations? My garage has a14 foot ceiling on one side and 8'-0 1/2" on the other with a loft above. I plan on using led puck lights in the loft but that's too expensive for anywhere else.

 

[Steevo]

What kind of work areas will you be lighting? Workbench? Car lift? Auto detailing area?

 

[gussteve]

Lift on one side all around workspace for the rest , wrenching, wood working ,welding ect..

 

[Steevo]

Sounds like you need full-coverage work area lighting, probably 150+ lumens/sq ft.

Select your lighting fixtures/types accordingly.

If you provide the square footage, floor plan and dimensions, I am sure there are many here that will assist in recommending lighting layouts.

 

[kbs2244]

You will get all kinds of opinions on this.

My experience (in far north Illinois) is to use a combo of incandescent and the cheap, $10.00, twin 4 foot, “shop lights.”

I first used the incandescent because my fluorescents were slow to come on in the cold.
But they were all old curbside and garage sale units.
As they died and I replaced them the newer units I have found they come on fine in temps down to the teens.

I still keep the incandescent mix going because I am paranoid about the 60 cycle strobe effect of the fluorescents making saw blades appear stopped when they are spinning.
The incandescent seem to cancel out that effect.

I put a ceramic bulb socket next to a 4 hole outlet on the light circuit.
I like to be able to move the shop light around until I find the best location for them.
Using the chains and cords lets me do this.

 

[Gary S]

I have 4' florescent lights in my garage. They are cheap, miserly on electricity, and put out great light.

 

[jvitez]

CEC requires one light per garage bay, so the builder put one lampholder in each stall. I've left them in using incandescent bulbs. The parking bay has clear 100W bulbs, the workshop area has 300W bulbs. I plan on fluorescent strips when the ceiling is finished, but will keep the incandescents to turn on if I'm just going out to get something. No worries about start up, reducing bulb life by short cycles, etc.

I think a combo of incandescents and fluorescents work very well in a cold climate.

 

[elav]

Sounds like you need full-coverage work area lighting, probably 150+ lumens/sq ft.

This is a great way of looking at it. I used 200 lumens/sq ft and while I really like it a lot of people say, "Wow, that's bright" when they enter the first time but my eyes aren't what they use to be.

 

[lessersivad]

24' wide x28' deep pole building with 12' ceiling.

3, 4' fluorescent fixtures mounted vertical on the supporting posts on each side wall and 2, 4' fluorescents mounted horizontal above the 8x16 garage door. Also 1, 4 footer over the bench.

For going in to grab something I have an outside motion detector mounted above the entry door with a cord leading from one of the sockets to a light above the tool box.

Walk in, incadescent lights comes on, grab tool(s), leave.

 

[ddawg16]

I have 16 recessed cans in the ground floor of my garage. I stuffed 23 cfl's in them (100w equiv)....plenty of lighting for me....I like the fact that I can go up or down on wattage and play with color.

Regarding flicker with 4' tubes....that is only an issue if your running old magnetic ballasts....the newer T8 and T5 electronic ballasts run around 40Khz....there is not flicker.

 

[samert111]

My PB is 28' x 48' with 15 foot ceilings and for years I just had 9 - 150 watt flood lights in the ceiling. Once I finished the ceiling with the white steel panels I added 9 of the 4 ft fluorescent T12 fixtures and it was huge improvement. Attached are couple night time before and after photos.

 

[jvitez]

Wow samert111, what a difference! I really like the look of a metal ceiling. Nice rig too. Thanks for the pics, it shows the old adage "a picture is worth a thousand words."

How did you attach the fixtures to the ceiling?

 

[samert111]

How did you attach the fixtures to the ceiling?

They are flush mount designed fixtures and I just used some of the steel siding self drilling screws up thru the ceiling panels into the bottom cord of the trusses that are 2ft OC.

 

[01ssreda4]

I would stay away from the flourescents. Just bc I have them in my garage and I get sick of replacing and disposing of them. Always worried about one of them exploding on me....I've seen it happen, its not pretty.

 

[Jack Olsen]

There are lots of different ways to skin a cat. I went with a mix of el-cheapo solutions. Most of my light comes from $5 clamp-on trouble lights with CFL bulbs, most of them pointed up at the ceiling so the light is more diffused. Then I've got task lighting over my work areas. Most of it is CFL, but some is circline fluorescents and there are even a few inexpensive Ikea halogen spots.

Some guys want a huge blanket of uniform light. My eyes get tired when they're fighting that much light. Maye I'm getting old. I like the idea of 'surgical lighting,' which isn't a flood of bright blue-white light, but is instead pools of shadow-free light in the places where you're working, and a lower-intensity amount of fill light everywhere else.

 

[Ramper]

Those front lights look like they come out of the garage door. How are those mounted?

 

[gussteve]

I like all the input so far, ive got the majority of the outlets and switches piped in the garage just got back in the house happy with a cold night's work.I try d to get some pics up but for some reason my computer isn't able to. Time for some top gear bbc.

 

[veno]

take a look at this thread...(toot)
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38658&showall=1

 

[tommyboyrn]

I am planning on building at least a 30x36 ft shop space and was planning on using the 4ft flourescent light fixtures. If using the formula of 150lumens/sq ft- how many lights would I need? I don't have best eyes and want it bright as possible without over doing it. I was going to put a couple over my work bench area then organize rest of them over rest of space, but didn't know how to calculate what I need. Can anyone help?

 

[40cpe]

my math says you will need about 58 32w t8 bulbs.

That is about 14 1/2 4-tube fixtures

 

[shaferz]

Original poster... Do you have a thread documenting the shop build? Yours sounds like what I am planning... 14 foot ceilings in one DEEP bay and 8 door ceilings with a lift over the other 2-3 bays.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I would stay away from the flourescents. Just bc I have them in my garage and I get sick of replacing and disposing of them. Always worried about one of them exploding on me....I've seen it happen, its not pretty.

This is kinda like the bulbs falling out of fixtures...... I've never seen, nor have I ever heard of a fluorescent bulb "exploding". If this happened more than once in a blue moon, most retail stores like Wal-Mart would have legal issues out the azz since they all have exposed strips of 4 ft T8 or in some cases, T12 lights.

Many Wal-Marts and Sams, along with other stores, had open bottomed Metal Halide fixtures. MH bulbs are dangerous when the outer glass breaks (super hot glass showering down) and more so because they then emit very strong UV which will give you a sunburn in short order, as they will continue to function with the outer glass broken or gone.

Wal-Mart decided several years ago to save some energy, and some liability at the same time, as all of the older Atlanta area stores (and elsewhere in the country too) were equipped with open bottomed MH fixtures. Rather than retro fit them with a bottom glass (not required, as they were grandfathered, but now required for new installations), they removed all of the MH fixtures and installed strips of T8 fluorescent fixtures. One store I go in even has skylights and the fixtures are on light sensors. Its not unusual on a bright sunny day to see most of the lights off, and they will come on when a cloud passes over, seen it happen.

Anyhow, the 400 watt MH fixtures I have came out of a Sams/WalMart. The guy had thousands of them.

Charles

 

[gussteve]

take a look at this thread...(toot)
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38658&showall=1[/QUOTE

Veno you sold me, cheap and easy. Thanks your shop looks good, I guess I have to figure out how to shrink my pictures so I can post my build.

 

[gussteve]

Original poster... Do you have a thread documenting the shop build? Yours sounds like what I am planning... 14 foot ceilings in one DEEP bay and 8 door ceilings with a lift over the other 2-3 bays.

Soon schaferz ,tonight or tomorrow.

 

[sfckiddo]

i used the 4 foot shop lites put in as many as you think you need. i wired my ceiling with plug-ins, as cheap as the lights are if one quits unplug it and hang another

 

[Zick]

Bunch of T8's, 10ft ceiling.