whiter light

[blackz26]

How can I get whiter light in my garage? I believe what my dad and I have are 60 or 100 watt regular light bulbs. There's 6 spanning our 20x20. The light spacing works, but the light is too yellow if that makes sence. Wed like to have it brighter, and whiter. Without changing sockets or fixtures would there be a differ bulb we Can replace them with? Or save up and get flouresent shop lights?

 

[wssix99]

Make sure you are using a "Cool White" bulb. They are bluer and are good for a work light. (They keep you awake and alert.)

"Warm White" bulbs are redder/yellower and are good for indoor/reading use. (They make you relaxed and sleepy.)

In between those, you can get many other colors of light (Daylight bulbs, etc.) - these are the most common ones.

 

[blackz26]

Thanks I'll give it a look.

 

[blackz26]

If I would decide to do T8 shop lights, how many would be required to feel adequate? There's no ceiling,(rafters visible to roof) no paneling, etc. So everything is a dark wood color. Which I imagine would effect how the light reacts? There's really no windows on the garage as what windows we had, we painted black. Advice on this part as well? Also, could we just rewire T8 into the current circuit? Idk the specs on amps and volts etc of the garage..

 

[groundhog69]

I put these in my garage and they very bright white light....Love them
http://www.lowes.com/pd_345544-7577...L=?Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=

 

[gte718p]

Holy **** there are a lot of light options out there now incandescent, florescent, LED, and halogen. In that you can get soft white,warm light, cool white, bright white, daylight, and something else I can't remember right now.

I just but in a bunch of bright white led bulbs in my kitchen. A little harsh, but very, very white. They are great to work under, but I definitely would not want them in my living room or bed room.

You could replace a standard socket with a T8 fixture. I'm about to do it this weekend in my garage. There is software and rules of thumb for lighting. Unfortunately I don't know them so I'm not that helpful. I just do it by feel. Start with two good quality fixtures. If its not enough add two more. I suspect one or two will be enough depending on ceiling height.

 

[KINGY2]

I bought the GE DAYLIGHTS 100 WATT at wally mart ....what a huge difference !!

 

[Cryptic1911]

If you want WHITE light, get 5000K temp bulbs. That is going to be the whitest you're going to find before they start getting into the blue-ish hue of "daylight" bulbs. 4100K is starting to yellow, 5000K is white, 5500K is sorta inbetween, and 6000-6500K are in the blue range (in my eyes anyways)

If you hang t8's, decide where the car(s) are going to be, and picture a rectangle around the cars on the ceiling. That's where you want to put the lights. If you do it like that, instead of putting them directly over the top of the cars, you'll minimize the amount of shadows, which will help if you want to detail stuff

 

[srmofo]

If I would decide to do T8 shop lights, how many would be required to feel adequate? There's no ceiling,(rafters visible to roof) no paneling, etc. So everything is a dark wood color. Which I imagine would effect how the light reacts? There's really no windows on the garage as what windows we had, we painted black. Advice on this part as well? Also, could we just rewire T8 into the current circuit? Idk the specs on amps and volts etc of the garage..

Yes you can wire the double 4' fixtures into the same boxes. You will need to hang some kind of ceiling to hang fixtures unless you want them dangling from a chain. It can be as simple as drywall or a sheet of ply or even a piece of 1x positioned on each side of the boxes. You could also install electrical receptacles into the boxes and buy light fixtures that have a cord on them and then reposition the lights anywhere that the cord reached to.

If you are happy with the amount of light, but just not the color, try switching bulbs first. Its a lot cheaper and may suit you just fine. I use the CFLs in the daylight range in my garage and they light the place up awesome. They do take a few minutes to 'warm' up when its cold outside though.

 

[Coolerman]

Goto 1000bulbs.com and order part #FC65-FEIIIS50K. This is a large CFL bulb. It uses 65 Watts of power to produce 275 Watts of light - It's rated 5000K Full Spectrum - 80 CRI - 62 Lumens. I ordered 6 of these for my neighbors 38 x 30 shop after he saw my shop lit up with 42 150 watt versions. The difference in his shop was unreal compared to the 100 W regular bulbs he had.

 

[Gary S]

I had the same problem when I had incandescent lights in my garage. When I switched to florescent, I got the nice white light I needed.

 

[srmofo]

Goto 1000bulbs.com and order part #FC65-FEIIIS50K. This is a large CFL bulb. It uses 65 Watts of power to produce 275 Watts of light - It's rated 5000K Full Spectrum - 80 CRI - 62 Lumens. I ordered 6 of these for my neighbors 38 x 30 shop after he saw my shop lit up with 42 150 watt versions. The difference in his shop was unreal compared to the 100 W regular bulbs he had.

http://www.1000bulbs.com/product/1606/FC65-FEIIIS50K.html?ref=none
Bwhahaha, those things are massive. I like em. Do they make cages for them? I can imagine that being a real problem inside a smaller shop with lower ceilings. I know I smacked one of bulbs with a sheet of ply and I have 10' ceilings.

 

[Kevin54]

Pics of the garage would help. If you don't have wall coverings (OSB or Drywall) and everything is open to the peak and raw wood, it's going to take a lot to light it up like you seek. Paint what you have in white, or cover the walls and ceilings with drywall or OSB and paint it. Not only will having a ceiling covered in OSB or drywall make a huge difference, it will also help on heating and cooling.

 

[blacksporty]

I used 6, 4' florescent lights, they are only $10-$15 each fixture at home depot, you can buy the adapter that to screw into the light socket and turns it into a plug it you don't want to rewire.

 

[dshop]

I just went with a few T-8, 8 foot florescents in my shop to brighten a work area and WOW what a difference! It's like I put in giant skylights, daytime or night. Home Depot has the T-8 fixtures for about $30 each, and worth every penny.
Probably the best thing to do is drywall or OSB the walls and paint a flat white..at the least spray the studs and joists white. The added reflectance will amaze you. right now you have a dark hole that just ***** up any light you have in there.
take care

 

[blackz26]

I will to take pics tomorrow. Today I bought two flood lights that put out 1790 linens. Kinda of a flood light type thing. I think next pay I'll look at home depot and look into the T8 with light socket adapters. Painting anything white wouldn't do any real good as we live right by a scrap yard and dust is a huge problem. Drywall and osb isn't financially in the realm right now. My dad agreed to split the cost since we use it equally. Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[darkk]

We have a 30x30 garage with 13 ft ceilings. We bought Cheap 4 ft fixtures and good T-8 5000K bulbs. We only have 4 fixtures (two each side) at the front of the garage that are temporary. There is a 2 foot tall beam hanging between the sides separating the lights. As you can see by the pictures that they give off a shitload of bright white light.

 

[bdamico]

have you never bought a light bulb in your life?

 

[blackz26]

have you never bought a light bulb in your life?

Nope I have manage to wonder through 21 years of life in the dark. When a bulb burns out I usually replace the whole lamp in hopes of it having another bulb with it.

Now as a serious statement, what kind of question is that? There's a difference between not knowing, and being stupid. This case, I have no idea as my dad and I are just now getting serious about our garage.

Looks like a trip to home depot is in order in two weeks.

 

[tylernt]

you can buy the adapter that to screw into the light socket and turns it into a plug it you don't want to rewire.

I think next pay I'll look at home depot and look into the T8 with light socket adapters.

Small problem with that, the plug-in shop lights I have are equipped with 3-prong grounded plugs, and the only screw-in socket-to-outlet adapters I've seen are 2-prong ungrounded. Don't get me wrong, I'll be the first to grab a screw-in adapter if the situation suits, but unless you can find 2-prong ungrounded shop lights, the situation doesn't suit.

Of course, there's nothing to stop you from using a ground cheater, but unless you have some wacky pancake box, the parts to convert a standard ceiling box from light socket to outlet are so inexpensive (pennies more than an adapter and a cheater) and the job is such an easy one (few minutes tops) that my vote goes for doing it "right".

 

[bdamico]

Nope I have manage to wonder through 21 years of life in the dark. When a bulb burns out I usually replace the whole lamp in hopes of it having another bulb with it.

Now as a serious statement, what kind of question is that? There's a difference between not knowing, and being stupid. This case, I have no idea as my dad and I are just now getting serious about our garage.

Looks like a trip to home depot is in order in two weeks.

It's a serious question. All light bulbs have a kelvin rating and a signifier like "cool white" or "warm white," etc. that informs your question.

 

[blackz26]

It's a serious question. All light bulbs have a kelvin rating and a signifier like "cool white" or "warm white," etc. that informs your question.

I do believe that's already been a dressed. Thanks for your concern though.

As for the adapters, just cut off the ground right? Seem it done before... (?)

 

[tylernt]

As for the adapters, just cut off the ground right? Seem it done before... (?)

I don't wanna be the safety Nazi, so that aside, modern electronic ballasts are more likely to cause RFI (radio frequency interference) if they don't have a proper ground. Heck, some people report interference problems even with grounded ballasts, so ungrounded is likely to be worse...

 

[blackz26]

I don't wanna be the safety Nazi, so that aside, modern electronic ballasts are more likely to cause RFI (radio frequency interference) if they don't have a proper ground. Heck, some people report interference problems even with grounded ballasts, so ungrounded is likely to be worse...

Another adapter to go from 3 to 2?

 

[Modifieddriver]

For years I've used 200 watt light bulbs at my rented shop. Have a white ceiling and the light was pretty good.

As the ceiling paint faded the lighting got dimmer and I added several 4' T12 two lamp fixtures.

I read someplace that you need 1.8 watts per sq.ft. of shop space. I did the calculation with my 200 watt bulbs and I wasn't too far off.

Building a new shop now and I'm using a shitload of T5 6 tube fixtures with Phillips 54 watt HO 4100 lamps. Looking for about 130-140 fc.


Now, for your 20x20, 400 sq.ft. shop, with only 4 200 watt bulbs and you'll exceed the 1.8 watt per sq.ft. formula. Put 6 in there and it'll be bright, about 3 watts per sq.ft.. Use a reflector behind the bulb to help reflect light down if the ceiling is open.

 

[jlckmj]

How tall are your ceilibgs?
If you have the room for large CFL's (about 10 inches long) you can replace the bulbs you have with the one's talked about in the thread below. No other wiring needed, and 4 times the light you have now with the 100 watt bulbs.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38658

here is a link to where you can buy them
http://www.limostudio.com/shop/inde...graphy-photo-lighting-flourescent-bulb-1.html

Jim

 

[LutzTD]

I never bought florescent tubes, my first garage was always supplied by office changeouts. About 3 years ago I discovered the temperature difference when buying CFL's I love the bight white florescents and would never go back to the lower temp yellows

 

[ilovevocs]

^. That's odd to hear someone say that because my ideal color temp is 3500 k. You have to know that it the whiter lights just create the perception of brightness, they are not producing more lumens. At least from what I recall of my schooling a decade ago.

The whiter lights make give me a headache if I'm exposed to them for extended durations in areas with out natural light. I have a degenerative eye disease though so I'm very sensitive to certain light sources.

 

[LutzTD]

^. That's odd to hear someone say that because my ideal color temp is 3500 k. You have to know that it the whiter lights just create the perception of brightness, they are not producing more lumens. At least from what I recall of my schooling a decade ago.

The whiter lights make give me a headache if I'm exposed to them for extended durations in areas with out natural light. I have a degenerative eye disease though so I'm very sensitive to certain light sources.

for me my eyesight is limited and the brighter color light makes things more contrast and truer color, closer to daylight the better for me. the yellow lights seem to make things dingey. I wouldnt put them in my house, but for the shop nothing else

 

[budl]

I'll go with what some others recommend. If you don't want to change the fixtures go with 100 watt equivilent flourescent bulbs. I think "daylight" is the brightest whitest. I have 2 bulbs in my garage door opener and they light up that side of my 2 car garage pretty well.

Bud

 

[blackz26]

Actually, see what the lights bought today did, I think I'm just going to buy four two of the lights bought today and add one swivel type fixture. Thanks again for all the help guys!