Will I get shadows from door rails?

[vtjon]

I have a 12' ceilings and after some reading, I decided to go with the 2' LED high bay lights from Home Depot since they surface mount easily to a ceiling box. In using the Visual 3d tool, it called for 9 lights. Since the lights I am using (18K Lumens) are likely to be too bright at times, I will have them on a dimmer.

My building is 28x40 and has a single 18' door on the 28' side. The layout of the first row of lights will have them hitting over the garage door rails (each track and the opener rail). The garage door is not installed yet but I wanted to start wiring. There will be relatively little distance between the bottom of the light and the top of the rail, maybe 10 inches.

Will I get shadows from the rails? I realize I could move the lights 6-8" closer to the wall but I was unsure if that was problematic. As of now, I'm about 55" from the wall and the light in the middle will still be over the opener rail.

 

[Zeke]

The closer the object the more the shadow. I do some photography and have some home made lighting. Diffusing the light source and distributing the light so that no matter where you are, gets light coming from different directions.

Example: if you are standing at a workbench mounted to a wall and all the lights are behind you, you won't get good task lighting. Therefore and with no idea of your layout, I'd move the fixtures more towards the perimeter and away from any rails that close.

 

[nadogail]

The short answer to your question is YES, but they may be shadows you can live with.

 

[vtjon]

The short answer to your question is YES, but they may be shadows you can live with.

And this is why I have commitment issues...

 

[Kaizen]

And this is why I have commitment issues...

If that area will not be light needy then no big deal. I moved my lights as one would have been above the middle rail of my lift. Moved it two feet and not a problem. Everything will not turn out perfectly spaced in real life.


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[Platonic Solid]

The Visual tool is good for general light placement and to get an idea of fc @ workplane. Garages are a little different as they often have large shadow causing objects (cars). I routinely move fixtures closer to walls to reduce shadow between cars and walls. You can safely move fixtures 3ft from walls before they start producing unacceptable levels of glare on the walls (assuming painted walls).

 

[vtjon]

The Visual tool is good for general light placement and to get an idea of fc @ workplane. Garages are a little different as they often have large shadow causing objects (cars). I routinely move fixtures closer to walls to reduce shadow between cars and walls. You can safely move fixtures 3ft from walls before they start producing unacceptable levels of glare on the walls (assuming painted walls).

Thank you and thanks to everyone else. I was worried about the lights getting too close especially being so bright. I won't commonly have cars in here as it's more of a wood working and hobby shop.

With regards to the one over the middle rail, should I just center my light there (long ways) and likely the shadow won't be a huge deal? Since it is near the front, the one light in that particular section won't be obstructing a common work area. I'd prefer the looks of everything in alignment but it's a minor consideration.

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[510ebl]

If you ever intend to require light while the door is open (at night?), moving the lights to the sides closer to the walls may be helpful.

 

[Platonic Solid]

I'd shift the offending fixture off center as the shadow will likely annoy you more than the off center fixture.