Wiring up garage lights

[dsp1]

Hi,
I'm in the process of installing and starting to wire up the the 8 high bay ufo light for the shop and have some questions. I have 4 bays which will be covered by 2 lights a piece (one in the front, one in the back) each bay on it's own switch (4 standard single pole switches total in a 4 gang metal box) so I don't need to light up the whole shop unnecessarily when I'm only in 1 or 2 sections. A box with a single outlet is going next to each light since they are all corded with plugs which I don't mind since it makes replacing them much quicker and easier. Everything is being done with 12awg stranded thhn wire and conduit. I was given hundreds of feet of the stuff by a neighbor I helped out so it was kind of a no brainer to go that route. All the outlets are going to be on same (dedicated lighting) circuit so my question is can I just run 1 neutral and 1 ground wire out of the switch box up to the outlets that they can all share? From what I can find it looks like the nec allows shared neutrals as long as they are on the same circuit. That would give me 4 hots, 1 neutral and 1 ground wire coming back up out of the box to the outlets.

 

[mm08822]

1 neutral is fine.

 

[Innovate1]

No issue with 1 neutral. You need those receptacles on GFCI even if they are on the ceiling. And the reset needs to be accessible without tools or ladder.

 

[dsp1]

Yeah, I have GFCI breaker instead. It seemed utterly retarded to put GFCI outlets on the ceiling, especially since I need a scaffold to reach them.

 

[Poolshark314]

Yeah, I have GFCI breaker instead. It seemed utterly retarded to put GFCI outlets on the ceiling, especially since I need a scaffold to reach them.

You could also put a GFCI outlet before the light switch, so you can reach it

 

[dave*99]

You could also put a GFCI outlet before the light switch, so you can reach it

True, but I think he is challenging the need for GFCI shock protection on an outlet he can't reach to get a shock.

Well maybe....

 

[Model A Fan]

For my own clarification, you are putting two UFOs in each bay. Each UFO has one hot, one neutral, and one ground. You're plugging the light into an outlet you're putting way up on the ceiling via THHN and conduit? Are you plugging the two UFO lights into the one outlet or an outlet for each UFO?

Once down in the switch box, you have 4 neutrals, 4 hots, 4 grounds tied into 1 neutral, 1 hot, 1 ground going into the breaker panel?

Which UFO light are you using?

 

[dave*99]

That would give me 4 hots, 1 neutral and 1 ground wire coming back up out of the box to the outlets.

Once down in the switch box, you have 4 neutrals, 4 hots, 4 grounds tied into 1 neutral, 1 hot, 1 ground going into the breaker panel?

One neutral leaving the switches and heading to each outlet on the ceiling. The single neutral is daisy chained to every receptacle.

And 4 switched hots. Each switched hot feeds 2 UFOs. Every one of the 8 UFOs gets a receptacle.

Al least that's how I read it.

 

[dsp1]

One neutral leaving the switches and heading to each outlet on the ceiling. The single neutral is daisy chained to every receptacle.

And 4 switched hots. Each switched hot feeds 2 UFOs. Every one of the 8 UFOs gets a receptacle.

Al least that's how I read it.

That's it exactly.
I don't have the box anymore but they are 150 watt led hykolity or hyperlite, I can't quite remember.

 

[u2slow]

I would save the #12 for receptacle circuits, and hardwire those lights with #14 and no GFCI. If needing 2 circuits, use a mwbc.

 

[dave*99]

I would save the #12 for receptacle circuits, and hardwire those lights with #14 and no GFCI. If needing 2 circuits, use a mwbc.

I don’t have issues with that approach but given the OP states

A box with a single outlet is going next to each light since they are all corded with plugs which I don't mind since it makes replacing them much quicker and easier. Everything is being done with 12awg stranded thhn wire and conduit. I was given hundreds of feet of the stuff by a neighbor I helped out so it was kind of a no brainer to go that route.

I’m not sure he has access to free #14. And the longevity of some of todays lights is also suspect.

 

[dsp1]

I was given 500' rolls of 12 awg thhn wire and some conduit so that's what the whole building is being wired with. I like the lower power consumption and output of modern led's but have found their longevity to usually be significantly overstated. That being said I have been using a few of these with a temporary jury rigged setup for about a year now and they've been great but time will tell.
I thought about hardwiring them but since they all came with plugs and I saved a significant amount on wire and conduit 8 extra outlets and a GFCI breaker seemed like a really minor expense.

On a side note does anyone remember when piles of romex used to just be set out on pallets in front of the electrical section for sale specials? The cages they keep it locked behind now rival the local county jail.