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chynewalkr
08-08-2007, 07:57 PM
Hi,

I was just wonder what everyone has for lighting in their garages. I detail my vehicles often and have found that different types of light show different defects in paint.

i am thinking i am going to hang some florescents along with some standard incandescents and then some halogen spots, all seperatly switched. along with a couple wall mounted flourescents too

22VelocityProMax300
08-09-2007, 08:15 AM
Chynewalker, I have a 3 car garage and I used 3, 8' fluorescents and when I detail I pull out the twin 500 watt halogen lamp. It shows any and all swirls and scratches. If I was building it over again I would have added several built in can lights also.

chynewalkr
08-09-2007, 08:49 PM
i just bought the house and it has a 2-1/2 car garage and it has only 1 bulb in the middle :eek: . so i have a clean slate to work from:D

cat06
08-22-2007, 03:47 PM
with the fluorescents, go to a electrical wholesale house and get color corrected bulbs ( tell them you do detail work and want light color as if outdoors in the sun) they will cost more but are worth the cost for the quality of the light

Techno
08-22-2007, 07:52 PM
If it was me I would get a few hid lights. They may not be color corrected but they aren't the ugly colors anymore either.
Preheat is a problem, so fluorescent or bulbs are still needed. But when your out a while nice amount of light output.
I think the only type that come close to the right color temp are sodiums.

I did get a brain fart last week. I'm going to convert one of my dual tube shop fluorescents into a trouble light. 4' of light will cooly light anything I'm going to need a trouble light for.
Under the deck with a 250w halogen isn't nice on hot days.

gotboostedvr6
08-22-2007, 08:07 PM
I would go with metal halide bulbs in a 8k to 10k color temp and use electric ballast so there is a 10 - 20 sec warmup time.
you can use 3 250w for a 2 car garage and it will look like daylight < no joke

I make metal halide lighting system for aquariums on the side trust me there is no lighting on the planet in this price range that comes close

hsbob
08-24-2007, 10:14 AM
you need the flor in the longest length you can get usually 8'. the longer the length the more light you'll get at any point. just one of theose laws of phyics.

johnt
08-24-2007, 11:01 AM
that's a great idea about color corrected fuorescents, I have never heard of them.. off to the electrical wholesale house for me..

chynewalkr
08-24-2007, 10:20 PM
i have colored florescents in my fish tank and they are very bright and really bring out the colors in fish. hmmm:

markt111
01-02-2008, 02:14 PM
the flour lamps they are talking about do not really cost anymore, just may not be able to find them at your local home improvement, order them at any electrical supply house or from grainger etc...

you want what they call "daylight" 5000k on the spectrum, look for a quality bulb that retains it's color and brightness over time, that is the major difference in quality, they all look good for a few hundred hours but drastically loose output and color quality over time

I would def use a couple extra lights,they are short money, $50.00 or so per fixture for an 8' flourecent strip light using 4-4' lamps, you want a good overlap of light, you can always switch them seperately so it is not always lit up for detail type work

markt111
01-02-2008, 02:18 PM
nothing againds HID, they are very efficient just don't seem to fit the application in most home garages unless you have a high ceiling and the initial expense is obviously greater

also if your garage is cold (depending on climate/heat etc..) make sure whatever you get is rated for the temperature or you will have starting problems, most electronic ballast these days are good down to 0*F

Hottrucks
01-02-2008, 02:45 PM
I have 8.... eight foot floresent if i had to do it over I would mount them on the wall my garage is 24 X 28 I think the light is better more of a piant shop style

jerry
01-11-2008, 07:44 PM
get a 3 wick candle !

OldMerc
03-13-2008, 03:16 AM
In my garage I have about 20 20w compact fluourescent bulbs strung around. They're usually on sale for only a buck, and seem to last a lot longer than the long tubes. And they're much easier to throw away when they burn out.

chynewalkr
03-13-2008, 06:27 AM
thats alot of little bulbs

22VelocityProMax300
03-13-2008, 08:31 AM
Chynewalker, the other key to a good garage setup is keep the color of the floor light,you will get better light reflection than having a dark floor plus small things are easier to find. I have a light grey epoxy that has been down for 20 years that looks good. Frank

chynewalkr
03-13-2008, 03:56 PM
i painted my floor with the grey epoxy, still havent decided on lights though. it really all being held up because i want to insulate the walls and drywall first.

benski
08-14-2008, 11:31 AM
I've got incandescent can lights in the ceiling, a whole bunch of 4' flourescents in the ceiling on seperate switches, and 5 4ft flourescents mounted 1.5 feet above the floor running down one wall of the shop. The other side is 25' away or I would have put some there, too. A twin 500W Halogen on a stand for portable work, and a trouble light with LEDs on a 50' reel on the wall round out the inventory. All that and I find I'm still short on skill for certain projects, but at least I can see what I am messing up! I agree with the comment about the light grey floor..the other thing I did was buy some fairly good quality semi-gloss white latex and paint out my whole garage with it. I makes it a much cheerier spot to be in, and helps to see where things are on a dark and dreary day.

Liberator*21
08-19-2009, 05:43 AM
I've got a 4 car garage, 20 ft. ceilings, white walls with 16 dual bulb, 8 ft. Hvy Duty high wattage Industrial Fluoresent fixtures on the ceiling, I get a sun tan just from work'n out there.......

All kidding aside, there is no such thing as too many lights, the most important part is knowing where to place them for the best possible light distribution based on what your doing, no dark spots or shadows if at all possible.

LOCATION-LOCATION-LOCATION..........:thumbsup:

MY HST
09-14-2009, 12:16 PM
thats a lot of plugging into

Sonik
09-14-2009, 04:38 PM
also if your garage is cold (depending on climate/heat etc..) make sure whatever you get is rated for the temperature or you will have starting problems, most electronic ballast these days are good down to 0*F


I agree with the comment about the light grey floor..the other thing I did was buy some fairly good quality semi-gloss white latex and paint out my whole garage with it. I makes it a much cheerier spot to be in, and helps to see where things are on a dark and dreary day.

Good info here for you all the way around John. I agree with mixing up different styles of lighting in a single space so you can manipulate the environment to see lots of different things. I was fortunate when I bought the house i'm in now from my brother because he all but had the garage finished prior to me moving in. Garage is 21.xx x 28.xx attached and is insulated, drywalled and painted in a white latex and with 2 x 8' twin flourescents with just 4100k bulbs and a 4' wall mount with 4100k bulbs above my workbench...they light the entire area really well for as simple a setup as it is. As Mark mentioned, cold weather ballasts are a must....I have nasty hums in the winter until the garage and lights warm up......gotta change those soon....gets annoying. I too would like to throw a mixture of incandescents in with the fluorescents just to have the option.

If anyone has pictures of your well lit, light colored garage with an epoxied floor, I'd like to see them as I've been kicking around the idea of doing my floor as its just sealed concrete right now. (Sorry John, not trying to hijack)

Just to give you an idea....I threw in a few pics of my garage at night...its not big by any stretch but it serves its purpose....fortunately I have a little boat. My garage door hides a little bit of light towards the opening when its up so plan on your light placement accordingly if you work alot with the door open. :thumbsup:

Jeff

EDIT: Incandescents or halogens on dimmers might be be something to try also along with your big lighting.

http://i28.tinypic.com/v8oavd.jpg

http://i30.tinypic.com/f2l9hu.jpg

Casey
09-16-2009, 01:52 PM
2 car w/ three 8 footers

http://cgudgell.smugmug.com/photos/571110348_uCj4T-L.jpg

Casey
09-16-2009, 01:57 PM
my parents 35x45 w/ four 8 footers. it's not near enough light

http://cgudgell.smugmug.com/photos/359210943_Sn6GA-L.jpg

RobF
09-19-2009, 11:03 AM
this sure is a old thread!

A thing you will want to check BEFORE you buy any lighting is your local power utility will give rebates for using energy efficient lighting.
Its well worth the simple paperwork and you will save energy and money.

When I upgraded my shop lighting I ended up with a $75 per fixture rebate which is great when you are installing 20 something fixtures, and the rebate came in 2 weeks and in the form of check cut to me personally- not a credit on my bill or any of that, it was good as cash.

As to what is energy efficient for a home garage that would something like low bay T5s or T8s. If you go to a legitimate lighting supply house with your room dimensions they will tell you what you need.

chynewalkr
09-19-2009, 11:28 AM
lets see some pictures, nice garages guys! mine is still a work in progress i have 4 4 foot t-5 fixtures and one incandescent so far. I am going to add some halogens too, i like them for seeing swirl marks in my cars (both vehicles i own are black)

82RAYSONCRAFT
11-04-2009, 12:52 AM
Mine is 28 x 21 w/8' ceiling that I finished drywalling and painting pure white a couple of years ago. 5/4' dual bulb T fixtures with one over the work bench.
Its pretty good to me.

93mustang97sea
07-20-2010, 03:42 PM
If I were to redo my garage over. I wouldnt put a single light on the ceiling. When I was driving a tow truck I dropped off a car to a small shop that a buddy of mine owned and he didnt have one light on the ceiling he took those bulb setups you see that are in office buildings and put them on the walls flush mounted. It was a nice setup and plenty bright and a good idea since if you look at spray booths since i also use to paint cars the lights are in the walls.

RobF
09-24-2010, 02:26 PM
got rid of the last old 8 footers on the ceiling

http://robx-7.nopistons.com/d/4467-1/lights1+003.jpg

http://robx-7.nopistons.com/d/4470-1/lights+005.jpg

jphii
09-24-2010, 02:46 PM
I just changed my 8' fluorescent ceiling lights out for those. I used Metalux F-Bay. The difference is pretty remarkable. If I had that many in my shop I could get a tan in there.

RobF
09-24-2010, 04:41 PM
those are all high efficiency hi-bays, best part was the rebate, check in my hand within 2 weeks
put up 6 more in the center where the old 8 footers used to be, had existing ones in there that I installed 3 years ago

jphii
09-24-2010, 04:46 PM
Rebate, do tell? Are they Metalux? I got the high efficiency high bay too.

RobF
09-24-2010, 04:57 PM
my local power supplier ( and your probably does too ) offers rebates for installing energy efficient products.
This ranges from HVAC to lighting.
When I put those fixtures up originally I got a $75 rebate PER fixture.
Now I think I got $35 per fixture.
Have a warehouse space? They even give you rebates for motion lighting with timers so that no one is leaving lights on unnecessarily. And the best part is you do NOT have to have a electrical contractor hook them up or fill out the paperwork.

I got them from a customer of mine who manufactures the lights, he is strictly dealer only but because I have worked on his boats he really hooked me up. They are T8s. When the lighting engineer and myself were going over the project he had it with less T5s but the fixtures were more money, the bulbs were alot more money, and so were the ballast, so we went with a few more T5s instead.

jphii
09-24-2010, 05:01 PM
75 bucks would be great, or even 35. I'll check when I get home from our race next week. The fixtures & bulbs were about 200 each. At least now I can work in the shop without my glasses:D:D

RobF
09-24-2010, 05:04 PM
most have a packet that explains it all.
Ours requires the sales sheet and the lab results proving they are energy efficient, the place you are buying the lights from should know all about it- hopefully your local power company offers it.

Elisa Jack
02-18-2011, 12:01 AM
The one room of the house that is the most versatile is the garage. Parts of this room are used for storage while other parts are used for hobbies. In either case, shop lights in the garage are always a good thing. For example, if you have a table set up for projects or a hobby, having a light overhead is a good idea