Garage lighting suggestions

indianaryan

indianaryan

New member
Joined
Sep 1, 2010
Messages
81
Reaction score
0
I will be upgrading the lighting in my one-car garage soon and I wanted to get some suggestions from people that have done this to their garages. Right now I have a single compact fluorescent near the back of the garage. It's not nearly enough lighting to do any detailing.

I'm considering putting up about six 48" shop lights with 2 T8's each, and maybe with covers to diffuse the light. I'm thinking about putting 2 on each side of the car, on the ceiling and angled down towards the car to light up the sides of the car. Then the last 2 are on the front and back of the garage pointing straight down to light up the front and back of the car. You can see what I'm talking about better with the pictures I've attached.

Would I benefit more if I install the lights on the walls on each side of the car rather than the ceilings? Or would you do something completely different? I'm open to opinions. Wiring is not an issue. My main concern is the placement of the lights, type of lights to use, etc.
 
Personally I'd look at the high output 8' fixtures and I like the angle idea as well. If the walls are white then natural light reflection should give you ample light when working on the sides.

Focused lighting should be hand held for swirl inspection but other than that I like what you've shown.
 
Porsche Pilot said:
Take a look at these. I am thinking of doing my garage this winter. They look real easy to put in and are expandable.

Four 48" Long Linkable T8 Garage Lighting
Click to expand...


I like those, and it's a great price.

indianaryan, I agree with BobbyG and look at 8' fixtures if they'll fit. The more light the better. I have five 8' double fixtures in my L-shaped three car garage and still would like to double that. I think some kind of covers are a necessity as well, in case you smack a tube. They make clear sleeves for the bulbs that would suffice. I have an industrial ceiling fan too that is positioned outside of the area that I detail in - it's a lifesaver on our 100 degree days here. It doesn'tblowon the car, but give a nice circulation that helps.
 
I dunno if this is ok but garagejournal.com is a forum dedicated to awesome garage builds. this might help you out. and Sorry if this isnt allowed.
 
Porsche Pilot said:
Take a look at these. I am thinking of doing my garage this winter. They look real easy to put in and are expandable.

Four 48" Long Linkable T8 Garage Lighting
Click to expand...


Those linkable lights look cool and all, but $214 is VERY steep considering you can get the same job done for less than half of that price using regular fixtures from Home Depot, some 1/2" EMT conduit, and spools of 14ga. solid or stranded-core wire.

I just finished re-doing all the lighting in my single car garage, in which I now have four 4' shop lights (2 lamps each) with T8s, two ceiling-mounted 2-lamp 4' T8 fixtures, and 2 8' T8HO fixtures with four 4' lamps each. So that makes for a total of 20 4' T8 lamps, all 6500K color temp in my single car garage. No shortage of light in there!

I'll have to take some pics this afternoon or tonight and post 'em up. The rest of the garage is still a work in progress, but it'll get done over the winter.
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
Those linkable lights look cool and all, but $214 is VERY steep considering you can get the same job done for less than half of that price using regular fixtures from Home Depot, some 1/2" EMT conduit, and spools of 14ga. solid or stranded-core wire.

I just finished re-doing all the lighting in my single car garage, in which I now have four 4' shop lights (2 lamps each) with T8s, two ceiling-mounted 2-lamp 4' T8 fixtures, and 2 8' T8HO fixtures with four 4' lamps each. So that makes for a total of 20 4' T8 lamps, all 6500K color temp in my single car garage. No shortage of light in there!

I'll have to take some pics this afternoon or tonight and post 'em up. The rest of the garage is still a work in progress, but it'll get done over the winter.
Click to expand...

That's kind of what I was thinking. Those linkable lights look really nice, but Home Depot has fixtures for a lot less.

Thanks Porsche Pilot for the link though. I hadn't heard of that site. Looks like they have a lot of cool stuff.

Shiny Lil Detlr, looks like you just did what I'm about to do. Pictures would be great!
 
BobbyG said:
Personally I'd look at the high output 8' fixtures and I like the angle idea as well. If the walls are white then natural light reflection should give you ample light when working on the sides.
Click to expand...

Are you suggesting replacing each 4' fixture with an 8' one? I've got enough room to do that, but I'm wondering if I should just double the amount of 4' fixtures down the road. That way I have the option to place those 4' fixtures maybe on the walls to get more lighting on the sides of the car. An 8' fixture on the front and back sounds like a good idea though. I guess it all depends on how much lighting I can afford right now. If I feel like I need to add more lighting, which I probably will, then I can always go back and add more.
 
The link lights can certainly be done alot cheaper. I was considering them for my application because I dont have to run any new wiring. I have an 8' double ballast flourescent right now but like most garages, it runs in the wrong direction for detailing. I have an inherent fear of electricity and messing with it. Also a fear of Sasquatch but that is a whole different issue. I dont mind working on plumbing...if you screw up you get wet. If I miswire something I die.
 
OK, so.... lots of pics to follow. First up, the front half of the garage showing two surface-mount 4' fixtures and two shop lights:

lights1.JPG


In these pics you can see my electrical sub-panel and electric garage heater, my parts storage rack and tools, as well as the 4' fixtures:

lights2.JPG


lights3.JPG


Now the front half of the garage:

lights4.JPG


None of the lights or outlets run through the ceiling conduit are fully hard-wired. They all converge into a double-gang box where they plug into the outlet above the garage door opener:

lights5.JPG


These shots show views of the garage, but this time with the center lights turned off via a switch in the middle of the ceiling:

lights6.JPG


lights7.JPG


Ultimately, I'm going to build an armature that turns off the center lights automatically when the garage door is opened, and flips them back on when it closes. That's why the switch was placed close to the center track of the door opener:

lights8.JPG


Finally, a few shots with a car parked in the garage so you get some idea how well lit everything is for detailing purposes:

lights9.JPG


lights10.JPG


lights11.JPG


lights12.JPG


lights13.JPG


Just a thought, but if you have or can find someone who has old light fixtures for 4' T12 lamps and is looking to get rid of them, you can retrofit them for use with T8s for about half the cost of a new 4' fixture. I found that I'd have paid about $30 for a new fixture, but buying the ballasts only and retrofitting them into some old fixtures it cost me $15 per fixture.

I'll grant that you have to be somewhat comfortable doing electrical work to put a setup like this together (and I've done a ton of wiring over the last few years), but really it's not that difficult. You just have to use common sense and be thorough about your connections being secured with quality wire nuts and electrical tape. :dblthumb2:
 
Shiny Lil Detlr, thanks a ton! Looks like the garage is well lit and you don't have any problems with getting light to the sides of the car. I'm looking forward to doing this in my garage. I'll be sure to post pictures when I finish.
 
4ft fixtures are a lot cheaper than 8 ftrs.....bulbs cost less also just something to keep in mind...ive got 4ft on one of the shop and 8 ft on the other as the 8 ft quit as in the ballist goes bad whicth is about $30 i can buy two 4ft to replace cheaper....just some food for thought! good luck with project!
 
indianaryan said:
Shiny Lil Detlr, thanks a ton! Looks like the garage is well lit and you don't have any problems with getting light to the sides of the car. I'm looking forward to doing this in my garage. I'll be sure to post pictures when I finish.
Click to expand...
If you need help with wiring those things send me a message i can talk you through it very quickly........
 
I like the thought of adding the dock type lighting in my garage. You can swing them out when needed. Only thing I have found is special order at home depot. About $90 a pc. Anyone find anything like this anywhere else?
 
dad07 said:
4ft fixtures are a lot cheaper than 8 ftrs.....bulbs cost less also just something to keep in mind...ive got 4ft on one of the shop and 8 ft on the other as the 8 ft quit as in the ballist goes bad whicth is about $30 i can buy two 4ft to replace cheaper....just some food for thought! good luck with project!
Click to expand...

Umm... where can you find 4' fixtures cheaper than just the ballast for an 8'? That certainly isn't consistent with what I found when pricing out my lights.

You're right about the price of the lamps themselves, 4' are much cheaper, more readily available, and easier to handle/transport/store. That's why I opted for 8' fixtures that use four 4' lamps instead of two 8' lamps.
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
Umm... where can you find 4' fixtures cheaper than just the ballast for an 8'? That certainly isn't consistent with what I found when pricing out my lights.

You're right about the price of the lamps themselves, 4' are much cheaper, more readily available, and easier to handle/transport/store. That's why I opted for 8' fixtures that use four 4' lamps instead of two 8' lamps.
Click to expand...



its been awile since i have had to replace any ballast so i could be wrong:xyxthumbs: but the bulbs are really cheaper....I buy my bulbs from a electrician freind who services many retail outlets on a maintance program....they replace bulbs 2 times a year and bad bulbs hit the trash and still working bulbs come home..i pay $5 a case of 24....can't buy at lowes for that! and for the most part in buying this way i have 2 cases of bulbs that has lasted for 3 years.....so when a 8ft fails i think you get my drift! I like the 8ft fixture with 4 ft bulbs sounds like a good combo! will have to look into a little more!:dblthumb2:
 
Alright, I found some 48' shop lights at walmart for $12 a piece! I think the only difference is that they don't have the covers. Is there anything else that they might be lacking that the Home Depot lights have? At Home Depot they're $20 with a cover. Both are T8 fixtures. They'll be mounted high enough so that I won't have a problem busting out the bulbs, but do I need the covers to help diffuse the light? Judging by the pictures above, that shouldn't be a problem having white walls. I don't even have all of the shelving covering the walls also. I'm kind of leaning towards the Walmart lights. What do you guys think?
 
You won't need the light to be diffused; it's fine with the open bulbs. I'd say go for it on the Walmart lights as long as you're not in a cold climate area where you will want them to be starting in below-freezing temps. That's the only real disadvantage I've ever found with the el-cheapo fixtures with budget ballasts.

As you can see in the pics from my garage, half of the walls are actually painted black, and it's still got plenty of light. I plan on re-painting them to a light gray where the black is now just to enhance reflectivity, but as long as you've got semi-gloss paint it shouldn't be a problem for you to have plenty of light.
 
The Walmart lights claim to be able to start up at 0 degree temperatures. I'll give them a shot and if they don't work out, I'll return them.

I think I'm not going to bother with installing the lights at an angle too. Looks like you have no problem getting light to the sides of the car, and you have the lights pointed straight down. If I feel like I need more light on the sides of the car I can always go back later and try angling them down towards the car.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top