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I know we’ve dredged up an old thread here but I’ll add to the discussion anyway. I recently finished my 18x20’ garage with drywall and wanted to add good lighting. LEDs are obviously in fashion and that’s what I use everywhere else in my home, but they get expensive for these sorts of applications. I forget the numbers now but I did the math comparing LED strip lights to good old T8 fluorescent fixtures and with my usage the LEDs will never pay for themselves within their life expectancy. I ended up finding some used but fairly new T8 fixtures for nearly free (including bulbs and even a couple extra ballasts). Two strips with three 4’ fixtures each (6 fixtures total) lights the garage very nicely.
Ok, I'll bite too...
We're in the process of building a garage with 12 foot ceilings and spec'd out can lighting with 3,500K (color), 1,200Lumen LED lamps. The flood angle of each fixture will overlap approximately at 4 feet from the floor, enabling full coverage of the space.
I used these. The spots are over the bench and also on a ridge track between the lifts. The larger wall mount lamps are mounted at about 10' above the floor on either side of the shop (see attached elec. plan).
I'm not too happy with the spots (track lights) because they don't have a full 360 degree rotation. That's OK for the ridge lights but not good over the bench.
When I turn all of them on it lights the shop better than daylight. You'll still need portable uplights for working under the cars.
PS: Note the use of skylights (they aren't real obvious on this plan). I used a lot of glass on the south wall over the bench and also 6 skylights in the ceiling. Artificial light isn't really needed much during the day.
That is incredible value and insight into the original subject. Thank you for your input.
Of course, I see this thread is rather old and there have been advancements in lighting in the past few years. I'll contribute a little with what I did in my recently built shop. It has a 12' ceiling and is modest in size, at 24 x 48. For primary lighting I have 10 fluorescent fixtures designed for four 4' tubes. These fixtures were free to me from a friend who was helping his church go through a renovation. Free is good!
I removed the ballasts and rewired to accept LED tubes (very simple). These LEDs, in fact:
There are two banks of four (all controlled by switches on either side of the shop) and then a third bank of just two, closer to the area where daily drivers are parked (less of a work area). The lighting is quite sufficient for most activities. I have a few double-bulb units over benches and desk areas. Again, quite sufficient for most all needs.
As pointed out by "Otto", when working under cars and out of direct lighting, supplemental lighting is needed. I have found this unit to work well:
The beauty of LEDs is that they last an incredibly long time. I expect them to out live me. They draw a fraction of the electricity of more conventional lights, they operate at cooler temperatures (in most cases), and they actually put out more light. What's the down-side? Well, the up-front cost is a bit higher.
The two primary banks of four - at the 'business end'.
These are two double-tube lights. Also converted from fluorescent to LED.
I built a 48 x 38 x 12 four years ago and had to replace my home depot t5 ballasts after three years. Hated them. Just took them all down and replaced them with 8 ft LED fixtures. $350 bucks for a pack of ten eight foot fixtures!
We've finally finished the garage project, with exception to the mini-split which should be coming late next week. The LED can lighting I spec'd greatly exceeded my expectations; it looks like an operating room with all the circuits on.
We've finally finished the garage project, with exception to the mini-split which should be coming late next week. The LED can lighting I spec'd greatly exceeded my expectations; it looks like an operating room with all the circuits on.
Gorgeous. I wish I'd take better pictures of mine, I still don't have the lifts in but maybe you get the idea?
09-05-2018, 10:52 AM
