Good advise

 

Beware of Garage Journal, you'll soon be asking the wife if it's okay to double the size of your garage footprint... I have concluded after many visits, I need 1200sqft living space, 4000 sqft auto workshop, 12ft ceilings, lift, car wash, wood shop, disco tech, in the garage... you'll know your hooked, when you start studying the "how to" pour slab foundations... You've been warned....

 

So should I go with T8's or LED. Strips or cans?

 

Well done, Matthew. LOL right now.

As my French buddy likes to say, "Thanks to God for the YouTube." (With accent, of course)

--Brian

 

nope, T5HO
brief description : http://www.warehouse-lighting.com/ar...g-Fixture.aspx

for a garage that's roughly 650sq feet, putting one T5HO in each quadrant should more than enough.

 

T8's or T5HO (thanks to EMBPilot -- I wasn't aware of T5HO). To reach workshop level of brightness requires a lot of can lights. I was targeting 75-100 lumens per sq. ft of garage space (don't recall exactly where I got that spec, but I think it was the standard for office work areas or something like that). I really like the light level, although my family teases me that you could perform surgery in there.

LEDs will run cooler than fluorescents, which matters more if you have insulated your garage well but don't have AC. T8 LEDs either weren't available or I wasn't aware of them when I did mine a few years ago. I have a detailed writeup here (http://twofourthsfull.blogspot.com/2...-lighting.html).

 

OP sdm 100 -
When using fluorescent tubes, such as T8's, etc., It's best to source fluorescents with a high CRI spec., say 98 CRI and 5000 Kelvin, etc. Here's a Phillips brand made 48" or 96" T8 32w, etc., with a CRI of 98. One of the highest CRI spec's in the business.

Philips 209056 F32T8/TL950 Straight T8 Fluorescent Tube - try a Google, Bing, Yahoo search.

Here's another high CRI spec., manufacture: Litetronics L-359 F32T*CB50 has a 90 CRI and slightly raised lumens of 2900 (usable) vs the Phillips TL950 which is spec'd at 2000 lumens w/98 CRI ..

Fluorescents with a demonstrate able high CRI spec. cost money as the phosphors used are high grade. There are several brands offering high CRI spec's .. the Philips model suggested has served me well. Great color rendition .. High spec CRI bulbs are Stevie Wonder noticeable over standard CRI 70 - 80 range Fluorescents bulbs.