Lighting Options
 

I really need to setup lighting in my garage. All i'm using right now is the Garage Opener light (2bulbs)....lol.

What is the optimal placement setup for lighting? Florescent is probably what I'm going to get.

Pics of lighting setup would be nice too

Thanks!

I know I run a 4 foot long fluorescent bulb setup (the dual bulb lamp). I have it hanging from the ceiling above the headlights of the vehicle, so when the hood is up, you have light on the engine. I also have a drop light that I use for the hard to see areas.

definitely 48" fluorescent light fixtures, go to a hardware store. theyre $10-$20 per fixture, a couple bucks a bulb, and theyre cheap and efficient to operate. they have hanging kits and everything

I picked up 4- 48" dual light kits at Home Depot over the weekend. They are all-weather ballasts...guaranteed to fire down to 0 degrees. They were $20 each, and came with all hanging hardware. I had to buy the bulbs seperately. I got a 10 pack of bulbs. I got all 4 of them hung, and I'm thinking of maybe going back for 2 more. With all 4 turned on, it's almost like daytime inside the garage now.

I went with 3 8' footers for my garage. Its not really a big garage, but the light output you get from an 8' footer is alot better then the 4 footers

Thanks for the replies..I was thinking of running 4 in a rectangle around the car.
Does any one have pics?

_____ _____

Front of car

_____ _____

Back of car

_____ _____

You can install the roof lights inside the car on the top of the seats, so one can easily on/off the individual lights with LED type lighting.

what?

:laugh:

update:
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs115...._8188978_n.jpg
Yeah..next step is garage organization to fit 2 cars in there!
So I ended up going with 2 8 footers that are tandem 4footers which run on the left and right sides forwards to back and 1 4 footer for infront of the garage door opener. I'll probably add 2 4 footers right above where the garage door sits when it is open for when I have the door closed.
I chose T8 bulbs with a digital ballast. It was 32 degrees last night and it fired right up FTW.

Thanks for the recommendations

I put in 2 8' high output fluorescent fixtures when I moved into my house. Each bulb is 110 watts. 440 watts of fluorescent light is mighty impressive to work under!:D It fills every corner of the garage and when I'm working on my interior I can open the sunroof cover and it's like being outside at noon.

I spy sportbikes :squint:

just throw some flourecents up on the ceiling and you should be good ma man

I wasn't gonna say anything...
:squint: really? you are fired. :matt93se:

Better pics to show lighting.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/...2e9426eee6.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._7371713_n.jpg

what's wrong with that?? :)

Yeah as you can see, I already posted a picture showing the lights. Good job upping your post count though!

I use a few florescent lights. High ceilings are terrible though when you have to replace them =(

More light the better
 

I inherited a large 2 bay garage from my stepfather. I helped him finish the inside when he was still alive and when we installed lighting we thought for the future. We have 20 4' flor fixtures. 8 over each bay and 4 over the middle. We also have 4 8' over each workbench/metal workbench, etc... The fixtures are all plugged in to ceiling receptacles so they can be moved. We also put half of each bay and the middle on different circuits controlled by a switch so that we have 7 circuits and 7 switches including the work areas. Took some time and we didn't do it all at once. Took over a year to get it set up. I am also in the process of adding some wall lighting since my eyes are getting older (not the rest of me just my eyes :p). And I have bought some halogen task lights. May seem overkill to some but I can go to the garage, turn on one switch which basically dimly lights half the garage and get something out of my toolbox, flip another switch which lights the workbench without lighting the entire garage. The only update I plan are higher output bubs in some areas.

Also, put some thought into the power requirements and location for the receptacles as well. I wasn't around for that part and there's one 20a recept in the center of the shop. Grrrrrrr. lol

Good luck.

You want the lights parallel with the car. Install them a few feet wider apart than the car. This really cuts down on shadows.

If you have a 1 car garage 6 four footers should do the trick.
If you have a 2 car garage add 3 more lights.

Hey burnurass, how did you finally get along with your lighting? I have even added more since my last post. Power bill went up as well. Also put in a motion detector alarm with a 500w Halogen and horn hooked to it lmao.

Also JSutter IMHO, I prefer sidelights vertical to the car around 4 ft apart. With parallel lights, you can block the light easier when standing in front of them although fluorescent aren't that bad for doing that especially if you have end to end fixtures. With vertical, you only block them if you are standing directly between the light and car. Then others help fill in the shadows. I also use the higher wattage bulbs. We call them "paint room lights" lol. I learned this trick from a friend who has a paint room. Just my opinion tho. Whatever works for you.

I know it seems like I use too much light, but at my age, I need a lot of light to see clearly. Task lighting helps too. Plus as I mentioned, I have them on several circuits so I only turn on what I need.

BTW, For what its worth, I am considering replacing the fluorescent workbench lights with a string of sockets and using 75-100w Daylight CFL bulbs. Just replaced all of my incandescent basement lights with those and I swear it seems to have doubled the brightness. And for around 1/4 the cost.

GL

I run cheap 48" dual T-8 fixtures in my house garage. I tapped the existing wiring for the in ceiling garage wiring and added outlets 6-8' away on the ceiling to plug the fixtures into. I can run two per bay, right now I only have one installed (not a terribly high priority)

At the shop there are six 1000 watt metal halide fixtures and eight T-12HO fixtures with six 72" bulbs each around the perimeter. I can't remember the last time I used a flash light working on a car there :D

wal mart carries Lights of America fixtures. they are 10 bux a pop, go to Hd and buy T8 bulbs in a 10 pack for 40 bux.

I've had Lights of America fixtures. A better investment would be to just throw your money out the window as you cruise down the highway.