Better garage lighting

[coz]

questions for any electricians, electrical engineers, lighting experts, or smart people in general.
i use a few four foot flourescent shop lights in my garage in the spyder section. i'm wondering if switching them out to c f l 's is worth doing. i'd like more and better light. the older i get, the worse i see. any thoughts, ideas or suggestions? :popcorn:

[Frank G]

From the picture of your garage it is a "dark man cave" meaning the ceiling, walls (stuff on the walls), and floor are dark and absorb a lot of light. This also indicates there is little light reflected back. This is a hard to light area regardless of the light source. Light diffusion along with light density will result in comfortable working conditions, this along with freshly painted walls, floor and ceiling is the real solution. My 2 cents By the way, my garage is not much better. :yikes: Tons of junk

[SPYD1]

I'm not sure what you have but I would suggest fluorescent light with electronic ballasts. These lights will operate better in all temperatures. The amount of light depends on your area. I compliment them with portable work lights when working on the Spyder. There are other options but this is the most economical.

[Chupaca]

Oh that is the problem. Seems to me that you do not have enough flouresents. Agreed some light colors would help allot. When I painted the floor and flaked it there was a dramatic change..drop lights fill in the missing areas..!!:dontknow:

[Blue Star]

questions for any electricians, electrical engineers, lighting experts, or smart people in general.
i use a few four foot flourescent shop lights in my garage in the spyder section. i'm wondering if switching them out to c f l 's is worth doing. i'd like more and better light. the older i get, the worse i see. any thoughts, ideas or suggestions? :popcorn:

The higher the fixture (bulbs) the more area is lit up. Most four foot florescent bulbs are 40 watts (some 34), so check out the lumen output. That is the measurement of how bright the bulb is. I would check into the type of bulbs you have. You do not want warm white bulbs, as the light output is lower. I would look into what is called "daylight" or "kitchen and bath" bulbs. The light out put is higher, and should help.

[NancysToy]

Oh that is the problem. Seems to me that you do not have enough flouresents. Agreed some light colors would help allot. When I painted the floor and flaked it there was a dramatic change..drop lights fill in the missing areas..!!:dontknow:
:agree: I have about one 4' duplex fixture per 75 sq. ft of floor area. That is just adequate. One per 50 sq. ft would be better for these old eyes. I use LED trouble lights to fill in as needed, and some additional spots at the workbench. If your garage is cold, you will want cold-start fixtures. If the fixtures have been there a long while, replacing the bulbs will add a lot of light, they fade as they age. Totally agree wil painting the walls and ceiling a light color if you can. Cheaper than lights and will make an amazing difference, especially the ceiling. If you don't have a ceiling/attic, think about adding one to reflect the light (and provide valuable storage.

[coz]

garage is detached two car, two by six walls packed with tonnage. partial ceiling, for storage above and plain concrete floor. it is pretty dark and light absorbing.

[cjackg]

I was having similar issues with poor lighting in the garage. First I added a 2nd duplex overhead light and changed to 40 watt bulbs... Still was not bright enough in the main work area. I decided to try one of the smaller flourescent lights from Home Depot right over the main area. It puts out a surprising amount of light and made a noticeable improvement. You can mount them on the ceiling, wall, or just about anywhere and angle-focus them as needed. see pics below.

64543 64544

[arntufun]

I also was having the same issue until I clamped (Clamp not shown in photo) 3 of these bad boys around my garage ceiling facing towards the center. These things will light up outerspace and only cost $15.00 at Home depot/lowes. These will put out more light than any flouresent fixture and will blind you they are so bright. No more dim flouresent lighting here, you have to get up with the times and use Halogen.

Side note, at 250 watts per unit, those "go green" people will have a corinary.


64545

[jthornton]

With fluorescents it is not about wattage but color index. I used 6500 Kelvin bulbs in my Walmart $10 fixtures and wired them up to have 1, 2, 3, or 4 per cluster on.

http://gnipsel.com/shop/inside/images/inside-19.jpg

John

[cjackg]

I also was having the same issue until I clamped (Clamp not shown in photo) 3 of these bad boys around my garage ceiling facing towards the center. These things will light up outerspace and only cost $15.00 at Home depot/lowes. These will put out more light than any flouresent fixture and will blind you they are so bright. No more dim flouresent lighting here, you have to get up with the times and use Halogen.

Side note, at 250 watts per unit, those "go green" people will have a corinary.


64545

Does that give a NY suntan too? :roflblack::clap::roflblack:

[arntufun]

Does that give a NY suntan too? :roflblack::clap::roflblack:






You tell me !!!!!! :roflblack:
:roflblack:


64546

[otter28169]

From the picture of your garage it is a "dark man cave" meaning the ceiling, walls (stuff on the walls), and floor are dark and absorb a lot of light. This also indicates there is little light reflected back. This is a hard to light area regardless of the light source. Light diffusion along with light density will result in comfortable working conditions, this along with freshly painted walls, floor and ceiling is the real solution. My 2 cents By the way, my garage is not much better. :yikes: Tons of junk

You do have a point. My shop has sheetrock walls painted white and fluorescent lights, and it is very bright. I never thought about it until you mentioned it.

My suggestion, You need a new, larger, shop with more tools and lights :thumbup::roflblack:

[pro10is]

The best lighting for a garage will provide the most light for the least cost. If you're going to pick out new fixtures then the best choice would be the new T5 fluorescent bulbs with electronic ballasts. The T5 tubes provide the maximum light for the money (both in cost of fixtures and bulbs, and ongoing cost of electricity) and the electronic ballasts provide operational efficiency, low noise, low temperature operation (important for a garage) and long life. These fixtures are readily available at home centers such as Home Depot and Lowes. Don't be tempted to buy the older style T12 bulbs, they're scheduled to be phased out in the coming years due to their inefficiency.

The other great option is LED lighting. Overhead LED fixtures are currently expensive to purchase but if you do the math they're going to be less expensive in the long run. That's because the bulbs can last for ten years or more and they use the least amount of electricity. If you're clever you can get them on the cheap. Recently my local Costco was selling $19 LED bulbs for $5 with instant rebate. I purchased six of them and used inexpensive track light fixtures to ceiling mount them. The result is a very low cost, long life, high light output fixture that will work in any temperature.

[Rayelljay]

Lighting a work area can be a bear. I have worked with lighting problems for the last few years and have come up with a few guidelines. Illumination follows the old inverse square law which, simply stated, says that if you double the distance between the light and the area to be illuminated the resultant illumination level falls to 1/4 of the intensity you had before. Sorry Arntu, but those lights generate a lotta heat don't they. Overhead lights are good for general illumination but, as Nancy said, smaller, positionable LED's are a better way to go. I have an 8X12 Spyderhaus with four fluorescent floods for overall illumination. I have a reflective 4x2 drip pan I put underneath Borys when I'm wrenching to reflect light back up and low voltage magnetic LED light strips that I can position wherever I need them....nothing worse than working in your own shadow. Check out local hobby stores or Micromark.com for strips of LED lights. I mounted a 3-light LED strip right next to the coolant reservoir for checking the level.

[McGone]

questions for any electricians, electrical engineers, lighting experts, or smart people in general.
i use a few four foot flourescent shop lights in my garage in the spyder section. i'm wondering if switching them out to c f l 's is worth doing. i'd like more and better light. the older i get, the worse i see. any thoughts, ideas or suggestions? :popcorn:

The compact fluorescent will not give you more light per watt than the 4' lamps. Compact fluorescent are is the 60-70 lumens per watt and 4' 32 watt T8 lamps are in the 92-96 lumens per watt. The lamps are rated in lumen output. The best lamps and lights are usually sold by electrical distributors, not home stores. The home stores sell a low cost shop lamp that is very poor in color rendition and lamp life. T8 extended performance lamps have 36,000 hour life and better color rendering. I would recommend 4100K (cool white) lamps with a color rendering >75 and electronic ballast. If the garage is unheated then the fluorescent lamps will take 10-15 minutes to come to full brightness. http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/signaturepics/sigpic7177_48.gif Most of the light comes off the 4' side of lamp so adding lights perpendicular to the existing could be the solution.

LED lights are in the 30-60 lumens per watt range and are rated 50,000 hour life. The 250 watt halagon quart lamp is about 20 lumens per watt and 2,000 hour life. These types have applications where you need small aimable lights.

[TicketBait]

luckily I don't do too much in my "Man Cave" I can't even locate the light switch

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e240/TicketBait/smileys/SPYDER%20RTS/IMG_1889_zpse485f868.jpg

[Bob Denman]

64566 :shocked:

[coz]

The best lighting for a garage will provide the most light for the least cost. If you're going to pick out new fixtures then the best choice would be the new T5 fluorescent bulbs with digital ballasts. The T5 tubes provide the maximum light for the money (both in cost of fixtures and bulbs, and ongoing cost of electricity) and the digital ballasts provide operational efficiency, low noise, low temperature operation (important for a garage) and long life. These fixtures are readily available at home centers such as Home Depot and Lowes. Don't be tempted to buy the older style T12 bulbs, they're scheduled to be phased out in the coming years due to their inefficiency.

The other great option is LED lighting. Overhead LED fixtures are currently expensive to purchase but if you do the math they're going to be less expensive in the long run. That's because the bulbs can last for ten years or more and they use the least amount of electricity. If you're clever you can get them on the cheap. Recently my local Costco was selling $19 LED bulbs for $5 with instant rebate. I purchased six of them and used inexpensive track light fixtures to ceiling mount them. The result is a very low cost, long life, high light output fixture that will work in any temperature.
are the t 5 tubes the thinner one's? do they fit in older fixtures? i could add two fixtures and upgrade the bulbs. some white ceiling is do-able too. that should help alot

[Frank G]

are the t 5 tubes the thinner one's? do they fit in older fixtures? i could add two fixtures and upgrade the bulbs. some white ceiling is do-able too. that should help alot

The T-5's will not fit in the old fixtures. The T-5,s are the thinner ones.

[coz]

will T8 bulbs work in older T12 fixtures? they seem to be the highest output, lumen -wise.

[NancysToy]

I'd look at adding fixtures rather than trying to maximize the output of the existing ones. Remember that the available light falls off as the square of the distance away. More fixtures over a wider area is better than stronger fixtures at one point. Recommended standards for workshops range from 56 lumens (~4 watts) per sq. ft for brightly colored walls and ceilings to 84 lumens (~6 watts) per sq. ft. for dark colored walls/ceilings. Look at your fixtures and go from there...and remember that the light output drops as the bulbs age.

[coz]

I'd look at adding fixtures rather than trying to maximize the output of the existing ones. Remember that the available light falls off as the square of the distance away. More fixtures over a wider area is better than stronger fixtures at one point. Recommended standards for workshops range from 56 lumens (~4 watts) per sq. ft for brightly colored walls and ceilings to 84 lumens (~6 watts) per sq. ft. for dark colored walls/ceilings. Look at your fixtures and go from there...and remember that the light output drops as the bulbs age.
i think i'm going to add two 4 ' fixtures, that will be front, rear, left side, right side. also some kind of white ceiling. now, what kind of bulbs to use ?

[tobor9]

In my 900sqft workshop I have 4 twin lamp 8' florescent lights,plenty of light and I find the 8' tubes are easier to change with just one pin on each end there is no twisting to get them in or out.

[pro10is]

i think i'm going to add two 4 ' fixtures, that will be front, rear, left side, right side. also some kind of white ceiling. now, what kind of bulbs to use ?

Use T5 or T8 florescent bulbs. Do not use T12 bulbs or your fixtures will soon be obsolete. Make certain your new fixtures use electronic ballasts and not magnetic ballasts.

Consider LED lamps as well, they're more expensive up front but will save you money in the long run.

[coz]

Use T5 or T8 florescent bulbs. Do not use T12 bulbs or your fixtures will soon be obsolete. Make certain your new fixtures use electronic ballasts and not magnetic ballasts.

Consider LED lamps as well, they're more expensive up front but will save you money in the long run.
i'm going to add two fixtures, one of which i have, one i will buy. i'll see how they do, and probably upgrade the bulbs to T8 's. i will add some white ceiling too.:thumbup: thanks to all for the help, and ideas.:bowdown:

[coz]

i switched out one pair of the old T 12 flourecent bulbs for two T 8 6500 k bulbs. the difference is amazing.
i really wasn't expecting that. easily 50 % brighter. i also sprayed the reflectors with chrome ( silver ) paint.
i was sceptical, but now i believe. much more light for less power. i recomend everybody do this:thumbup: at 8 bucks a pair, it's money well spent.