Garage lighting suggestions

**indianaryan** · 11-19-2010, 12:10 PM

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.

**Porsche Pilot** · 11-19-2010, 01:03 PM

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

**BobbyG** · 11-19-2010, 01:04 PM

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.

**RLove** · 11-19-2010, 01:48 PM

Originally Posted by Porsche Pilot

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

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.

**purgeofdarkness** · 11-19-2010, 01:49 PM

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.

**C. Charles Hahn** · 11-19-2010, 02:01 PM

Originally Posted by Porsche Pilot

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

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.

**indianaryan** · 11-19-2010, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by Shiny Lil Detlr

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.

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!

**indianaryan** · 11-19-2010, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by BobbyG

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.

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.

**Porsche Pilot** · 11-19-2010, 07:15 PM

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.

**C. Charles Hahn** · 11-19-2010, 08:00 PM

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:

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:

Now the front half of the garage:

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:

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:

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:

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

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.