Lights for garage

[errolt]

Hello I am trying to figure out what is the best way to setup some good lights in my garage to be able to detail my own car as I will be getting a rupes 15 mk2 soon. At the moment I have 3 tubes (3rd one is not in picture but its in the opposite of the front one in picture) I am already going to change the tubes I have to florescent daylight because right now they are snowwhite which will not show any swirls or defects (12000k). What would be the best wattage for the flourescent ? Also was thinking of adding some leds maybe but im open to suggestions on what leds and what colour temp to do them maybe. My car is a light blue colour can add picture if needed. Was searching for a bit and found some led floodlights but im not sure if they are suitable to do them around in the garage and at what watts and colour temp aswell.

[Legacykid]

I got in my garage T8 daylight and like them, and my shop as LED 5k i believe and i like the LED much better. Sale at costco for $20 a set. Sometimes sams club has them as well.

If you want to do Correction type work I suggest getting a work light for the side if you have the room. IMO nothing is better for that.

[Kamakaz1961]

Whatever lighting you decide...get LED Lights! I went with the halogen lights and got ride of them. They generated too much heat and too much wattage. I would trigger the breakers all the time. IMO LED lights aren't as powerful as the Halogen, however, are much cooler to work with and I don't trigger the breakers anymore. I know Amaon.com sells many brands. Just remember, the higher the lumens the better. But do your research. I bought a couple of LED Lights that said they were a certain Lumens and was very dis-appointed. But I like the tri-pod LED lamps...you can move it around to the specific areas you want to detail. Good hunting!

[RaskyR1]

Overhead florecent and T8 style LED's don't show defects well in paint, at least not swirls, micro marring, or holograms. They are pretty good with deeper scratches though.

If you want T8 LED style these will be the best bang for the buck. This thread is full of good info for general shop lighting! I went with the 5K Diva LED fixtures from Bee's lighting.
The Best Light Fixture Ever! - The Garage Journal Board




For detailing and seeing defects I would suggest portable LED lighting, like the fixture Zach shows here.
https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...n-halogen.html

[dcjredline]

6500k LEDs (11) (28x30 standard height walls) in my whole shop and I'm pretty sure if I open my door at night my neighbor can work on his car too.

[Huot25]

Overhead florecent and T8 style LED's don't show defects well in paint, at least not swirls, micro marring, or holograms. They are pretty good with deeper scratches though.

If you want T8 LED style these will be the best bang for the buck. This thread is full of good info for general shop lighting! I went with the 5K Diva LED fixtures from Bee's lighting.
The Best Light Fixture Ever! - The Garage Journal Board




For detailing and seeing defects I would suggest portable LED lighting, like the fixture Zach shows here.
https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...n-halogen.html

Looking for lights for my garage as well. These looking amazing! I have a 26x28 unfinished garage and planning everything out now to finish it later this year. This was exactly what I was looking for, thank you!

[errolt]

So in your opinion I should focus on getting some portable led and not installing something around the garage right? Than how do you see the defects you have on the roof ? Also what wattage should i get the portable led ?

[Spiney]

Just an FYI. I haven't tried this project, it just arrived in my inbox today. Plans for garage lighting using inexpensive LED Strips from eBay.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Inex...m_medium=email


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app

[RaskyR1]

So in your opinion I should focus on getting some portable led and not installing something around the garage right? Than how do you see the defects you have on the roof ? Also what wattage should i get the portable led ?

You can rig the lights up on stands that are capable of lighting the roof, hood, and trunk. I prefer to just use my hand held LED for those areas as I dislike the idea of a light stand hanging over the car.

There is nothing wrong with fixed inspection lights either and it's really about what you want, I just feel you have more flexibility with a mobile unit and you're only needing to light the area you're working on at that time. I also use my garage for more than just detailing too. I wanted good uniform overhead lighting that was efficient and offered a good amount of light for the money, seeing defects wasn't important to me with the lighting I chose as it was about lighting the room. If you checked out that thread and the spread sheet in it you will see that each fixtures I went with offer 4424 lumens, 36W, 123 Lumens per Watt, 121 Lumens per $1. I also based my layout on some of the professional layouts in this thread so that the lighting if fairly evenly distributed throughout the whole garage. If you go with LED lights that are good for inspection (flood lights) I believe you will have a lot more shadows and lower lit areas, though I'm no lighting expert. If you decide to go this route I would maybe consider mix in some fixture like I have or more florescent and run them on a separate switch/circuit so that you can turn each style on/off if you like. I've seen a lot of the guys in the UK with some very elaborate lighting set ups so check out Detailing World too.

FYI, Most people are using lights in the 4000k to 6500k range, 12000k is crazy high and I would definitely consider swapping those bulbs out. Daylight is between 5000k and 6500k with 6500k being a little blueish.

[errolt]

thx im just searching on ebay for that diy par38 stand im gonna go with that already purchased the stand looking for the par38 but its hard finding the right ones for me