Lets see your garage lighting!

[Carrerax]

Ok, it is time for me to add lights in the garage. Right now there are only 2 regular lights and the 2 from the openers (3 car, 2 door) I have been wanting to do it for a long time and am finally going to finally epoxy the floor, change the shelving and add lights. I spent the last 3 years restoring my 911 by basically always holding a shop light (due to the fact that the garage is so dark) and it is time for a change. Yes I know, I should have done it BEFORE I did the car......

Here is my new/old project.....Lilly

I should have done this years ago but I just had too many projects plus a dead 911 in the way. That said, Im finally going to do it. The garage is a decent sized 3 car. I dont want to go overboard but I want to have good lighting. I have been looking at all the options and it is overwhelming. So far, I know I want surface mount and I thiink I want the smaller T8 bulbs. Im not sure how mant I need. Im thinking 3 of the 8' long double tube ones. Anyway, please post some picts of what you have done! Also, I am always in the garage so I want to do it right the first time. Thanks!

[billybek]

I installed five 8' two strip florescent lights in my garage.
Not the greatest light to work by, but not too bad.
I need to re lamp them and change the ballasts to the cold start electronic type. That might help.
A combination of incandescent and florescent would probably be better.

[Seahawk]

I followed your "Lily" build, so belated congratulations!

The best website I have found for really comprehensive discussions on garages, from Taj Garages to one car condo garages, tools, storage, lighting, etc., is the Garage Journal. There are a few folks from this board that post frequently there.

The link below is to a post I made concerning a garage I built in an old tobacco barn. There are some lightening pics.

Just hit the Garage tab and you'll get to the list of discussion areas.

Good luck!

Tobacco Barn Shop - The Garage Journal Board

[Carrerax]

Bill, so my thoughts of three 8' 2 bulb units probably isnt sufficient? How big is your garage?

Paul, thanks. It was/is fun restoring Lilly. She is getting corner balanced and aligned right now. when she is back Ill finish the thread with a ton of completed pictures. I will go take a look at your thread on garage journal! Thanks for the link.

[Bill Verburg]

I've got a bunch of 4' twin bulb fluorescents and halogen spots at selected areas

One of the best things I did was to swap in all 6500º daylight tubes

[Carrerax]

Originally Posted by Bill Verburg

I've got a bunch of 4' twin bulb fluorescents and halogen spots at selected areas

One of the best things I did was to swap in all 6500º daylight tubes

Bill, do you think one 4' twin with the 6500 bulbs would be enough for each of the 3 bays or 2 in a row (end to end) for 8'? Basically, will a 4' one give enough light (placed in the same direction as a car would sit) or do I need 2?

On another note, I LOVE your 993! I miss mine so much. I may actually sell Lilly to get another 993 C2S.

[billybek]

My garage is 24x24.
I offset a double door off to one side to allow for bench space on one side.
That side I have two strips running 16 of the 24 feet mounted end to end.
At the front I have two 8 footers but I overlapped them to allow for the unit heater in the corner. There is about 2 feet of overlap on these.
On the parking side there is a single 8 foot strip.
I think that when the bench space is better set up I can better light that area.
The light isn't bad when they come up to temperature, but they could be better.
My reading glasses don't seem to work well when it is dark!

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by Carrerax

Bill, do you think one 4' twin with the 6500 bulbs would be enough for each of the 3 bays or 2 in a row (end to end) for 8'? Basically, will a 4' one give enough light (placed in the same direction as a car would sit) or do I need 2?

On another note, I LOVE your 993! I miss mine so much. I may actually sell Lilly to get another 993 C2S.

I mounted 3x 4' fixtures across the back of the 2 1/2 car garage so that when the car is nose in the trunk area of a 911 is well lit, for a front engine car the engine compartment is lit, then another 4' fixture down the center aisle. This is adequate though you could easily fit another at both areas.

The work benches and storage area are lit by halogen spots & floods, but if I did it again 6500º fluorescents would have been good there too.

[Carrerax]

So you only have a total of 4-4' double tube fixtures right? Are they the T8 ones?

[Mark Henry]

I have 16 old school 8 footers but I got them for free.

[Carrerax]

Mark....not sure I can quite fit 16 in my garage

[PorscheGAL]

I went away from double 4 x 8' tubes and went with 4 x 200 watt bulbs. These lights can go to 300, but I find the 200 watt to be plenty. My ceiling is higher than yours so it may not be a good choice for you. These are easier to change for me than the tubes were. Perhaps it helps and excuse the mess in the garage; it is constantly used for projects.

[Carrerax]

what a nice garage Stephanie! I wish my ceilings were that high!

[GH85Carrera]

I have 5 of the double bulb 8 foot florescent tubes. When it is real cold they make some noise and take a while to warm up and stop flickering. My garage is part of the house so it never gets below 45 and the heater will warm it up in short order. I would still like more light.

[Carrerax]

How big is your garage glen? Are they the T8 or the T12 bulbs?

[johnsjmc]

I use 4'x2 strips and have 3 of them running front to rear down each bay. They are dim in winter weather but the garage is heated with a gas ceiling hung unit heater. Leave the incandescent bulbs installed on a second switch for light when you are only there for a few minutes.

[GH85Carrera]

Actually my garage is a 3 car garage, but all those lights are over my main work bay. The other parts of the garage just have one 4 ft dual florescent light each. Those spots are just for parking.

I also have three ceiling fans.



I just took this photo with my cell phone. This is my main work bay, and where I park my daily driver El Camino. As you can see I have one set of lights close to the garage door and it is mostly useless if the door is up. I have a heated & air conditioned garage so I spend a lot of time out there with the door down.

I have one of the pair of lights right above my work bench, and one pair of lights near the rear which is great for the 911. The other two pairs of the lights are along each side of the car. That is great for washing or waxing the cars. The lights right above the car are on a separate switch and can be turned off for day to day parking. In my opinion is is hard to have too much light in the garage.

I want to add at least one more pair of lights above the car.

[Carrerax]

Thanks Glen. That is a big help. Are they the newer T8 or the T12?

[widebody911]

[DanielDudley]

I have six sockets in my main garage ceiling. I recently screwed a twin bulb receptacle into each one, and switched from incandescent bulbs to compact florescent.

I doubled my light out put. In your case, you could screw in four 150 watt equivalent bulbs and triple your light out put in about an hour, including the run to the hardware store.