hanging light fixtures in the garage

rfuerst911sc · 11-23-2013, 02:23 AM

The previous owner of our home/detached garage for whatever reason laid the 4 ' flourescent light fixtures in the garage on top of the rafters

. The ceiling in the garage is not finished but will be in the future. So this weekends project is to remove the fixtures and hang them correctly. The ceiling at its peak is about 14 ' and has a 5/12 pitch. There are ten fixtures so two rows of five running end to end front of garage to the back. Depending on my spacing from the center peak I'm thinking of hanging each fixture 24 " to 36 " from the rafters with chain. Does that sound about right ? Surprisingly the light fixtures light the area well with them above the rafters so I can only imagine it will get better as the fixtures get closer to the garage floor/cars/people. So once I get my spacing down just screw hooks into the rafters and hang the fixtures right ? The fixtures plug into switched outlet boxes on the center beam so I have a little bit of flexibility on spacing only constrained by the cord length. Anything else ?

Seahawk · 11-23-2013, 04:59 AM

I chose to go with flush mounted florescent lights when I did my barn work shop. The ceiling height is around 14 ft and they still provide abundant light.

The ceiling is finished and I just felt the flush mounts would be less of a dirt and bug trap.

The other thing I did was wire half of the lights, staggered, to one switch and the rest to another switch. I often only use one bank of lights at a time.

Good luck, sounds like fun

thumbdoctor · thumbdoctor's Garage

Covering the rafters with drywall or sheeting painted white will improve the lighting dramatically. Although more expensive to procure, LED tubes are brilliant and cheap to operate offering a very long life span regardless of temperature and environment.

Rick V · 11-23-2013, 05:30 AM

For the best lighting in a garage you should hang the majority of your lights about eight feet from the floor along the walls angled down slightly. This provides the best lighting for working. Use ceiling fixtures to help fill in any dark spots.
Trust a mechanic on this one. Also the brighter you can make the floor and walls the better light you will have but it is just harder to keep clean

john70t · 07:29 AM

I would vote against florescent lights hanging on chains.
Pull the cord. They wiggle, buzz, dim and flicker, or just stop working.
I bang a broom handle against them constantly then await the shower of glass.

I'd go with LED pockets on separate switches, given the choice.
Cans are plentiful and cheap at the recycle places.
Locate at least 2 lights on the side of any work area to minimize shadows.

Costco has decent 8W LED bulbs, which beats 2 X 32W (64W) T8 florescent any day.
Warm spectrum instead of blue blue blue.

Before everything is closed up.....plan for:
a). general lighting(a couple bulbs to find things),
b). intense light for engine/tools area,
c). work tables
d). ceiling outlets with drop down cords and/or side spotlights for interior
e). 220W cord run for possible compressor/welder locations

rfuerst911sc · 11-23-2013, 02:10 PM

Well I got them hung today and they are better than on top of the rafters. But I'm not sold that florescent is what I will stay with long term. But for now good enough.

VINMAN · 11-23-2013, 02:38 PM

When I built the 24x24 garage at my last house I ran 4ft flours around the whole perimeter of the wall/ceiling juncture. Then 4 rows of double 4s the length of the bays. Was like daylight in there.

J P Stein · 11-24-2013, 01:56 AM

Freebies from a welding shop. Being as they were hung about 25 years before I got em'. they took a bit rework.......but the are still working fine today.
This thread needs a picture........even if the pic is 10 years old.

.....

john70t · 11-24-2013, 05:11 AM

If there's a college nearby, look into repository sales.
Good for office furniture as well.