I need new lights for my garage. What do you have, and what should I get?

[Peter 315]

Depending on what you plan on doing it in the garage. If it is just parking and storage you might get by with those lights, each one would be covering a 20'X20' area. If you plan on doing any work I think you might be disappointed. I have 8 8' fluorescent fixtures in my 36'X48' stables. Each fixture has 4 T8 bulbs and covers an 12'X18' area.

View attachment 541781

Hi, You have a very nice horse barn:thumbsup:

 

[plowhog]

Thank you all for the comments. I wish I could buy and try various options, but that isn't practical. Yes the horse barn looks terrific!!

I have an existing building almost identical to what I am building now. It is 60x50 and has four 400w metal halide lights. At 36,000 lumens each, thats 144,000 total lumens, or 48 lumens/ft. I've been happy with the lighting-- it seems very bright. But, I have not spent much time working at night in that building, as I expect to do in this building.

The fixtures I am leaning toward are 30,000 lumens per fixture, times 9, for 270,000 lumens total. Or, 75 lumens/ft. I know some people object to looking at lumens per ft but it's the only measurement method I have.

I'm going to look at some design revisions. I might add one or more additional light fixtures above the car lift and work area, or shift one of the rows over so more lights are closer to the area where work is to be done. I appreciate all the comments.

 

[JerryK]

Something else to think about [ i know you have lots of spare time ], is whether you are going to hard wire or plug in the fixtures. All my ceiling lights are plugged into duplex outlets, I have three rows running the length of my 40x80 .... each row of duplexes about 8' apart. Of course, if you go with high output fixtures vs the 4' fixtures, you would not need them that close. But, being an X electrician, I have found that the extra effort is worth it in the long run. It makes changing to a new type of fixture easier at height, and if you have to work on them, you bring them down to the ground and do any repair. Simple to move around as far as specific location as long as the cord reaches, or you can add a short extension. Again, pain in the arse, extra cost up front, but will maybe make you life easier in the long run...

 

[bigtiller]

The fixtures I am leaning toward are 30,000 lumens per fixture, times 9, for 270,000 lumens total. Or, 75 lumens/ft. I know some people object to looking at lumens per ft but it's the only measurement method I have.

I'm going to look at some design revisions. I might add one or more additional light fixtures above the car lift and work area, or shift one of the rows over so more lights are closer to the area where work is to be done. I appreciate all the comments.

My lighting engineer recommended 65 lumens on the floor for my 64 yr, old eyes doing bench/confined work space work. Here is his layout for a 54X75 tin shed. I have 20 four ft. fixtures with 6 T8 bulbs hung from a 15 ft. ceiling.

 

[woodlandfarms]

So each of you fixtures is 6 tubes? My lighting guy says 70 lumens per sq ft.

 

[bigtiller]

So each of you fixtures is 6 tubes? My lighting guy says 70 lumens per sq ft.

65 is an average over the entire floor. Also, my 15' ceiling is also an average. the ceiling is sort of the cathedral type. Over 16' at the center and 14' at the walls, so I call it an average of 15'.

 

[mapper]

An earlier poster asked what the walls were, finished or unfinished. I can attest to the difference it makes, before I finished and painted the walls in my shop it seemed like I could never get enough lighting. It always seemed dim unless I was right under a fixture. The finished walls made a huge difference. I painted them white with cheap paint out of the local hardware stores bargin bin ( brand name paint, just stuff that had been mixed wrong or returned).

 

[plowhog]

The metal building is insulated. Fortunately the insulation is exposed on the interior and it is bright white.

The floor is regular concrete. I considered an epoxy or finished floor, but oh boy was that $$$$$$.

 

[Rustyiron]

I bought 6 of these from Northern Tool for temporary lighting and to see how well they worked.

They are $30 each, 4400 lumen and simply screw in to a normal "porcelain" base. I think I will be using these when it comes around to the permanent lighting. I have them over 1 "bay" that's 38'x20' and it lights it very well, especially considering the low cost.

 

[plowhog]

Rusty, those look interesting and a great bargain. A little shy on output at under 100 lumens/watt, but all in all not bad. The fixture built in with the screw in bulb arrangement is as simple as it gets.

I ordered the high bay fixtures in the link above. They replace six lamp T5 but I believe each one has 4 LED strip lights.