Additional garage lighting......thoughts?

[Richard]

The light fixture in the garage is of course.....in the center of the garage.

Just yesterday, we assembled some mega shelving that the wife bought and of course, she wants it in the middle of the garage (which is more of a storage room for stuff rather than auto's)

This thing essentially blocks all of the direct radiating light to the rest of the room making the whole place darker.

I'm looking at ideas. First is add some shop lights and run them down the 'isles' between this shelving and the room.... they'd hang below the ceiling rafters so I got to thinking, there might be something more suited to fit BETWEEN the rafters that I could still let hang down 1-3 inches which would still tuck it away better than a hanging shop light.

I'd probably need 4 minimum of them to do what I want (verses probably two 4' shop lights although I was thinking on doubling them so each side would have 8' of lighting)

So far, can't find anything that rings my bell.....thought I'd reach out here for wider comments.

 

[Richard]

Don't expect this to matter much but, this is all switched at the wall.

 

[Eagle1]

The cheap disposable LED lights are low current and can daisy chain. I've used a bunch of the cheapest ones on Amazon and they have lasted for years so far. I've used self contained 4' lights and modified some florescent fixtures to use LED tubes. Not pretty but functional and easy to install and replace if needed.

 

[KennyG]

The LED lights are the way to go. I've had pretty good luck with the Barrina V-Shaped shop lights from Amazon. I tried a few from Harbor Freight when they were on sale and they were badly made and failed quickly.

 

[scootr]

Long lasting quality high output LED 4 ft fixtures are worth extra the cost, They come with hangars but i have I screwed these directly to the ceiling too.

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[Chewwy]

It would not be that hard to add wooden sections between the rafters and spacing them to give the height you are seeking. Then mount the fixtures to the spacers parralel to the rafters.

 

[ericm979]

I put up 10 or so 4' LED lights in my 750sq ft garage. They're running off the existing 15a light circuit with plenty of amps to spare.

Some are LED replacements for flourescent tubes and some were new fixtures made for LED tubes. I got the fixtures from Costco. The ones I got can be daisy chained, which is common and makes wiring them up easier.

 

[ponytug]

The light fixture in the garage is of course.....in the center of the garage.

Just yesterday, we assembled some mega shelving that the wife bought and of course, she wants it in the middle of the garage (which is more of a storage room for stuff rather than auto's)

This thing essentially blocks all of the direct radiating light to the rest of the room making the whole place darker.

I'm looking at ideas. First is add some shop lights and run them down the 'isles' between this shelving and the room.... they'd hang below the ceiling rafters so I got to thinking, there might be something more suited to fit BETWEEN the rafters that I could still let hang down 1-3 inches which would still tuck it away better than a hanging shop light.

I'd probably need 4 minimum of them to do what I want (verses probably two 4' shop lights although I was thinking on doubling them so each side would have 8' of lighting)

So far, can't find anything that rings my bell.....thought I'd reach out here for wider comments.

I used some LED troffer panels (drop ceiling) from Home Depot, but they are easily suspended. Lots of light and very low cost to run.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/2-ft-x-...eiling-Light-4-Pieces-panel-4pack-B/321758847



All the best,

Peter

 

[groundcover]

Sounds like the bigger issue here is 'girl creep' into the garage !
Time to use it to your advantage to build a pole barn !

 

[jaxs]

Sounds like the bigger issue here is 'girl creep' into the garage !
Time to use it to your advantage to build a pole barn !

Brilliant !
I use 4' led tubes. Painting ceilings,rafters and walls white helps regardless of type lighting.

 

[reb]

There are foldable LED lights that would open up (screw into the same socket that your existing light uses and maybe give you all the light you need.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Brilliant !
I use 4' led tubes. Painting ceilings,rafters and walls white helps regardless of type lighting.

And if you don't mind seeing imperfections in walls or ceiling using a gloss or semi gloss (vs flat) paint helps with reflecting light.

 

[Richard]

Wife wants to build a detached garage so not sure where that's going.

Meanwhile, I know I need more light in here, this shelving unit (two of them actually) just shadow everything else in there since they're so tall.

I'll look at the local stores & see what they have.

What temp would be best? I'm thinking soft/warm verses cool temp (Kelvin).

 

[Richard]

There are foldable LED lights that would open up (screw into the same socket that your existing light uses and maybe give you all the light you need.

yeah, that's what we had. It was great.....while it lasted. I literally pulled it out yesterday and tossed into trash. Only one panel remained lit. The other two had slowly withered away and were now useless. Even so....that SAME light brand new, in the same fixture would still be a problem. I now need light to the sides as we have two isles down the garage and this monster (essentially 8x8) shelving unit. Two of them side by side (4x8 each) and probably near 8' tall (we have 9' ceilings)

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Color temperature performance can be very subjective based on the color of surrounding objects, walls, and items in storage racks.
With the 9' ceiling and 8' height of the storage racks I would recommend a something in the 4000K range for brightness and a fixture without reflectors, so the light gets distributed over the top of your storage rack. That way it doesn't cast any shadows.
The fixture that @ponytug posted canbe installed very close to the ceiling height so there is better distribution of light up high.

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I also like the "linkable" fixtures for aplications like this.

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[Yander]

As @Eagle1 mentioned LED shop lights are very bright and pretty cheap. Here is what I have been using for several years. They will also double as a grow light because of their specs. Very versatile. They will light up your garage like an air strip.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BPN72816/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[Richard]

Went to the Home Depot. Bought two 4' shop lights... LED and adjustable. Hard wired. I think I'll take the box that's up there and run two lines, one on each side. If that's enough, I'll be done. If not, I'll buy two more and add them to the circuit. If THAT doesn't do it then I'll buy a flashlight!

 

[nyone]

The LED lights are the way to go. I've had pretty good luck with the Barrina V-Shaped shop lights from Amazon. I tried a few from Harbor Freight when they were on sale and they were badly made and failed quickly.

I have the same Barrina brand in my garage but 4ft chainable lights for about 5yrs.

 

[JDSimmons]

I swapped out my old shop lights with LED panels I got from seuslighting.com and the difference is night and day. Super easy to install and way brighter, plus they're cheaper to run. I spaced them about 4 feet apart and there's no more dark spots anywhere in the garage. Made working on my tractor a lot easier.

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

I bought a couple of boxes of 4' LED lights from Amazon for ~$90 but the real help was buying a spool of cord that fit these "Vampire" connectors. That made hanging the lights the toughest part of the job.