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lights in da shop....
- Thread starter jekbrown
- Start date
There's some good info in Greg72's Manspace thread in the garage w.r.t. lighting types, mounting, color temps, etc.
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uao85
1/2 ton status
I wish I had more lights and electrical outlets in my garage. Whoever built the house I am living in was a retard....you can tell he used his garage to park his cars in and not to do any other kind of manly- non-effeminite pro-hetero activity whatsoever. The couple of sets of lights I do have are dual bulb 4' 60watt fluorescents and they do a good job.
Remington
Remington
BKinzey
1/2 ton status
Depends some on you. Do you notice the color of light at all? What other type of lighting is there? Windows? Keep the garage door open?
I'd suggest fluorescent. Cheap and gives out a lot of light over a wide area. 4' tubes because they are plentiful, cheap, and variety.
As for color I'd suggest any color should be fine, unless you previously know what works best for you. Lumens may be a more important factor. That is a measurement of output. The higher the better. They may all be about the same anyway.
One suggestion for a portable corded light is the one that uses 4 13w tubes in a row. Sorry, couldn't find a pic but they are about 10"x12" and approx $40. Lots of light to throw under the truck
Lastly, use protective sleeves or covers. Fluorescents use a very minute amount of mercury in the tubes. If you break a tube try not to huff it. Mercury in your body has a tendency not to leave until long after you are dead.
I'd suggest fluorescent. Cheap and gives out a lot of light over a wide area. 4' tubes because they are plentiful, cheap, and variety.
As for color I'd suggest any color should be fine, unless you previously know what works best for you. Lumens may be a more important factor. That is a measurement of output. The higher the better. They may all be about the same anyway.
One suggestion for a portable corded light is the one that uses 4 13w tubes in a row. Sorry, couldn't find a pic but they are about 10"x12" and approx $40. Lots of light to throw under the truck
Lastly, use protective sleeves or covers. Fluorescents use a very minute amount of mercury in the tubes. If you break a tube try not to huff it. Mercury in your body has a tendency not to leave until long after you are dead.
I have 4 crappy fluorescents in my shop that the PO installed. I have no idea what temp, they are just the standard cheap Lowes 48" bulbs. They work great for the middle of the shop.
The problem is that when I try to work on a bench, they are behind me and I need a work light. This is all to say to be sure when you mount whatever you buy that you mount them near the edge or over your workspace. I am going to have to re-do mine.
The problem is that when I try to work on a bench, they are behind me and I need a work light. This is all to say to be sure when you mount whatever you buy that you mount them near the edge or over your workspace. I am going to have to re-do mine.
3 on the tree
1/2 ton status
My shop is 25 X 32 with a 14' ceiling.
My lights consist of (4) 2-bulb spotlight fixtures, with 100w bulbs. I adjusted them so they pretty much cover the entire floor. Can't use Fluro fixtures, cause the shop is not heated, so -20ss kills the fluros.
You might consider a zone lighting setup, if you are starting from scratch. One switch for general Ohead lighting, and a seperate switch for workbench lighting. No matter what you use, still gonna need droplights for under hood and vehicle. I installed outlets every 6 feet, along one wall of the shop, and will do the same on the other side. I hate having to string a bunch of cords together. Right now, a droplight with a 20' cord gets anywhere I need to see.
My lights consist of (4) 2-bulb spotlight fixtures, with 100w bulbs. I adjusted them so they pretty much cover the entire floor. Can't use Fluro fixtures, cause the shop is not heated, so -20ss kills the fluros.
You might consider a zone lighting setup, if you are starting from scratch. One switch for general Ohead lighting, and a seperate switch for workbench lighting. No matter what you use, still gonna need droplights for under hood and vehicle. I installed outlets every 6 feet, along one wall of the shop, and will do the same on the other side. I hate having to string a bunch of cords together. Right now, a droplight with a 20' cord gets anywhere I need to see.
well, my dad and I went to Lowes and eyeballed their junk. I have a low ceiling (8') and a small shop (20x20-ish)... so I didn't think I would need 8745873 light fixtures. We got 2... and four 3500K fl tubes to go with them. Put 'em up and flicked on the light... and YIKES. So much better than it was. I was reading boxes at Lowes and a standard 60W incandescent throws out 900-ish lumens. Each 32w fl tube is like 2800. 
I also have a seperate -tube fixture hanging over my workbench, to keep the light in front of me when I am working there. Haven't got it wired up yet though. It has a standard cord/plug on it and is gonna go to the strip of outlets on the back of my bench... which hasn't gone in yet. I also have one of those halogen 500w bulb-using lights that has a tripod-like stand with it. I hardly ever need something like this, but I think it'd be perfect for working under my truggy in the dead of winter (no sun light!) to help get light up under stuff. I have one of those work lights that has the sheetmetal cage around the bulb too for similar applications where you have less room. I use a 26w flourescent spiral bulb in it, so vibration/shock doesn't break the filiment like they often do with incandescent bulbs. Works well.
I think what helped the space more than anything during daylight hours is that I took to lame curtains (lace doiley-looking ****... in a garage? wtf?! damn PO) down and cleaned all the windows. MAN, what a difference. Many times, during the day, I don't need to use any electric lights at all. There are 4 windows in the garage door and one good-sized one behind the workbench too. I'm considering going to a glass shop and seeing how much it would cost for 4 more pieces of glass to add to the garage door. Its your standard late 60s garage door, with 16 rectangular panels in it... the 2nd row being glass, the other 3 being cheap fiberboard of some kind. I had originally intended to remove the windows... for security reasons... but I think I can come up with another means of making sure some assclown doesn't smash/grab in my garage.
I also have a seperate -tube fixture hanging over my workbench, to keep the light in front of me when I am working there. Haven't got it wired up yet though. It has a standard cord/plug on it and is gonna go to the strip of outlets on the back of my bench... which hasn't gone in yet. I also have one of those halogen 500w bulb-using lights that has a tripod-like stand with it. I hardly ever need something like this, but I think it'd be perfect for working under my truggy in the dead of winter (no sun light!) to help get light up under stuff. I have one of those work lights that has the sheetmetal cage around the bulb too for similar applications where you have less room. I use a 26w flourescent spiral bulb in it, so vibration/shock doesn't break the filiment like they often do with incandescent bulbs. Works well.
I think what helped the space more than anything during daylight hours is that I took to lame curtains (lace doiley-looking ****... in a garage? wtf?! damn PO) down and cleaned all the windows. MAN, what a difference. Many times, during the day, I don't need to use any electric lights at all. There are 4 windows in the garage door and one good-sized one behind the workbench too. I'm considering going to a glass shop and seeing how much it would cost for 4 more pieces of glass to add to the garage door. Its your standard late 60s garage door, with 16 rectangular panels in it... the 2nd row being glass, the other 3 being cheap fiberboard of some kind. I had originally intended to remove the windows... for security reasons... but I think I can come up with another means of making sure some assclown doesn't smash/grab in my garage.
BKinzey
1/2 ton status
Good point on the ambient temp in your shop. Don't have to worry about that in SoCal
Good point on the ambient temp in your shop. Don't have to worry about that in SoCal
I like it right at 50*. I can wear my leathers all day and not get to hot but the regular lights start to get a little pissy around that temp.
I just picked up two 48" flourescent fixtures for our rear carport. They're advertised as being good down to -18F. It never gets anywhere near that cold here.
Rene
Rene
I thought it got cold everywhere in Canuckistan? 
I'm sure it'll get close to freezing in my garage at night in the winter. Its all good.... doubt it'll get cold enuff to kill the lights, or me. 
I'm sure it'll get close to freezing in my garage at night in the winter. Its all good.... doubt it'll get cold enuff to kill the lights, or me. 
Jimbo*
1/2 ton status
Here's a little pointer for those of you who use 8' single pin flourescent bulbs:
Most of the larger chain stores( lowes, home depot, kmart, etc) replace ALL the bulbs in the store once a year, usually around the first of the year. Find out which electrical contractor gets the job, and approach them to buy some of the old bulbs. Most contractors will amost give them away, as they have some life left in them, but can be a burden to store or dispose of. I have a friend in the business, and can't remember the last time I actually bought a bulb,and I have about thirty light fixtures to keep bulbs in. If I only get a few months use out of a bulb, who cares? It was free!
Jimbo
Most of the larger chain stores( lowes, home depot, kmart, etc) replace ALL the bulbs in the store once a year, usually around the first of the year. Find out which electrical contractor gets the job, and approach them to buy some of the old bulbs. Most contractors will amost give them away, as they have some life left in them, but can be a burden to store or dispose of. I have a friend in the business, and can't remember the last time I actually bought a bulb,and I have about thirty light fixtures to keep bulbs in. If I only get a few months use out of a bulb, who cares? It was free!
Jimbo
I thought it got cold everywhere in Canuckistan?
I'm right on the coast less than 6 hours north of you. Our climate is pretty much identical to Seattle's. A cold snap for us is if it dips into the mid 20's for a couple of days. Normal is about 34-36 overnight and 38-45 during the day. I can recall a half dozen times when it got down into the teens here...but that's pretty rare. These ligths claim to start up fine even at 0 F.
Rene
I used to have nothing but duel bulb 8ft floresent lights in my garage. usually 4, 8 footers but the damn ballast dont last long. Now I just use the 48' crome ones from Home Depot. they do fine, I just need more of them but their fairly cheap.
I had (still have) 4 8' flourecent fixtures( 2 tubes each) they worked alright. I put in outlets for 4 more of these lights but couldn't afford them yet so I got cheap plastic fixtures and used some outdoor floodlights (2 in each outlet) Then switched to a 100 watt CFL and wow what a difference it takes them about 15 min to get bright in the cold( 15* here right now) but they are really nice. For reference my shop is 30x32 with a 13' ceiling
So for cheap and easy, CFLs in a cheap light fixture. I spent about 80 bucks and it made my shop way brighter. Each one of those 8' flourecent deals cost me 50 bucks
So for cheap and easy, CFLs in a cheap light fixture. I spent about 80 bucks and it made my shop way brighter. Each one of those 8' flourecent deals cost me 50 bucks
