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we have three car garage with three four foot and four bulb fluorescent fixtures across front [hood end] of garage . when i get between or behind cars when ''detailing'' them i have no where near enough light . i bought a CHEAP portable light but it is a pain and not very satisfactory . i've been reading about 4 foot long l e d replacements for ''t4 , t5 , t8 , and t12 '' bulbs but these terms mean nothing to me . i'd like to brighten the whole garage by adding and/or replacing present fixtures [ probably installed in late 1990's if that's any help ] or their bulbs . i might spend several hundred dollars to do this but certainly not approaching a thousand , this just to give some parameters to help you give me realistic help as you usually do [thanks ] . . . . peace . . . ps. if there was more appropriate area for this thread move it please .
My garage is a 3+ with a 10Ft ceiling. What I have is 6 each 8FT double tube florescent fixtures. Great light for detailing or doing just about anything else. I understand that the new LED lights are the way to go. If you have a commercial lighting shop near you they could advise on the best way to light the space for the least amount of investment. Another thing to consider is painting the ceiling and 3 Ft down the walls a bright white to reflect the light.
I recently replaced some of my old t12 4 foot bulbs with the new LED bulbs. Made a world of difference. One bulb is brighter that two so I replace both for additonal light. they are expensive but are much brighter.
I replaced my old T8 fluorescent fixtures with 8 four foot LEDs. They were on sale at Costco ---$32/each. It's much brighter now in my 2-car garage. You'll still need some side lighting for detailing work. Check out Garage Journal.com---they have lots of good advice on electrical/lighting.
I have 4 twin lamp fixtures that I replaced half with the brightest 4 ft LED replacements available. They were about $38 a tube, but prices are down a little this year. They are a tremendous improvement. depending on how much detail you want to see under artifical light, you might consider the tubes with the frosted covering rather than the clear lens to diffuse the light more. I can see the 100 leds in a row in the car's hood.
Second the ones you have are probably running the wrong way.
What you probably have is this:
and what you need is more like this:
In both images the doors are raised and don't block the lights. But if you run them like the first image and put more further back, garage doors will block part of the light. This way they are also on either side of the car you are detailing and where you are standing most of the time. The light will spread a lot better.
And third if you have t12 bulbs/fixtures, you can replace the old magnetic ballasts with
from amazon for about $10 each and then you can use the more efficient t8 bulbs. They are extremely easy to wire and will pay for themselves in electricity savings. Also much cheaper than new fixtures and the thinner, brighter t8 bulbs will fit the t12 fixture.
At the time I converted mine t8 made the most sense because I had 17 fixtures. T5 or LED might make more sense if you are purchasing new fixtures.
I am having a garage built next to where our new house is being built. It will be mostly used as a work shop.
32 x 32 with 10 feet ceilings and it will have 5 rows of 5, 4 foot double bulb fixtures. Told the builder if the cost is similar he could sub out LED in place of fluorescent fixtures.
One of our current 2 car garage stalls (roughly 20 x 22 feet) has 14 similar lights on the ceiling and it isn't to bright.
Go overkill on the lights and outlets, you don't have to use them all at the same time.
estimate , $1200+ to add four lights , i think it was $250 to convert other three fixtures to t-8 from t-12 , and $135 to replace two halogen bulbs in ceiling of living room with led bulbs . so i'm now looking for a portable led light for under a $100 to aid me in detailing her three cars . by the way , drove her 2000 today and checked mileage when i was putting it away , about 4100 miles put on it in the nine years we have owned it . . . . peace
i converted the three t12 to t8 yesterday and the improvement in the lighting is incredible , i'm very glad i did it . cost just under $102 for ballasts , bulbs , and wire nuts . . . peace
I am in the middle of my garage renovation. I looked up several threads on garage journal and laid out my lighting based on other's recommendations. I was going to run 2-lamp t-8 fixtures, but ended up finding a really good deal on these 3-lamp t-8 fixtures at the big orange box store. They are phasing these particular lights out of stock in the stores and will only be sold online in the future. They are normally $40, but if you can find them in the stores they are selling for $15. My lighting came in WAY under budget, which rarely ever happens. I just got the lights wired up last night, the lack of light will no longer be a problem! Please ignore the rest of the garage, as I said this is a work in progress.
I am in the middle of my garage renovation. I looked up several threads on garage journal and laid out my lighting based on other's recommendations. I was going to run 2-lamp t-8 fixtures, but ended up finding a really good deal on these 3-lamp t-8 fixtures at the big orange box store. They are phasing these particular lights out of stock in the stores and will only be sold online in the future. They are normally $40, but if you can find them in the stores they are selling for $15. My lighting came in WAY under budget, which rarely ever happens. I just got the lights wired up last night, the lack of light will no longer be a problem! Please ignore the rest of the garage, as I said this is a work in progress.
I like your garage and the color of Chevrolet very much. the price of the garage light is very reasonable. I have a very similar garage as you have, and I am think of the total wattage required for the LED tubes.
I have a mixture of the old style eight-foot lights and the newer T-12 (I think) fixtures. I'm thinking of switching all of them to LEDs. Does anyone have a suggestion on a particular brand of fixture or type?
two things to look at with led is
1- the lumens - the higher the lumens the brighter the light.
2 - k rating - this is the light spektrum a low k at say 3000k will be like a soft white which will have some yellow tint,a 4000k will be a cool white that is a clean white,5000k is daylight which will have a tint of blue,and anything over that will start getting to blue.best k rating will be between 3800k-5200k
03-18-2015, 03:15 PM
garage lighting
Great resource!! 
