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I'm lazy and old school. I have hanging florescent lights. I converted my old "single bulb" in the ceiling into a dual plug box (so 4 outlets), that's what the lights plug into. Do I have a totally open attic, yep, could I rewire everything and have can lighting, you bet. Is that a lot of work. Sure is.
My garage I redid with all LED tubes on the ceiling then on separate switches added additional LED tubes on the sidewalls and between the doors for times when more light is needed like detailing a car
Mind the clutter, spring cleaning in process right now
My garage I redid with all LED tubes on the ceiling then on separate switches added additional LED tubes on the sidewalls and between the doors for times when more light is needed like detailing a car
Mind the clutter, spring cleaning in process right now
Spring cleaning; but snow blower at the ready! Smart move!
I see a lot of dark garages... I work in electrical design. My home garage where I maintain and store my race car has (6) 8ft led strip lights. 14,000 lumens each for a total of 84,000 lumens. I have a smooth white ceiling and walls to reflect light, my outermost strips are a couple feet off the side walls to provide enough light to the side of the car for brake/suspension work. If all the light is over the car you cant see well in the wheel wells for work there. My garage space is 20x30. My lights are on 2 circuits, 42,000 lumens on each circuit so I can use half my lighting when in the garage but not working on the car, however when I'm doing work and I need the light I have plenty of lumens available when needed. Keep the color above 4,000k for a bright white light color.
I see a lot of dark garages... I work in electrical design. My home garage where I maintain and store my race car has (6) 8ft led strip lights. 14,000 lumens each for a total of 84,000 lumens. I have a smooth white ceiling and walls to reflect light, my outermost strips are a couple feet off the side walls to provide enough light to the side of the car for brake/suspension work. If all the light is over the car you cant see well in the wheel wells for work there. My garage space is 20x30. My lights are on 2 circuits, 42,000 lumens on each circuit so I can use half my lighting when in the garage but not working on the car, however when I'm doing work and I need the light I have plenty of lumens available when needed. Keep the color above 4,000k for a bright white light color.
Are your 8-foot lights mounted parallel or perpendicular to your cars? Not sure if that matters much, just curious.
Are your 8-foot lights mounted parallel or perpendicular to your cars? Not sure if that matters much, just curious.
I mounted them parallel with my car, length wise in the garage. If you mount them length wise in the garage it tends to look more uniform in the room and create the illusion of the room being larger than it is. Sort of like vertical stripes vs horizontal stripes on a shirt making you look taller or wider lol
I am almost done with this project. My garage isn't fancy since the house was built in 1969. I am not sure if the garage was added later, but I was working with what I had knowing it won't be my dream garage but it will be better than it was. The cracks in the ceiling dictated where my faux beams for the lights went, but it worked out well. The U-shaped design of the strip layout shoots light down and laterally, so there are no dark areas at all, well, except when the overhead door is up. That blocks that 16-foot section a little, but the middle strip picks up that slack. I don't have a garden shed, so there is much more in this space than I would like.
The only two things left are the heater and ceiling fan. I am not sure about the ceiling fan just yet because my lights cast out 180 degrees and I don't want to have a strobe effect.
I'm just waiting for the police to knock on my door late at night. Ignore the neighbor's dandelions.
Last edited by IA-SteveB; May 7, 2024 at 08:52 AM.
We had an extra garage built a few years ago. I went with four LED shop light fixtures. They do a good job for what I need. However, I really like the look of the garage lighting that you folks have on here.
Besides the usual aray of LED ceiling lighting, I also purchased and installed lights on my garage door. They're strips of LED lights mounted on the garage door. An open garage door will normally block the ceiling lights but these strips of
LED lights up the area that's usually dark when the door is opened. Check out their website at: GarageDoorLighting.com
Besides the usual aray of LED ceiling lighting, I also purchased and installed lights on my garage door. They're strips of LED lights mounted on the garage door. An open garage door will normally block the ceiling lights but these strips of
LED lights up the area that's usually dark when the door is opened. Check out their website at: GarageDoorLighting.com
That is a novel idea with the overhead door lighting. Where did you get the checkerboard flooring and was it an easy install? My slab isn't in good enough shape to do any type of expensive coating, but I wouldn't mind covering it with snap in flooring or something similar.
When we told the garage guy how much light we wanted, he said "It'll be like a hospital operating room in there!"
Not really, just moderately bright. Good. I haven't met anyone who said "I wish my garage was dimmer."
We used 7 double LED "daylight" temperature lights for the 3 car garage, white ceiling and light tan walls, low current draw and good hue.
Mine are 6500K 20,000 lumens each. Clear white is a little too light, but I am not disappointed with it at all. It is like an OR in there.
I am just curious if the neighbor across the street is annoyed by it at night since I prefer the overhead door to be open when I am out there. He has a big set of windows in the front of the house and you can see clear back to his living room. I think he faces my way watching TV and I am wondering if it is a distraction with the sun beaming out of my garage.
Last edited by IA-SteveB; May 8, 2024 at 01:15 PM.
