"Chairman Kaga" (mike-mckinnon)
10/13/2016 at 15:59 • Filed to: None
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"Chairman Kaga" (mike-mckinnon)
10/13/2016 at 15:59 • Filed to: None | 0
| 22 |
The lighting in my garage is pathetic. I have a single bulb dome light in the middle, and a dual T4 fluorescent chain pull over my work bench.
I want to have at least two switched 4-foot fixtures, over each side. I’d also like to have some additional power in the ceiling for a drop-down strip.
I figure this is beyond my meager home electrical skills, so I’d settle for a single higher output fixture.
My question is, LED, fluorescent, or some combination? Is it worth the cost of an electrician to have switchable if maybe I can convert the existing single bulb 75-watt dome to a 2 or even 4 bulb LED fixture? Then I could have chain pull lighting just for working on the cars, which I could connect to the existing 4 gang outlet.
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 16:06 |
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Get an Arrisun 12 and call it a day.
Little Black Coupe Turned Silver
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 16:07 |
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In remodeling my house, I’ve found an electrician makes everything easier. Mine enjoys telling me “I can make anything happen, for a price.”
Tekamul
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 16:10 |
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If you just want to go cheap and easy : Costco LED shop light.
I put 4 of these in my garage, in place of 2 incandesent bulbs. I just put screw in polarized plugs in the sockets. You can daisy chain multiple lights. I found them in store at half off.
Huge improvement, no skills required.
DynamicWeight
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 16:25 |
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I can not stress enough how much I completely agree with the 4 ft led shoplight idea. I got mine from Home Depot for my workbench, 20 bucks cheaper than the costco (it also has a longer cord) and it puts out so much light it hurts my eyes when I first turn it on. Oh how I wish I didn’t rent and could replace all the fixtures in my garage with these ones. I might do it anyway if the bulbs go out again. They are easy to mount, just screw in a couple of hooks for the chain.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-4-ft-White-LED-Linkable-Shop-Light-54103161/205331022
When I bought mine I stood in the store debating with myself for a good five minutes if I should get this one or the cheaper florescent... so glad I went LED, I now only buy LED lights for any kind of light at all. All my bulbs. My portable worklight. EVERYTHING.
vicali
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 16:27 |
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I’ve got a double garage with 4 single bulb fixtures, a garage door opener light in the middle. and two T8 fluorescent work lights from Home Depot over the bench.
Problem is the four single bulbs all burn out in a matter of weeks, and the T8s are pull cord - I’ve been using just the opener light all summer.
I priced out changing the light fixtures to outlets and getting more T8..
Then I talked to an electrician and he said for the same price he can do it properly.
'Wägen, EPA LOL
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 16:30 |
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Fluorescent takes forever to warm up in the winter for me. Super happy with swapping in LED bulbs where I have so far. My plan for the future is similar to DynamicWeight and Tekamul... LED shop lights - all of them. I’m thinking I may wire in 10, but then again I’m also talking about getting separate electric service to my garage for the welder/air compressor, etc...
Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 16:34 |
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LED, you can put 100W equivalent LEDs in 60W sockets, and you can get LED striplighting, which are both crazy bright.
I hoon, therefore I am
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 16:43 |
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Two 4-footers won’t be enough for a standard two-car garage. I installed four 4-foot strips with two T8 lamps each , two over each bay, connected to the existing single-bulb fixture wiring using surface-mount PVC conduit similar to this . I also have a hanging 4-footer over my work bench. Total cost ended up being somewhere near $150, and installation was fairly straightforward.
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Chairman Kaga
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
10/13/2016 at 16:49 |
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Calm down, Roger Deakins. I know that’s you.
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Chairman Kaga
> Tekamul
10/13/2016 at 16:50 |
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I was looking at those just yesterday. Sort of why I got to thinking maybe I didn’t need to hardwire the fixtures.
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Chairman Kaga
> vicali
10/13/2016 at 16:51 |
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So that would involve hardwiring new fixtures? LED or fluorescent?
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Chairman Kaga
> I hoon, therefore I am
10/13/2016 at 16:52 |
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I already have the 4-footer over the bench. SO basically just double up what I was proposing? I’m leaning toward LEDs though.
It would be easy enough to remove the single bulb fixture, install a junction box, then, split the wiring to the linked fixtures. I bet that line is just 15 amp though.I wonder what four 4-foot LED fixtures would draw?
facw
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 16:53 |
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Get some LED shop lights. If you want to get really fancy (but without the need for anything super technical), they make bright white garage floor paint, which can give you a nice increase in brightness by reflecting more light.
Urambo Tauro
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 16:54 |
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I’m in the middle of getting some lighting upgrades in my garage too.
I think I’m going to go with LED bulbs in standard sockets for now. Maybe I’ll get some ballasts later, but my main focus at the moment is placement. The three measly fixtures I have just aren’t going to cut it anymore. They’re casting shadows all over the place.
I want to light the major footpaths of the garage, centering the lights in the “aisles” so that they’ll cast some light a little bit under the car, and some light a little bit onto the shelves. I want to reduce shadows as much as possible.
For a two-car garage, I’m looking at about ten fixtures.
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Tekamul
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 16:57 |
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Yup, no hard wiring, and better performance than fluorescent. No issues in the cold, fewer disposal concerns.
XJDano
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 17:04 |
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Search craigslist for something like this. http://stlouis.craigslist.org/bfs/5821127661.html
It’s like a street light in your garage. I plan on 3 of these.
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Chairman Kaga
> facw
10/13/2016 at 17:11 |
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I was going to seal and coat my garage floor, but my neighbor said you have to chemically strip the floor, otherwise any oil or grease will contaminate the coating material and it’ll bubble and peel. Said it was sort of a nightmare...
But I was looking at some poly/rubber tiles at Costco. It would cost about $600 but they’re basically indestructible and come in various colors. I think reflective white was an option.
witchdoctor11
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 17:21 |
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vicali
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 17:22 |
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New fixtures, better sized bulbs (fluorescents I picked up are actually T5 not T8) T8 is the standard 1" diam.. Plus proper wiring and switching without daisy-chaining or cords hanging. And removal of the old fixtures and junction boxes.No micky mouse, all to code.
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I hoon, therefore I am
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 17:24 |
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LEDs would draw next to nothing. From the link someone else posted, they’re coming down in price quite a bit from when I installed mine. I did the math when I did the T8 bulb install, and my 8 bulbs were fine; LEDs will draw even less.
Eta: my garage also had two single-gang outlets: one on the ceiling (door opener), and one near the entrance to the house. I tapped into these to add two more, one for each side of the garage. If you didn’t want to do that, you MIGHT be able to get away with tapping into the lighting circuit, but it will be switched and don’t expect to weld with it.
I also think I used 1/2" conduit. It was a pain to run wires through, so I recommend something larger.
shop-teacher
> Chairman Kaga
10/13/2016 at 21:25 |
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LED all the way.
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Chairman Kaga
> I hoon, therefore I am
10/14/2016 at 09:55 |
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There’s a commercial lighting place near my office that sells LED fixtures, and they’re open to the public. I think I’ll stop by and see what they have. It seems simple enough to tap the existing lighting for electricity, although I might defer to a specialist to add in the new higher amperage outlets for the compressor and such.