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Garage Lighting
JAG - 3/12/12 at 02:09 PM

A few weeks ago my garage got a nice new roof. After the job was completed I noticed that one of the two large flourescent fittings has decided to stop working - no obvious damage but it looks like the banging and hammering may have knackered the tube. Don't ask me how because I don't understand it myself.

Any-whooooo; whilst looking at the lighting in my garage at the weekend I wondered of there was a better way of doing the job than 2 x 2 flourescent tubes.

So the question is how do you light your garage?

If you could do it any way you liked what would you do?

I have an opportunity to improve the current situation and was hoping you could provide some sensible alternatives

designer - 3/12/12 at 02:18 PM

I use two rows of two fluorescents, each row switched individually.

blakep82 - 3/12/12 at 02:31 PM

quote:
Originally posted by designer
I use two rows of two fluorescents, each row switched individually.


same, think mine are T5 tubes? nice and bright, would be nice to have more, but thats always going to be the case!

used to have 2x2 8ft tubes, but these 5ft T5 tubes are so much better

mcerd1 - 3/12/12 at 02:33 PM

if you've got space - one or more lights low down on the walls at each side on seperate switches
(obviously ones with a cover to stop them getting broken too easily)
that way you'll have light when you need to crawl under the car to do one of those akward jobs



also you'll need less lights if you paint the walls, celing, floor all nice light colours - value white emulsion is alot cheaper than extra lights

[Edited on 3/12/2012 by mcerd1]

mookaloid - 3/12/12 at 02:35 PM

I'm going to have to do this shortly and I wondered about using these

10W LED floodlight white IP65 230V High Power LED SMD IP65 flood spot light | eBay
new

Has anyone used this type of light in a workshop/garage?

whitestu - 3/12/12 at 02:48 PM

quote:

I'm going to have to do this shortly and I wondered about using these

10W LED floodlight white IP65 230V High Power LED SMD IP65 flood spot light | eBay
new

Has anyone used this type of light in a workshop/garage?



I've got two on order so can let you know what they are like when they come. I was planning on using them outside though.

Stu

mookaloid - 3/12/12 at 02:51 PM

quote:
Originally posted by whitestu
quote:

I'm going to have to do this shortly and I wondered about using these

10W LED floodlight white IP65 230V High Power LED SMD IP65 flood spot light | eBay
new

Has anyone used this type of light in a workshop/garage?



I've got two on order so can let you know what they are like when they come. I was planning on using them outside though.

Stu


If they are any good I'll use them inside and outside

JAG - 3/12/12 at 03:31 PM

I like the look of the LED spotlights - Thanks

However; they give 900 Lumen for £9.99 while the twin flourescent tube set up in this link (Wickes Flourescent Fittings) gives 5400 Lumen for £27.99

That's more light for less money....

So I may still just replace the fitting with another of the same.

Although I just noticed that the twin flourescent option has a max' of 58W while the LED spotlights only need 11.8W....

So LED's are cheaper to run!

Lifespan is also of interest; LED >50,000 hours while the Flourescents claim 12500 hours.

I'm going to lie down in a dark room and think about it for a while - Thanks for the options

Anyone else got any BRIGHT ideas????

thefreak - 3/12/12 at 03:47 PM

I've got a double garage, and thought about this when we moved in.
On the left side, where we do most of the work and have a bench at the back, there's one widthways at the front so when the door's down you have good light over the engine bay.
Also 2 above the driver and passenger door for working on the sides of the car.
There's also one at the back above the bench.

On the right side we don't do as much work on, and just park a car there, I've just got 2 the same as the left side above where the doors would be.
All the 5ft T5 double tubes. It's like Blackpool when you turn them on, but it's great for being able to actually see what you're doing.
Been in 2 years now and all still going strong, and part way through our second build now too.

Stott - 3/12/12 at 04:25 PM

I've got 3 twin 4 foot fluorescents running widthways and a twin 5 foot above the bench, it's adequate but in hindsight I should have put 2 of the 4 foot fittings running lengthways space further apart to light the sides of the car better.

My mate has a 4.5x8m garage and I think we put 8 or 10 twin 5 foot units in there, used daylight tubes 4800k iirc and it's fantastic.

Get hf start ones is you can afford it as they are quieter, flicker less and don't have a restrike delay, if not you can always upgrade the guts of a switch start fitting to hf later.

wicket - 3/12/12 at 05:19 PM

Paint the walls white as well

James - 3/12/12 at 05:27 PM

quote:
Originally posted by wicket
Paint the walls white as well


Exactly what I was going to say.

I painted my walls white, I'm going to do the ceiling at some point too- it has made a huge difference.

The 'dark' area of the garage is where the garage owner has had the inside of the door painted black gloss to match the outside! It just seems to 'suck' the light in in that area!

She doesn't want it painted white again sadly... so I'm going to blue tack some which card panels in there instead!

Cheers,
James

splitrivet - 3/12/12 at 05:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
I'm going to have to do this shortly and I wondered about using these

10W LED floodlight white IP65 230V High Power LED SMD IP65 flood spot light | eBay
new

Has anyone used this type of light in a workshop/garage?

I would think they would be too harsh and throw too many shadows indoors, I tried halogen floods and they did my head in fitted 7 x 5ft flories in a double garage and is just right.
Cheers,
Bob

Werner Van Loock - 3/12/12 at 06:19 PM

I've got 2 rows of (4)single 5ft for general light and then 2 doubles above the workbench and a double one with reflectors above the engine bay

skodaman - 3/12/12 at 06:21 PM

4 54w Marine white t5's on mine. Designed for growing coral so have have a bit of a blue tinge to them but plenty bright enough.

Ninehigh - 3/12/12 at 06:44 PM

Somehow I doubt that 10w led will be amazingly bright, I've got a 12w bulb in my bedroom though and it's good enough.

Maybe 3 or 4 dotted round in strategic places... Then again on a watt-for-watt basis I think they'll be great

designer - 3/12/12 at 06:46 PM

NEVER work using spot, they are damaging to your eyes.

Bare - 3/12/12 at 07:10 PM

50,000 hours lifespan of a a Cheap ass LED is erm Unproven. and at 10 watts the light output is suitable for lighting Garden paths.. softly.
Wouldn't worry overly re power consumption unless one lives in their workshop.
A decent sized skylight is more than wonderful (Mandatory imo) during daylight hours and a few ceiling flourescent tube fixtures with a a handfull of pointable wall mounted lights with normal round bulbs will do nicely as infill /shadow elimination.

mark chandler - 3/12/12 at 08:35 PM

I got a pair of 12v LEDs each sold as equivilent to 55w dip beam bulbs as I wanted a standing lamp for my garage so fitted into some 7" spotlight shells I had from years ago as I wanted something I could run off a spare car battery for a few hours.

Result, best described as hopeless.... They are woeful compared to a 55w halogen which again is woeful compared to a decent strip light.

On my experience do not waste your money.

v8kid - 3/12/12 at 09:23 PM

Can't get enough light in a garage another vote for T5 just make sure you don't get the warm white tubes they are just duller!

As well as being bright they heat the place - if they don't you don't have enough light fittings.

Cheers!

Confused but excited. - 3/12/12 at 10:51 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Ninehigh
Somehow I doubt that 10w led will be amazingly bright, I've got a 12w bulb in my bedroom though and it's good enough.

Maybe 3 or 4 dotted round in strategic places... Then again on a watt-for-watt basis I think they'll be great


Anyone with an Led Lenser torch will disagree with the above statement. Have a look at their web-site. Mine is only 0.3W and it lights up half a field in total darkness (no light pollution) and well lights up a main road in front of you. 80hrs burn time on two AAA batteries.

The instructions on a 5W Led that I used to replace a projector lamp, warned not to look directly into it is it WOULD damage your eyes.

A lot depends on the projection angle and the quality of the LED. You gets what you pays for.

Personally I find them very harsh and prefer flourecents (always twins where there is rotating machinery) and incandescents for spot work and over my drill and lathe to make sure.

zilspeed - 3/12/12 at 11:31 PM

I fitted 6 x 150w floodlights. They were about a fiver each out of Screwfix.

3 up each side.

It's fair to say that there are no dull areas.

These run off two ring circuits which I fitted. and are located next to a double socket, each one of them.

Turn on the juice at the consumer unit and the place lights up like a jail when there's been an escape attempt.

Suits me.

Peteff - 4/12/12 at 09:53 AM

quote:
Originally posted by zilspeed
I fitted 6 x 150w floodlights. They were about a fiver each out of Screwfix.


I bet that makes the little wheel in the meter fly off the spindle. I have four 6 foot fluorescents on two switches, I got them from a salvage place for next to nothing thinking I would put something else up eventually but never got a round tuit.

dhutch - 4/12/12 at 10:29 AM

I also need to get around to lighting my double garage.

Florecent strip lights are clearly the way to go, clf's seem to take a long time to get to full light output in the cold compaired to the aquired 4 and 5ft T8's which are in there with them at the moment, far as I have seen or heard, LED isnt really there for it get. Small 120/150watt halogen floods or70w metal hilides are proberbly an ok bet too if you design a decent amount of light to come via a while wall'ceiling to get it to diffuse and halogens are a cheaper to buy if more to run, and metal hilides cant be turned on an off in short time frames.

Word on the street is dont get any of the old 8ft T12's because the bulbs are hard to get and they dont start in the cold.
T8's can be had with conventional (magnetic, choke, switch start) ballenst or the better and slightly more expensive HF electronic balests.
T5's are all the rage here at work, replacing 400watt sodiums with huge banks of them, and only come with electronic ballest.

I would also be nice in my eyes to have ip65 shatterprood grp covered lights in a garage, or atleast wire gaurds, which at the high of a domestic garage roof would be compulsary if in the work place. Although the unprotected ones are much cheaper.


Daniel

thefreak - 4/12/12 at 11:01 AM

quote:
Originally posted by dhutch

I would also be nice in my eyes to have ip65 shatterprood grp covered lights in a garage, or atleast wire gaurds, which at the high of a domestic garage roof would be compulsary if in the work place. Although the unprotected ones are much cheaper.


Daniel


This is true, but in the work environment, you have to cater for every idiot swinging things around, carrying ladders without looking and all that.
At home there's only you, and you usually know the level of your own stupidity. You fitted the lights, so you know they're there.
Anyway, they're cool when they blow up!

coyoteboy - 4/12/12 at 11:03 AM

quote:
Originally posted by designer
NEVER work using spot, they are damaging to your eyes.

Go on then, you will have to explain that one to me. Unless you plan on staring at it of course

dhutch - 4/12/12 at 12:24 PM

quote:
Originally posted by thefreak
This is true, but in the work environment, you have to cater for every idiot swinging things around, carrying ladders without looking and all that.
At home there's only you, and you usually know the level of your own stupidity.
Which is why I would liek to have light covers!

Does anyone have an pictures/feedback of garages with low level lights on garage walls? How low is low?

Obviously in a large garage with a high roof you often have row round at sort of head height so you get some light to the undersides of the cars but on a domestic garage the ceiling isnt much above height height start with. Are people putting lights down and knee height to see under there cars when on ramps/stands?


Daniel

Stott - 4/12/12 at 10:53 PM

quote:
Originally posted by dhutch
quote:
Originally posted by thefreak
This is true, but in the work environment, you have to cater for every idiot swinging things around, carrying ladders without looking and all that.
At home there's only you, and you usually know the level of your own stupidity.
Which is why I would liek to have light covers!




Me too, mine are all covered grp/acrylic ones and I'm forever smacking stuff into them, I think I put a hole in one of them, maybe I'd be more careful if they were open fittings but I doubt it somehow.