Shop lighting

[WNYPCRepair 1,918]

I spent the last 3 days cleaning out my garage, and it is not well lit. I picked up an 8' version of this fluorescent light (four 4' T5 high output bulbs) and it is like daylight in my garage with them on. They aren't cheap, but they do work. The 8' version is 12,000 lux.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-2-Light-High-Output-Multi-Volt-T5-Compact-White-Fluorescent-Strip-Light-ZR-2-54T5HO-MVOLT-GEB10PS/203137160 

Edited October 5, 2015 by WNYPCRepair

[JimD 3,345]

of your garage all lit up.
 

[rmaynard 15,428]

Although I hate the CFL's (compact fluorescent) in my house, I needed a quick way to boost the lighting in my garage. When I built it back in 1988, I just put in ceramic screw-in type fixtures and standard bulbs. So I went to Homer Depot and picked up four of these.



After a few minutes of warm up time, they really light the area.  

PROS: Lot's of light; reasonably inexpensive ($13.00 ea.); easy and quick to install.

CONS: Environmentally hazardous if they break; take a while to get up to full brightness; easily broken because of the way they hang out in the open; but the biggest of all, as usual, Home Depot has discontinued them.





 

 

Edited October 5, 2015 by rmaynard

[GlenPettit 1,716]

Is there was anything you could do to lighten up that ceiling.  Reflective light can sure make a big improvement.
Spray painting it White would easily double the amount of light you would have in there, paint is a lot less than any kind of ceiling material would be. 

[rmaynard 15,428]

I will eventually drywall the ceiling when the budget allows.

[WHX?? 48,790]

They have 4ft LED shop lights out now at the big boxes that are resonabe and easy to put up....cost nothing to run. Drywall would help .... I myself am partial to the garage heater!  

[WNYPCRepair 1,918]

of your garage all lit up.

 

I tried, but the camera auto corrects for the dark lighting, so they don't show a lot of difference. 
 

They have 4ft LED shop lights out now at the big boxes that are resonabe and easy to put up....cost nothing to run. Drywall would help .... I myself am partial to the garage heater!  

I was planning on buying LED lights, but they were nowhere near as bright as the fixture I bought. 

 

The two regular bulbs I had already replaced with LED bulbs, but from 10 or more in the air, they didn't do much. Better than the ones that were in there, but still dim. They old incandescents did last 20 years though.

[squonk 41,037]

LED's vary on brightness. We got some GE 8 footers from Grainger at work. They told us it was a super deal. I put them in our controls office and I might as well lit a candle.  Went down the street and got a pair of Phillips LED tubes  that were cheaper and there is enough light in there now to work on circuit boards even for a blind guy like me. 

[WNYPCRepair 1,918]

Downloaded a light meter app for the phone. First pic is two 12w LED bulbs (1000 Lux, 110W replacement, each) at 37 lux. Remember they are 11 feet or so in the air. 

Second pic is with the added fluorescent strip, 4 T5HO bulbs at 295 lux.

So, 8 times the amount of light?

[WNYPCRepair 1,918]

I took pictures but like I said, the camera auto adjusted for low light. 

 

First is just daylight through the man door, second is the LED bulbs, third is the fluorescents. In the last two, the shadows tell the story. 

 

In reality, the LEDs look like the first photo, and the HO fluorescents look like the last photo.

 

[Pullstart 62,799]

I had to restring some lighting in the back barn to relocate racking and Norman’s deck...  This stuff is amazing!  It also has plastic clips and screws in the package to attach to a finished ceiling.  I don’t know how to find a link to the Amazon item using the app, but I’ll include a picture.  For the amount of light from these, I say this is a better deal than fixtures for lighting massive amounts of space!

 

 

[Pullstart 62,799]

Here are some before, during and after pics.