Garage lighting options......let's see them

silver03svt

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Some pretty good lighting setups here. Thanks guys. Still undecided which I want to go with. Lol.
 

LSwat

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I just did this dance in my garage, for me it came down to 2 options......

1. The paddle LED lights that screw into standard light fixtures like a few folks have posted.....

2. The 4' or 8' tube style fixtures that go in overhead.....

If you have the option to go with 1. (you need access into the ceiling above, like if you have an attic) that is the route I wish I could have gone, drill a few holes, put in a fixture/pull some wire, not really a big deal, it's cheap, and the lightning is great. 4 of these evenly spaced out would provide great light in a 2 car garage. You also can come off your garage door opener with one (less wiring to run)

Option 2 is what I had to end up doing, little more expensive from what I was seeing, and definitely more of a PITA to measure out so it looks professional.....I would recommend the LED over the other style bulbs just because they operate at any temp (not sure how cold it gets by you). I ended up going with 6 of the 4' cheap LED style setups off amazon....it's a whole fixture, so once its burnt out, it all needs to be replaced...but they were less than 20$ each....

regardless of route you go, you can't go wrong as long as you're adding more lightning. If you do go with option 2....there's a very small difference between the 5k and 6k light temperature , i'd avoid anything under 5k personally.
 

LSwat

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I just did this dance in my garage, for me it came down to 2 options......

1. The paddle LED lights that screw into standard light fixtures like a few folks have posted.....

2. The 4' or 8' tube style fixtures that go in overhead.....

If you have the option to go with 1. (you need access into the ceiling above, like if you have an attic) that is the route I wish I could have gone, drill a few holes, put in a fixture/pull some wire, not really a big deal, it's cheap, and the lightning is great. 4 of these evenly spaced out would provide great light in a 2 car garage. You also can come off your garage door opener with one (less wiring to run)

Option 2 is what I had to end up doing, little more expensive from what I was seeing, and definitely more of a PITA to measure out so it looks professional.....I would recommend the LED over the other style bulbs just because they operate at any temp (not sure how cold it gets by you). I ended up going with 6 of the 4' cheap LED style setups off amazon....it's a whole fixture, so once its burnt out, it all needs to be replaced...but they were less than 20$ each....

regardless of route you go, you can't go wrong as long as you're adding more lightning. If you do go with option 2....there's a very small difference between the 5k and 6k light temperature , i'd avoid anything under 5k personally.


Also, dealing with the daisy chain wiring of option 2 kind of sucks in my opinion. But if you spend the time, you can make it decent.
 

72MachOne99GT

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Option 2 is definitely a better option in almost all situations.

It’s just that for a garage that already has 2+ sockets already mounted and wired, #1 seems like it’s easier and cheaper for pretty solid results.

My garage is maybe 20x20 and I’m going to try 4 of the 15000 lumen 4-paddle lights.

If I feel like I’m cooking in a microwave, I’ll take 2 to the out building that the mower sleeps in.
 

BigPoppa

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Installed the new "leaf" led lamp....

20201230_142515.jpg


Still gets washed out by the quartz monsters....

20201230_142539.jpg
 

4.698gt

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upload_2020-12-30_21-41-43.png

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Flat panel lights I got on. Clearence from home depot a few years back. Bright non glaring and cheap. Have worked great since installation
 

x NOODLES x

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36x40 shop, 12-8' T8 LEDs 8000 Lumens per Fixture. This is during move in, with them all on its a surgical room in there lol

shop lighting.jpg
 

72MachOne99GT

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Yes, I love it. The light is bright and the daylight color range makes colors more distinctive. This definitely was worth the 30 bucks paid for it.

Thats just one light? What would you estimate your garage dimensions/ceiling height to be?
 

CobraBob

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Option 2 is definitely a better option in almost all situations.

It’s just that for a garage that already has 2+ sockets already mounted and wired, #1 seems like it’s easier and cheaper for pretty solid results.

My garage is maybe 20x20 and I’m going to try 4 of the 15000 lumen 4-paddle lights.

If I feel like I’m cooking in a microwave, I’ll take 2 to the out building that the mower sleeps in.
That's the deal in a nutshell. 2-4 pre-installed ceiling socket fixtures provide a ton of light from the LED paddle lights. But, if you don't have pre-installed single socket fixtures (like I did) then the daisy chained 4 ft. LED Fluorescent Fixtures are good looking and provide a lot of light. Maybe even better disbursed because they're larger. But options are excellent, with one being a no-brainer IF you already have single socket fixtures in the ceiling. I have two of the ceiling single socket fixtures but wish I had 4. As good as my light is with two, if would be double that with 4.
 

72MachOne99GT

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That's the deal in a nutshell. 2-4 pre-installed ceiling socket fixtures provide a ton of light from the LED paddle lights. But, if you don't have pre-installed single socket fixtures (like I did) then the daisy chained 4 ft. LED Fluorescent Fixtures are good looking and provide a lot of light. Maybe even better disbursed because they're larger. But options are excellent, with one being a no-brainer IF you already have single socket fixtures in the ceiling. I have two of the ceiling single socket fixtures but wish I had 4. As good as my light is with two, if would be double that with 4.

Thats exactly how I looked at it.

I’ve got 6 sockets, but I’m thinking 2 or three is going to work.

My ceilings are about 8 foot like bigpoppa said, so hopefully it looks good.
 

LostM

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I am getting ready to finish off my 2 car garage. The plan is to do use galvanized metal roofing for the ceiling (already have this material), finish the two side walls in pallet wood or barn wood (rustic look), and then finish the front and rear (where roll up doors are) in white sheetrock. On the rear wall will be my workbench. Doing a pegboard rear wall on that, and possibly finishing it off with an angled cover with matching galvanized tin as a topper if I have enough left over.

I really want to do some LED can lights in the main area with LED tube lights up in the canopy of the workbench.

Let me see some of your "out of the ordinary" garage lighting options!
These:
https://amzn.to/3pKklK1

Very cheap, VERY bright, extremely light and easy to install


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Fastback

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Giving these a try on my fluorescent 3 light cages. Think office building 3 light rectangle, recessed lighting. I have 19 cages to retrofit. Single side, direct wire ballast bypass. Only putting in 2 bulbs per cage. Should be much brighter, and it is a plus that they will now ALL light up in the cold. Sick and tired of the ballast going out or it being cold and the Damn things decide not to work. I have replaced ballasts with low temp ballasts, just gets old.
 
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beau t

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Giving these a try on my fluorescent 3 light cages. Think office building 3 light rectangle, recessed lighting. I have 19 cages to retrofit. Single side, direct wire ballast bypass. Only putting in 2 bulbs per cage. Should be much brighter, and it is a plus that they will now ALL light up in the cold. Sick and tired of the ballast going out or it being cold and the Damn things decide not to work. I have replaced ballasts with low temp ballasts, just gets old.

the first couple may take you a couple mins to get in a grove by the time you get to the last one you will be banging them out like a pro
 

CobraBob

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