Commercial lighting for garage

[zarrell]

Anybody have ideas on what to use and where to get it from, outside of the usual places? I've looked into home depot and princess auto and they have some stuff I like, but the price seems high. Ideally I'd like about 6 2' x 4' panels in halogen or LED (if the price is right). Recessed lights would be nice too as the garage has only 9' ceilings. I've got around 450 ft² of space to light. Maybe there is some online option?

[PaperBagger'14]

I can help but I need some more details. What is it you're lighting? Have you considered fluorescent lights? Could you instead use a few fluorescent lights and have mobile task lighting?

Let me know what you're working on and what your needs are and I may be able to offer some guidance. PM me if you don't wish to post it on here.

[Sliver]

What's your budget? Princess Auto is as cheap as it gets.

[Northendzone]

I have a typical two car garage and I installed 4 of these bad boys

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.4...000832692.html

I also purchased those protective cages for them. At the end of the day they were the most cost effective option. I assume these lights were invented sometime back in the late 1960's as the lights are supposed to last for 45 yrs

They seem to throw lots of light

[You Need a Thneed]

I've seen these at Costco, but haven't tried one:

http://www.costco.ca/Luminus®-LED-Sh...100291849.html

[Flames_Gimp]

Ecole electric maybe

[zamler]

72,000 lumens
http://www.ebay.com/itm/252443251077

[V]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

I've seen these at Costco, but haven't tried one:

http://www.costco.ca/Luminus®-LED-Sh...100291849.html

50 bucks for a strip light with only 4,000 lumens is pretty steep. I can get 6,000 lumens out of a 20 dollar strip light at Home Depot.

I don't think LED is the greatest option to replace fluorescent yet. You don't get much more life, and the luminaires and bulbs are much, much more expensive.

To the OP, it really depends what you're looking for. My buddy does detailing out of his garage, so he went with a whole bunch of T5HO luminaires, but that's overkill for most other applications.

I'm about to light my garage that I use for woodworking, and I'm leaning towards installing 4' strip luminaires with 2x32W T8 bulbs, probably at 5,000K. Plenty of light, pretty cheap, and maintenance is easy and cheap.

I ran it through Cooper's lighting program, and 13 luminaires give me 50 footcandles at counter height. That's plenty. My shop is 24x30, so 720 square feet.

[V]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

Ecole electric maybe

I was thinking of checking them out, but do they allow retail customers there? I thought you had to have a commercial account to buy anything there.

[V]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

I can help but I need some more details. What is it you're lighting? Have you considered fluorescent lights? Could you instead use a few fluorescent lights and have mobile task lighting?

Let me know what you're working on and what your needs are and I may be able to offer some guidance. PM me if you don't wish to post it on here.

Excellent post, but aren't you an electrician? This is the first time I've ever seen an electrician propose a lighting solution that wasn't entirely potlights.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by V

I was thinking of checking them out, but do they allow retail customers there?

Yep.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by V

50 bucks for a strip light with only 4,000 lumens is pretty steep. I can get 6,000 lumens out of a 20 dollar strip light at Home Depot.

I don't think LED is the greatest option to replace fluorescent yet. You don't get much more life, and the luminaires and bulbs are much, much more expensive.

The comparison was the LED strip from home depot at $80 above.

LEDs do last significantly longer, roughly 5 times longer on average. They don't take a long time to get to full brightness, like many flourescent bulbs do. These particular fixtures don't have any luminaries, so there's no worries about that.

In a garage where the lights aren't on very many hours a day, these probably last 15-20 years.

[zarrell]

I'm just looking to get the most light for the fewest dollars I can. I'm fine with fluorescent but if LED is close in price I would go for it. V, what fixtures did you get from HD? All I've seen is quite a bit more than the LED fixtures Thneed posted.

I am just lighting my garage, but I am a finishing carpenter and like to use my garage for woodworking projects on occasion as well. Anything at this point will be a huge upgrade over 2 100w bulbs.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by zarrell

I'm just looking to get the most light for the fewest dollars I can. I'm fine with fluorescent but if LED is close in price I would go for it. V, what fixtures did you get from HD? All I've seen is quite a bit more than the LED fixtures Thneed posted.

I am just lighting my garage, but I am a finishing carpenter and like to use my garage for woodworking projects on occasion as well. Anything at this point will be a huge upgrade over 2 100w bulbs.

Some cheap fluorescent 4' fixtures is definitely going to be the cheapest up front. T5 or T8.

[V]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

LEDs do last significantly longer, roughly 5 times longer on average.

The fixture you put up said 50,000 hours. Standard T8s are 36,000 hours. Add to that, I've been hearing subpar things like Luminus is cheap, you're not getting 50,000 hours.

These particular fixtures don't have any luminaries, so there's no worries about that.

Fixture and luminaire are words are used interchangeably, so I think you mean they don't have replaceable bulbs? If so, that's even worse. Buy a cheap strip light and you can replace the bulbs for a couple bucks after 10 years. You don't need to replace the whole luminaire.

In a garage where the lights aren't on very many hours a day, these probably last 15-20 years.

Maybe. I'm not sold on this Luminus line from Costco. Early indicators are that the sales line isn't meshing with reality. For 50 bucks I'd want to be more sure.

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Mucho dinero?

http://www.bigasslight.com/

and get the matching fan

http://www.bigassfans.com/

[V]

Originally Posted by zarrell

I'm just looking to get the most light for the fewest dollars I can. I'm fine with fluorescent but if LED is close in price I would go for it. V, what fixtures did you get from HD? All I've seen is quite a bit more than the LED fixtures Thneed posted.

I am just lighting my garage, but I am a finishing carpenter and like to use my garage for woodworking projects on occasion as well. Anything at this point will be a huge upgrade over 2 100w bulbs.

This is the light I'll probably buy. 24 bucks instead of 20, but it's all you need for a garage. I just want to see if I can get it cheaper at Eecol.

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.1...0WYaAjnn8P8HAQ

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by V

Excellent post, but aren't you an electrician? This is the first time I've ever seen an electrician propose a lighting solution that wasn't entirely potlights.

I used to be (technically still am), I went back to school to learn that pot lights aren't the be all end all :P. A few more years of electrical schooling taught me that .

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by zarrell

I'm just looking to get the most light for the fewest dollars I can. I'm fine with fluorescent but if LED is close in price I would go for it. V, what fixtures did you get from HD? All I've seen is quite a bit more than the LED fixtures Thneed posted.

I am just lighting my garage, but I am a finishing carpenter and like to use my garage for woodworking projects on occasion as well. Anything at this point will be a huge upgrade over 2 100w bulbs.

Then the answer to me is pretty easy, fluorescent lights with spot lighting over your work bench. Home Depot will probably get you a better price than EECOL unless you spend a lot of money there.

One thing to make sure of though is that if your garage isn't heated is that you get a cold weather ballast with the fluorescent fixtures.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

One thing to make sure of though is that if your garage isn't heated is that you get a cold weather ballast with the fluorescent fixtures.

this will change the price - as you will likely find that these https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.1...0WYaAjnn8P8HAQ will not work well in cold weather

when I purchased lights for my garage, I found that the LED fixtures seemed to have the lowest initial cost for a cold start environment.

wether or not they are the most cost effective over the long term is anyones guess