# New garage lighting questions...hope this forum responds...



## SpecOP1 (Feb 8, 2013)

Hi all....as I said in my intro...building 2 garages....want to ask some lighting questions for work garage here. 27x26 garage ...high ceilings for lift. Was thinking vintage cord lights but, now thinking more T5 lights for my detailing work. Has 2 doors and a work bench ....would love to hear from this group on possible number and location of lights...thanks Bill


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## oldognewtrick (Feb 8, 2013)

SpecOP1 said:


> Hi all....as I said in my intro...building 2 garages....want to ask some lighting questions for work garage here. 27x26 garage ...high ceilings for lift. Was thinking vintage cord lights but, now thinking more T5 lights for my detailing work. Has 2 doors and a work bench ....would love to hear from this group on possible number and location of lights...thanks Bill



Do you have any spots where you could introduce some skylights and add some natural light?


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## Chris (Feb 8, 2013)

Sky lights are nice, I have a couple T5 lights in my garage and wish I had more. A buddy of mine has Four T5 set ups that are on two switches and if you click them off then on real quick they will go from four bulbs lit to two. It's a nice set up. His a large two car, maybe 25' x 28' and the four give off more light then needed on a tall ceiling.


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## SpecOP1 (Feb 8, 2013)

Awesome...real answers....I will have several windows on 2 sides....Chris, 4 T5's....8 ft combos?...in line?...thanks guys


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## Chris (Feb 8, 2013)

(4) four bulb set ups four footers. They are bright! Separate units from each other Maybe 6 foot out from each corner but towards the back so that the garage door doesn't cover them. I can take a couple pics next week when I get back up tot he mountains where he lives.


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## Trophyman (Feb 13, 2013)

I have 12 4 bulb, 8 foot T5's in my shop. The one bank (4) closest to one wall I only turn on if I'm in there after dark. They are very bright and supply plenty of light even during the day. I wish I had thought ahead enough when building it, and had some high windows installed on the sides to allow more daylight in.


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## Xenasdad (Feb 11, 2014)

When shopping for bulbs look at the temperature (4100, 5000 etc) and color rendering index. If you are trying to match paint color on a car, something that looks good in the shop can be a nasty surprise when you take it outdoors. Where I live there are few options in the T5's but the local box stores have a wide variety of T8's so I used all T8's. I have 2 light switches just inside the front door. The 1st switch turns on enough lights for most things. The 2nd switch turns on the rest of the lights but is also connected to a contactor in the 230 volt line to the air compressor. The air compressor won't run unless the 2nd set of lights is on, and when I turn off the lights at night the compressor is disconnected.


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## Trophyman (Feb 12, 2014)

Xenasdad said:


> I have 2 light switches just inside the front door. The 1st switch turns on enough lights for most things. The 2nd switch turns on the rest of the lights but is also connected to a contactor in the 230 volt line to the air compressor. *The air compressor won't run unless the 2nd set of lights is on, and when I turn off the lights at night the compressor is disconnected.*



Nice idea.


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## cruzn57 (Mar 26, 2014)

and a schematic, 
I'm really dumb about that kinda stuff.
the idea  is great, and I'd like to do something like that.


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