# Garage / Shop Lighting - Watcha got?



## SOLARSUPLEX (Aug 4, 2020)

I've got a 3 car garage with the left side being a tandem. 13ft ceilings and 3 old florescent bulbs lighting the whole thing up... not....

What do you guys have for lighting in your garage. I've had a half dozen florescent tubes in the past and they were 'fine' but i'd like to join the modern age and go LED. Any advice on brands or do's and dont's?


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## revitup (Sep 19, 2020)

Target the areas that need light, work areas, benches, etc, with 4' LEDs.


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

SOLARSUPLEX said:


> I've got a 3 car garage with the left side being a tandem. 13ft ceilings and 3 old florescent bulbs lighting the whole thing up... not....
> 
> What do you guys have for lighting in your garage. I've had a half dozen florescent tubes in the past and they were 'fine' but i'd like to join the modern age and go LED. Any advice on brands or do's and dont's?


Do you have pictures?

I had 2 florescent light fixtures installed in my garage when it was built and I added 2 more to the ceiling shortly after I moved in increase the light output. It's fairly easy to daisy chain the lights to add another set. I have also since switched the fluorescents lights over to LED direct wire bulbs as they bypass the ballast needed for fluorescents. I see that my Lowe's now carries the direct wire LED lights now too. You could probably get everything you need there.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Costco had a led shop light that mounts directly to the ceiling. You can daisy chain up to four of them. They are very bright. I swapped one of the garage lights fixtures to have a 110 socket in it and turn them on/off that way. Now I want add a smart speaker/alexa up there too. Hand free txt msg to the wife when the hands are full of grease sounds covinient.


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## jimbeckel (May 27, 2018)

I also had fluorescent bulbs in the garage and swapped them out for hyperikon led bulbs from Amazon. The leds had dual ballasts so removing the old bulbs and ballasts was easy. I'm very happy with the light output and quick startup of the bulbs when it's cold in the garage.


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## testwerke (Apr 4, 2019)

I have several 4-tube fluorescent "highbay" fixtures, each with four 5000k T8 LED tubes. Amounts to 8800 lumens per fixture for ~$95 each


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## FlowRider (Apr 7, 2019)

I bought 4 foot LED replacement bulbs made by General Electric to replace my fluorescent bulbs.

I researched it and it appears these are drop-in replacements, and the ballasts can stay in place.

I haven't installed them yet, but I now have three bulbs that blew, so I will replace them soon.

Anyone ever try this? I can yank the ballasts myself, but the ballasts shouldn't pull too much juice.

Any electricians or lighting experts in the house? Curious if others have swapped out for LEDs....


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## Carmelmatt317 (Aug 20, 2020)

Hey I'm an electrician. The led replacement bulbs for flourescent tubes are great but I much prefer the ballast bypass type. You rewire the hot and neutral to the ballast over to the tombs as one wire hot and the other neutral on just one side of the light (cap the other side) and then bam no more ballast humming and instant clean light in winter. Plus you can cut out the ballast and that's less weight hanging/volatile chemical hanging around. Make sure it's it's well grounded for obvious safety issues but also poorly grounded leds are more prone to strobing


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## NJ-lawn (Jun 25, 2018)

+1 get rid of that ballast. Like carmelmatt317 said changeout the one end of tombstone and rewire.


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## cwrx82 (Sep 16, 2018)

I had the neighborhood electrician add 6 LED strips and it's plenty bright. Definitely overkill, as it's just your typical 2-car garage.


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Haha, I don't believe there's any such thing as too much light in any shop! :thumbup:

(If you disagree, just wait ll you get older! :lol: )


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## SOLARSUPLEX (Aug 4, 2020)

@cwrx82 Do you have any idea what the specs on those lights are? You've achieved the general brightness i'm looking for.

@Mightyquinn Here are a few pics of the space. I was incorrect earlier when I claimed 13' ceilings. They are actually 11ft.

My plan this winter is to finish the garage and modify that rear overhead storage space. Its currently the entire third bay back but i dont use the storage past the first 3' or the length, so i plan to cut out the main mid section and support the perimeter a bit more so i end up with shelves all around the edge.


















That beam over the cars proves as an obstacle as well since i'll need to put a light on both sides of it to even light. I need enough light for engine work + paint correction on the cars.


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## Bombers (Jul 14, 2020)

Anything 4k and 4000 lumens plus should be good. I have a couple from amazon installed in original bulb spots but would like to extend to the rear like CWRX82 for winter car detailing as well.

Another option is get these if you don't want to hardwire. I have one in the attic and it's pretty bright.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V4MNT3K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1


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## SOLARSUPLEX (Aug 4, 2020)

I plan to do one of two things. Either utilize something like this to convert the regular sockets into something i can plug LED into. (I'm not worried about the power draw since LED already pull such little power)

or replace the main light receptacles with plugs on the ceiling so i can just plug these LED lights into them.


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## cwrx82 (Sep 16, 2018)

@SOLARSUPLEX they're 4' 4000K or 5000K


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## Justin9314 (Jan 22, 2020)

In all seriousness, have you checked your local Facebook marketplace? I am close to pulling the trigger on 8' 144 watt V-shaped LEDs. They quote a 15000 Lumen. They have a price of 35 each. When I searched for my area, four different people were selling them.

Food for thought.


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## SOLARSUPLEX (Aug 4, 2020)

Thanks all. I hadn't considered buying used. Is there any risk with this stuff being damaged or do I assume if it turns on it's good to go for many more years?


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## Allan-00 (Aug 6, 2019)

I put these up earlier this year and am very happy with them. 20x20 garage.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C7HYVR1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

cwrx82 said:


> I had the neighborhood electrician add 6 LED strips and it's plenty bright. Definitely overkill, as it's just your typical 2-car garage.


I'm jealous that you can get your pickup in your typical 2-car. Our house is by far the best we've ever owned. But I gave up my 870 sq ft garage (28'x31') with 11' ceilings when we moved.  What they call a 2-car here will not fit my wife's minivan with my toolbox in front. :roll: (side-entry).


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## cwrx82 (Sep 16, 2018)

MasterMech said:


> cwrx82 said:
> 
> 
> > I had the neighborhood electrician add 6 LED strips and it's plenty bright. Definitely overkill, as it's just your typical 2-car garage.
> ...


Yeah, typically it wouldn't, but I had them add a 4' extension so it would fit. And these so-called 2 car garages really only fit 2 vehicles if those vehicles are clown cars 😂

When looking for my next home, I now find myself more concerned with the contour of the lawn and garage size. The house will be a nice added feature that I sleep in.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

cwrx82 said:


> MasterMech said:
> 
> 
> > cwrx82 said:
> ...


I have a friend who built a small house on top of a massive garage. I now understand why!


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## metro424 (May 26, 2017)

I used https://www.prolighting.com/t443ssubcxx00p0-18w5k.html Super impressed, I had the standard 4 little incandescents in my garage and put 2 of those 4ft-3bulb led housings. They directly mount to the ceiling and are incredibly bright.


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## Thejarrod (Aug 5, 2018)

Ive found this thread to be very helpful. 
I'm going to replace 5, 4ft florescent lights with 4ft LEDs. the way i understand installation, the fixtures will be wired through each other. so does anyone know how the chain of lights will react if one burns out or gets broken? will it work like old school Christmas lights, where if one goes out, all 5 will go out?


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## SWB (Sep 22, 2018)

The original owner of our home had 4' florescent strip lights installed in the garage as well as in the unfinished basement.
I've been slowly replacing them with these https://www.amazon.com/Fixtures-Daylight-Integrated-Fluorescent-Equivalent/dp/B07RX5K6S1/ref=asc_df_B07RX5K6S1/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=366288760558&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8409858087162335546&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9013454&hvtargid=pla-813722301038&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=75985294973&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=366288760558&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8409858087162335546&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9013454&hvtargid=pla-813722301038
I like them a lot.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

SWB said:


> The original owner of our home had 4' florescent strip lights installed in the garage as well as in the unfinished basement.
> I've been slowly replacing them with these https://www.amazon.com/Fixtures-Daylight-Integrated-Fluorescent-Equivalent/dp/B07RX5K6S1/ref=asc_df_B07RX5K6S1/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=366288760558&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8409858087162335546&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9013454&hvtargid=pla-813722301038&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=75985294973&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=366288760558&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8409858087162335546&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9013454&hvtargid=pla-813722301038
> I like them a lot.


Sweet Ride!


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## SWB (Sep 22, 2018)

MasterMech said:


> SWB said:
> 
> 
> > The original owner of our home had 4' florescent strip lights installed in the garage as well as in the unfinished basement.
> ...


Thanks! I traded my 2305 in this past spring and picked up the 2032r. Really handy things to have around!


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## nwga_lawn (Jul 9, 2018)

There's a forum for that lol I went through the sticky threads on the forum below. Ended up using the Maxlite 4ft fixtures with the 2 LED bulbs. Butted 2 fixtures next to each other to make 8ft fixtures.

Lights my 40x48 garage well. I was skeptical at first but it turned out bright!!!

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=30


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

SOLARSUPLEX said:


> @cwrx82 Do you have any idea what the specs on those lights are? You've achieved the general brightness i'm looking for.
> 
> @Mightyquinn Here are a few pics of the space. I was incorrect earlier when I claimed 13' ceilings. They are actually 11ft.


Gosh, @SOLARSUPLEX , while you're waiting to do a reno of that space, you night want to check into these bad boys - I was skeptical but, as long as we stuck to the true 11,000 - 12,500 lumen models we LOVE 'EM!

https://www.amazon.com/Deformable-Lights12500-Adjustable-Lighting-Activated/dp/B07MQCXYNP

You do want to read the reviews however as there is at least one we got where there is a 1-second pause between when you flip the switch to when to light actually comes on and I THINK it is this one:

Out of the three different makes we've ordered thus far (for a total of 6 lights) I just put that last one (the only one we got that has that "pause") in a ceiling fixture farthest away from where you turn lights on in one of my shops and so you never notice the "pause"). Someday :roll: I'll get around to swapping it into either the attic or crawlspace as we only turn those lights on several times in any given year ...

The other ones come on instantly and they are bright, Bright, BRIGHT! (Again, make sure you order and actually receive the 11,000 - 12,500 lumen one(s).

They have been real game changers for us, in particular spots of our property (crawlspace, attics, over shop benches, etc.) :thumbup:


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## SOLARSUPLEX (Aug 4, 2020)

440mag said:


> SOLARSUPLEX said:
> 
> 
> > @cwrx82 Do you have any idea what the specs on those lights are? You've achieved the general brightness i'm looking for.
> ...


Wow thank you for this link! I just ordered 3 of those. If they don't work or cast too harsh of shadows I'll revert to the strip style. Pics incoming after they get here on Friday.


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## rjw0283 (May 11, 2020)

Thejarrod said:


> Ive found this thread to be very helpful.
> I'm going to replace 5, 4ft florescent lights with 4ft LEDs. the way i understand installation, the fixtures will be wired through each other. so does anyone know how the chain of lights will react if one burns out or gets broken? will it work like old school Christmas lights, where if one goes out, all 5 will go out?


I replaced my 4 ft Fluorescent tubes with LED tubes. I did not change out the fixtures, I used the same ones. I took apart the fixtures and removed the ballast/starter. You'll have to fix the wiring after you remove the ballast, just get some wire nuts and go to town. There's no reason to buy new fixtures if you already have them.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

We're planning to put 8ft LED strip lights in the garages at our new house.

We have 8ft high output T12 fluorescents in our garage now, and they light it up nicely.


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## Jbird95 (Jun 24, 2020)

I recommend going to your local electrical supply house and ask for LED linear strip lighting, 4' or 8'. The local supply houses will carry Lithonia or Cooper brands, both solid and reputable. Pending on ceiling height, shoot for 10-12,000 lumens per fixture. Tell the supply house you do not want occupancy sensors built in as that adds to cost. Finally, chose a color temperature. Your options will include 3K, 4K, and a bluer 5K sometimes referred to daylight. If anyone needs lighting help feel free to ask.


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## Jbird95 (Jun 24, 2020)

@Ware 
Ware- nothing wrong with the Lithonia option you linked. You may consider a lensed fixture as aesthetically it looks better and controls the optics of the LED diodes. Take care


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## Oneacer (Sep 27, 2020)

I have the 4 ft LED everywhere .... they work great and interconnect with each other.

I will be buying some of those screw in fold down fan type LED's, as they look to be real good also ..... I like trying new gadgets ...


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## Deltahedge (Apr 1, 2020)

When it comes to anything garage related, the first place a start my research is with obsessed garage. I bought my lights from him and they are so bright that I could actually have gone with the 4 strip led fixtures instead of the 6 strip fixtures. (When you buy from him, I think you pay a little bit of a premium vs where you could find the similar product on amazon. But I was fine paying a small premium to buy it from him since he's done so much testing on so many different products to find what he likes best, and I know I'm getting the best when I buy it)

https://www.obsessedgarage.com/collections/lighting



My garage is a mess right now, so don't judge me.


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## SOLARSUPLEX (Aug 4, 2020)

The cage, the saw, the storage... Im majorly jealous.

I got the UFO lights in. But i gave back my borrowed ladder. So next up! What collapsible ladders do you guys have?


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## SOLARSUPLEX (Aug 4, 2020)

UFO lights worked really well.


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