# How much lighting for garage



## dizzy46 (Oct 16, 2009)

how much lighting is need for a 660 sq feet garage with a 12 ft ceiling i was thinking of putting 6 or 8 100 watt bulbs


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## Plumbvoltage (Dec 2, 2008)

If you want to be able to really see in the garage I would put up fluorescent light strips with shades on them to direct the light down.


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

What are you going to use the garage for ?


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## Grimlock (Nov 17, 2009)

Use two 4' dual fluorescent lamp strip lights with 6000k temp lamps. Evenly space them out between the walls. You should then have enough light to take care of just about any tasks.

Get some fluorescent tube covers to protect from shattering glass all over the floor if they are ever hit/fall.


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## Yoyizit (Jul 11, 2008)

dizzy46 said:


> how much lighting is need for a 660 sq feet garage with a 12 ft ceiling i was thinking of putting 6 or 8 100 watt bulbs


Lux light levels

Hospital ward at night 1
resi. living room 50
resi. toilets, hallways, 80 to 100
School classrooms, Kitchen work areas, office lighting 300 to 500
Garment manufacture - sewing, Supermarket 750
Instrument assembly 1500

Two 32w 4' tubes in a decorative troffer will give 600 lux on an 8 sq. ft. surface 5' directly below it, and it drops down to half that value at the edge of a 7'x7' area below the fixture.

A 75w/1130 lumens halogen flood light will produce 1700 lux over a 5' dia. circle, 5' below the lamp.


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## 220/221 (Oct 9, 2007)

> i was thinking of putting 6 or 8 100 watt bulbs


This isn't 1950.

Fluorescent strips are the way to go. 

Two, 4' or 8' strips would give you plenty of light.

Four would give you really good light.


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## MI-Roger (Aug 8, 2009)

*Garage lighting*

If I had the chance to do it all over again........


I would place a 4-ft fluorescent fixture, mounted crosswise, at the head of each parking stall. This will give you light for any engine bay work, even if you do nothing more than checking oil level and adding washer solution.

I would place a 4-ft fluorescent fixture, mounted crosswise, at the tail of each parking stall. This will give you light for loading things in the trunk of your vehicles.
I might even mount both of the above fixtures angled at 45 degrees to better throw the light where I need it.

I would place a 4-ft fluorexcent fixture, mounted lengthwise between each parking stall, at the mid-point of the garage.
Since it sounds like you have a 3 car garage, my recommendations would require 8 fixtures.


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

I'm actually installing recessed cans in my garage
That way I can change the light bulb for more or less light
I have 3 T-8 fixtures that will go over the back part of the garage for more light if needed
But everything else will take a normal bulb & use CFL's for reduced electric use
Hopefully LED bulbs will come down in price in the future allowing me to further reduce power use

Also don't use the T-12's for flourescent, use T-8's at a min
They also make T-5 & T-4's


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Also be aware that some people do not have radio reception after installing a lot of flourescent bulbs
This can include cell phones
This seems to be due to cheap ballasts = HD & Lowes ?
So might be better to spend the $$ & buy better grade

Long thread on the garage site:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28982

I have lousy cell phone reception in my area as it is
I'm putting an old BIG TV antenna in some attic space for FM reception just in case


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

dizzy46 said:


> how much lighting is need for a 660 sq feet garage with a 12 ft ceiling i was thinking of putting 6 or 8 100 watt bulbs


what are the dimensions of the area? If it is long and skinny, you will have a different layout and requirement than if it is square.


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## Yoyizit (Jul 11, 2008)

660 sq. ft = 61.3 sq. meter.

8ea. 100w @ 18 lumens/w with 50% of the light lost on the ceiling = 7200 lumens.

7200/61.3 = 117 lux.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

Yoyizit said:


> 660 sq. ft = 61.3 sq. meter.
> 
> 8ea. 100w @ 18 lumens/w with 50% of the light lost on the ceiling = 7200 lumens.
> 
> 7200/61.3 = 117 lux.


sure but how do you want it distributed and what luminaire will do that for you.

If you have a 6 foot X 110 foot hall, the luminaire requirements, both design and placement, would be very different than if you have a 25 1/2 X 25 1/2 foot square room.

Obviously it is not a 6 X 110 foot garage. That was simply an extreme to impress the point that floor footprint is relevant.

You should also consider task specific lighting, especially in a garage. A workbench is quite common and the general lighting is rarely adequate for a workbench area.


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## Yoyizit (Jul 11, 2008)

nap said:


> sure but how do you want it distributed and what luminaire will do that for you.
> 
> If you have a 6 foot X 110 foot hall, the luminaire requirements, both design and placement, would be very different than if you have a 25 1/2 X 25 1/2 foot square room.
> 
> ...


Avg. 117 lux assumed in my calc.

From the Web, 11 lux, min., for a parking garage.

For auto repair work, to avoid casting deep shadows, the OP may want handheld lights.


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## Joe F (Jan 27, 2008)

In my 24' by 24' garage I installed four dual 4' flourescent fixtures and they work great. Two would not have been enough. Pay close attention to placement, 2 of my fixtures are partially blocked when the overhead door is up.


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## Yoyizit (Jul 11, 2008)

Joe F said:


> In my 24' by 24' garage I installed four dual 4' flourescent fixtures and they work great. Two would not have been enough. Pay close attention to placement, 2 of my fixtures are partially blocked when the overhead door is up.


So each troffer lights up a 12'x12' area. From a computer-generated plot Lithonia e-mailed me, I think you have 200 lux to 600 lux, depending on where you are standing. With two troffers, you'd have been down to 20 lux at the corners.


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## Jim Port (Sep 21, 2007)

Try this lighting calculator. You can choose various type of fixtures.

http://www.simkar.com/ZC_tool/index.html


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## rperry2394 (Dec 23, 2009)

Scuba_Dave said:


> Also be aware that some people do not have radio reception after installing a lot of flourescent bulbs...
> 
> Long thread on the garage site:
> http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28982


Good info everyone should know - thanks!


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## vsheetz (Sep 28, 2008)

I have six 4' floresant shop fixures providing general lighting in my 24x30 workshop/garage with 8' ceiling. Two more are directly above dedicated workbench areas. 

Additionally I have two worklights on retractable cord reels hanging from the ceiling in convienent places to grab some extra light when needed.


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## Yoyizit (Jul 11, 2008)

vsheetz said:


> I have six 4' floresant shop fixures providing general lighting in my 24x30 workshop/garage with 8' ceiling.


You should be getting 300 lux, minimum, over that area if they are 32w tubes.


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