Flourescent light fixture suggestions...

rjstaaf · 03-02-09, 09:11

Hey all,

Still working on the garage and wanted to improve the lighting a bit. I am not looking to go quite as far as some have but I would like to replace the two light fixtures in the garage with fluorescent strips.

I am thinking of 48" fixtures but am not sure whether to go with two or four bulb fixtures. I am looking for suggestions on brand, type of fixture. Some have a diffuser or other type of cover or should I just go with exposed bulbs??? I would like ballasts that are reliable and have the quick start feature.

I did some searching here and a couple of other forums but still would be interested in specific recommendations or experiences with different brands, 2 bulbs vs 4 and so forth. Lowes and Home Depot just don't go into a lot of detail on their websites about features.

I am wondering as well if maybe I should have another circuit run in the garage for fluorescent lighting and keep the current lights. Does it shorten the life of fluorescent lights/ballasts to shut them on and off a million times a day like when the kids run in and out of the house through the garage as they do??? I really would rather not run a separate circuit but if that is the best way to do it than I may need to look at that.

Here is a link to the thread I started on my garage...

My Man Cave - Work in Progress

Thanks for your input.

mystic04 · 03-02-09, 11:15

i have 3 -96 inch light tubes i am using ifi were to do it over again i go with the 48inchers and the 6500k tubes. looking for 96 -6500k tubes is a pain nobody local carries them i have to order them over the net, and plus i have to get a case of 15 when i only need 6-T-12

Accumulator · 03-02-09, 11:17

I would *absolutely* keep the current lighting and just add the fluorescent. If only because I can't see minor marring under fluorescent, only really awful stuff (by switching which lights I have on I can make a trashed vehicle look pretty good

).

Can't really help with which fluorescent bulbs to buy (still using whatever my builder installed), but I will strongly encourage you to buy as much light as you can possibly afford. Get long tubes and many of them. Too much is never enough. I have *dozens* of 8' tubes and I still wish I had more!

Two 4' tubes would hardly be worth wiring up and IMO four wouldn't be all that much better. I have some of those fixtures in-between my longer tubes and they really don't throw much light. Four 4' tubes is a so-so setup for a fairly small bathroom (we have one bath lit that way).

I'd put some 8' fixtures on the ceiling and some more on the walls. It'd be money well-spent in the long run.

weekendwarrior · 03-03-09, 01:20

I would recommend the covers...at least for the ones on the ceiling. A friend accidentally hit a bulb with a ladder he was bringing through the garage into the house, and the bulb burst, and the glass fragments landed all over his car.

One of my clients replaced their single garage light fixture (like you have) with a fixture that holds 4 bulbs. Between those multi-bulb fixtures, and their flourescent fixture, their garage is nice to work in for detailing.

itskrees · 03-03-09, 02:11

Based off of what i've been reading online, the only fluorescents I would go with are T5 HO fixtures, as they tend to produce a LOT more "natural" light than many T8 and T12 bulbs. Unlike many T8 and T12 fixtures that tend to hide the smaller defects, these bulbs should be enough to illuminate all of them. On the downside, they are definitely more pricey, but should be worth its value if you are going to be using them often.

4 Lamp T5 Hi Efficiency Fluorescent High Bay-Lamps Included