Garage Lights

detailbarn

detailbarn

Professional Detailer
I am setting up my new garage for detailing I have always had flouresent light but I wonder if there is something better?The over all garage is 24'x36'. The shop is 24'x24' with 11' ceilings. The walls are all white now but I'm planning on some accents probally some wainscoting around the bottom and chair rail , not sure what color yet. Any and all ideas are welcome , I was looking into the metal halide that Griots has but I don't think I want to spend $2000.00 for four lights. Thanks for the help.
 
frankly the setup you have is good, fluorescent is the best overall light you can have. However, I would add some accent/fill lighting for color and accuracy.



Ideally you would put a bunch of fluorescent directly aimed at the floor (through a clear light diffusing screen), then bounce some halogen lamps off the ceiling and walls to fill in color and depth of the lighting.... you might consider having some independently controlled non-diffused fluorescent and halogens aimed directly at the vehicle at various points so you can check for really minute swirls and micro-marring.
 
I would just do a bunch of the 48" shoplites you can get at lowes or wherever, for a 24x24, I would say probably 12-16 light units of the fluorescent, and 4-6 halogen lamps.... part of it depends on the colors on/in the room, the vehicle parked in there, and how much light you generally like to have. You could either use it to land a 747 (runway light level) or use it to see what you have to see.. just play with it and see what works for you.
 
My garage is 26X26 and I have 15 of the cheap 4 foot 2 bulb lights. I would suggest getting at least a few that are the "cold weather" ones It will take a while for the Cheape ones to light up all the way. Just my 02$ I got mine for about $6 each and the Cold weather ones are on sale now at Lowes for about $15.
 
I did 8 foot flourescents (4 two bulb fixtures) in my garage which is about 34 X 26. We have plenty of light, but I wish I could do away with the humming from the lights.



Also, I wish at this point I would have put in two ceiling fans, if you get a chance you might want to consider it.
 
i agree with the humming thing right now I only have four 4' units and they sound like a swarm of bee's. As far as the ceiling fan goes , my garage is climate controled , has both central heat and air so I'm good for that.
 
How many cars or trucks are you going to detail at the same time?

I'm an Electrician by trade, and one of my buddies ask me to set him up in a larger shop than your garage. What we did was hang 4 - 8ft x 2 bulb floresents side be side about 8ft off the groung using "jack chain", in the centre of the specific work area.

This was done to cut down on any shadows caused by people around the car.

It was tons of light, and was not that expensive to complete. All supplies can be picked up at building supply, and the power requirements was 15A breaker.

This could be done at each work bay you choose to set up.

Just a thought

Ryeh2o
 
ultgar said:
or via the internet (no point in having Network cameras if you can't illuminate what's in the shop). SD



(SNIP)





ultgar (if that's your real name), you are the man. You give new meaning to the word ultimate.



I trust your business is fairing well...



We all look forward to more photos!



Jim
Click to expand...
 
ultgar where would I get such lights , any certain brand you would recommend? Also what size would you suggest? thanks for the imput.
 
ok after much research I think I have choosen the lights I want for my shop. As of this morning I was going with some Focal Point Lights , but then I go the prices. :shocked So I then moved on to Corelite/Metalux , what I have find sounds good but I want to hear what other have to say. The model # is Metalux DIM-432. It is an industrial T8 fixtures it has 4 lamps in it and I plan to run 5000k with 90CRI bulbs. I think 4 of these will do the trick , that will give me 16 actual bulbs in the garage. I may add some halogen track lighting but I'll see after I install these. Best part they are only $68.00 each.:D Any opinions , how about you ultgar , what do you think , since I'm pulling this from what you tought me.:D Thanks
 
Hey detail,

I have a friend that owns a lighting store in NY, NY. He beats prices for people all the time. I am sure he can give you a good deal with shipping. I get all my protable lighting from him

Send me a PM with the stuff you need and i will get you pricing.

NYD
 
Odd -- did UltGar come back & delete his post or something? I went down to Home Depot & picked out the T-8 fixtures based on his recommendation. Got two 8' fixtures that each take four 4' bulbs. The T-8 style have a smaller, lighter ballast; the bulbs are skinnier, they light up instantly - like incandescent - and best of all NO HUMMING! :xyxthumbs



Had wanted to say thanks to Steve (ultgar) for the information, hope he's still around.



The builder had put a single bare incandescent in the center of the ceiling (gotta love 'em). I'd originally replaced that with a single 4' fluorescent fixtue, 'till I started coming here ;). These two 8' units I placed in line w. the cars, but only 28" from the outer walls. When I'm swapping brake pads, etc, on the outer wheels it used to be pretty dark over there. Now I'm thinking about putting another pair of 8 footers across the garage, near the doors. More light when I'm working on the motors.



Used that blue flex conduit to run the Romex to the new fixtures, it came out looking pretty good! The challenge was attaching each end of an 8' fixture to the ceiling w/o a helper to hold up one end while I got the first end started.
 
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