Garage Lighting

[PoP]

I'm just doing up my garage/workshop and would appreciate advice on what sort of lighting to put up. It's a double-width garage, one smallish window on one side. During daylight that's sufficient but with the evenings drawing in I'm going to be relying on candlepower more and more.

I currently have a 100w bulb centrally, and one 40w flourescent either side. That's sufficient for me to find my way around, but for workshop purposes I'm wondering about how to improve the lighting so as to be able to work comfortably.

Have thought about putting a 100w bulb in each corner (as well as the central bulb), but that adds up to 500w of power consumption - quite a lot relatively speaking. Perhaps someone has used other types of light source which they could recommend.

PoP

[Grunff]

I'm about to install the lighting in my shed and have decided to go for 8 double 5ft fluorescent fittings. Lots of light, and not that expensive.

[Dave Gibson]

Fluorescent tubes with reflectors are the best sources of light for a workshop IMHO.

Perhaps more importantly, if your garage is brick built, it is well worth emulsioning the walls/ceiling with brilliant white paint. Just doing this will make an unbelievable difference to the level as well as the quality of light available, as the reflected light will reduce and diffuse shadows.

It is also worth sealing the floor (if plain concrete) with a floor paint.

Dave

[Ben Blaney]

How timely. I was just thinking about doing this in my garage.

Do I need to undercoat the walls first, to paint on normal house bricks, or just slap on a couple of coats of emulsion?

Again, I've seen Garage Floor Paint in various guises, and I'm a little bemused whether it needs a sealer or primer or something, because the literature I've seen for various brands is contradictory or just plain confusing.

[Andy Hall]

I've used double 55W fluorescent fittings (quantity 6) at ceiling height (2.5m) and two further at 2.1m height in the space below where the doors open. I have timber storage racks above the garage doors and these extra two fittings go below these. Each fitting has a reflector and all have electronic ballasts because I am sensitive to fluorescent light flicker from 50Hz mains. I replaced the tubes that came with the fittings with daylight types.

I also have the walls boarded with plywood and have painted these and the (boarded) ceiling with white emulsion.

For most activities I switch on about half of the lights, but for certain operations needing more light, I can turn all of them on.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Andy Hall]

It depends on the floor and on the paint.

I used a system of two part epoxy paints. This has a sealer (1 coat) and a top coat (2 coats). On the basic paints you would probably find that if a sealer is not said to be required, you will not get the theoretical coverage and will require more coats. .andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Ben Blaney]

Right. I'm a DIY numpty, and I'm starting with the easy stuff - painting, etc. I'm quite enjoying it, though, and the house is looking better.

Got it. So, probably the best thing to do is talk to the bloke at the paint shop, and he'll know what's what. I'll do that.

[PoP]

Perhaps I've been slightly worried about using rotating machinery (saw bench, drill, etc) under flourescent lighting. I was led to believe that flourescent lights were prone to producing strobe effects.

Brilliant idea! Why didn't I think of that.....?

Just finished doing that. I suppose I should have emulsioned the walls first.... :(

PoP

[Dave Gibson]

I did mine about 12 years ago, single leaf brick construction. Just vacuumed all the loose dust off and gave it two good coats using a deep pile roller. Still good as new.

The main reason I put floor paint down was to kill all the dust you normally get from a bare concrete floor, plus makes it a bit more 'homely'. As I recall I used a heavy duty polyurethane based floor paint which was literally poured straight onto the floor and then spread with a rubber squeegee, one single coat. I think it was made by Leyland paints but can't be sure. Its still serviceable but has the odd chip where heavy items have been dropped. Could be retouched if I was fussy. Again its been down 12 odd years now and has had a *lot* of wear and tear!

Dave

[Dave Gibson]

... a bit of 'PoP' art on the floor never hurt anyone !!!!

Dave

[Andy Hall]

You could also usefully contact Max Bone at Decorating Direct. He posts here from time to time, certainly knows his stuff. The web site shows a good range of quality products that you don't often see in the shops.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Dave Gibson]

Whilst it is true that the light from a fluorescent is not constant, it does not turn on and off as some suggest, but merely slightly changes brightness at a 100Hz rate due to the persistence in the tube phosphor integrating the electron bombardment over time --- as it were!. I have a pillar drill, a myford 7 and a woodworking lathe and can't honestly say its ever been a problem. At certain revs you can perceive a slight moving pattern on the chucks, but nothing more than that.

Dave

[Andy Hall]

They can do. This is another reason to use electronic ballasts which run the tube in the tens of kHz.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Ben Blaney]

Lovely. I'll do that, then. I wonder about pale blue walls with a deep red floor...

That sounds pretty numpty-proof. I'd be hard-pushed to c*ck that up.

I'll look it up.

Thanks Dave.

[Andy Hall]

Bear in mind that the reflected light may throw a slight colour hue over any work you do. This doesn't matter for a lot of things but may be an issue if you are painting projects.

Just remember to start in the corner *opposite* the door :-) .andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Ben Blaney]

And it may not be wise to allow the noble claret and blue to infiltrate /every/ sphere of my life.

Fortunately, there are two doors (well, three, really).

[PoP]

Their web site is at:

've just used their product to paint my garage floor. I think maybe they've made some product changes in the last few weeks as the product I used doesn't appear to be an option any more (closest match is the line paint in 5L cans, but the stuff I've got didn't dry in under an hour, more like a day).

In case it is of interest to the OP, I bought 2 x 5 litre cans. Painted a double width garage floor completely, and I've got about half a can left (so about 7 litres to do the full two bays).

PoP

[N. Thornton]

Hi.

Just one more tip with fluorescents: if the ceiling is painted white, I'd suggest putting the fls on their side on say a 10" shelf a bit above eye level, so you dont see the bulb directly. The light is diffused over the ceiling, so much better than bare tubes.

Or if youve got much racking /shelving in there, they can just sit on top out of view.

Regards, NT

[John Rumm]

I used 4 x 5' 65W tubes in my 12' x 8' workshop. With magnolia walls and ceiling you get a very good working light.

Also make sure you buy the diffusers for the strip lights - they have saved a tube numerous times when I have accidentally clomped one with a bit of wood!

[PoP]

I'm glad I'm not the only one ;)

PoP