Garage Workshop Lighting
by Patrick Harper - Blood, Sweat, and Sawdust
No more stubbed toes. The workshop lighting is complete.
I hung eight, dual-bulb fixtures for a total of sixteen T8 LED bulbs. I wanted to secure the fixtures to the joists, but that wasn’t possible. I secured the fixtures using several drywall anchors. The drywall in the ceiling is 5/8th-inch thick and the fixture/bulb combo is very light. This shouldn’t present a problem.
Placing the fixtures was straight forward. I used some 1×3 scraps to evenly space each one.
There were two small fixtures in the garage when I inherited it. I used these fixtures to tie in the new lights, and placed a cover over the opening of the old light box. This light box is now my junction box. It is difficult to take direct pictures of the layout, so see below. I had to change my original layout due to the attic access stairway. This will work better, because my only dark spot is an area that isn’t used for critical work.
I shot for 100 lumens per sq-ft, and I think I got close. The new workshop lighting is bright and even. I purchased all my lighting from www.beeslighting.com. I highly recommend them.
Stay tuned for more of the workshop build.
For the rest of the workshop build, check out the garage workshop build index.
Blood, Sweat, and Sawdust 
Looks nice, what temperature bulb did you decide to go with? Also, have you found out if the batt insulation helps with soundproofing much…since this is attached to the house, right?
Brad, the bulbs are all 5000K. I’m not making a lot of noise at the moment, so I’m not sure how much the insulation helps between the garage and the house. However, it definitely quiets down outside noise. The wall between the house and garage was already insulated.
did you consider LED lighting if so why didn’t you use it?
Pat, I did use LED tubes. The tubes are JaMes brand LED T8 tubes. They can be used bypass or with a conventional fixture with ballast. The tubes run about $10 per. You can find them at http://www.beeslighting.com.
I read a couple of lightning experts saying that T8 LED lamps don’t output the same light rendering as CFL’s do. A few same they also don’t output ‘natural’ light. Your shop looks plenty bright and I don’t have any problems determining the colors around the shop.
Thanx for the link to the LED lights – most other sources I’ve found are twice or more on the cost per LED lamp.
I’ve always heard just the opposite. Anywhere I’ve ever seen actual tests, LED bulbs out perform flourescents. Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoAZ-u6hn6g