Findlay234
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 10:28 AM |
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Garage lighting?
Right, about 6 months ago I moved to a new house near salisbury and have only recently brought the car down from parents home to get it finished
finally (its taken me a fair few years to get yo this stage, uni and lack of finds affecting the length of build time needed)
Now in the new home, i have a garage but it has no electrics. Im planning on rigging up some temporary lighting in the form of a few fluorescent tubes
and running an extension cable to the garage during the hours im working in there. As long as i keep my total consumption under 13 amps i should be
fine. Maybe keep it under 10 amps with a little leeway.
What i would like to know is how much lighting i will need, the garage is a small single of about 6x3 or 6x4 meters. I was thinking about using two 5
foot tubes at 58W each. Would this be enough for working in the garage? I had previously used two 200W incandescent bulbs in my parents garage and it
was just about enough.
Any views?
Cheers
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Mr Whippy
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 10:33 AM |
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paint the walls and door white, then should be plenty. If you put the tubes on the top of the wall rather than the middle they will light better.
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tegwin
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 10:35 AM |
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if its your house then put in a proper power connector..... length oh pipe burried under the garden with some 30A cable in it running to a small
consumer unit...
You will need lots of light...lots and lots...
I have 2 striplights and 2 portable lamp things on the floor and even then its no substitute for daylight....
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Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
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maximill666
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 10:35 AM |
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IMO Two 5ft 58w fluorescent fittings would be reasonably ok if positioned correctly, but I would fit two 58w twin fluorescent fittings if you want a
decent light output for working.
Regards,
Lee.
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Werner Van Loock
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 10:40 AM |
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If you fit fluorescent fittings, then try to get ones with a reflector behind them like in supermarkets etc... Makes a big difference
I use 2 double ones and 2 single in a 9m x 3m garage and is surely enough and don't have white walls or ceiling yet.
http://www.clubstylus.be
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02GF74
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 10:59 AM |
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i reckon you'll be fine.
my tip is to position the lamp above and a bit in front of where you'll be standing when working at a work bench - that way the stuff
you'll be working on will not be in the shade.
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Findlay234
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 11:22 AM |
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Yeah its not my house, its a rented house so painting the walls is not really an option. The contract states that any changes must be put back at the
end of the contract so id have to strip the paint off. If it was mine i would definately plumb in some permanent power.
I may well go with 3 single 5 footers (58W) then. That should do the job.
Also need a table, vice, shelves, etc.
Cheers
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MikeR
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 11:29 AM |
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i've got 5 lights in my garage (all 3 or 4 foot ones. The big difference for me is getting bulbs that are closer in colour to natural daylight.
Makes it much nicer in there.
Any idea where you can get reflective surrounds for the fluorescent as an after fitment? I'd like to see what difference they make.
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BenB
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 11:51 AM |
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It's also worth using dulux's special paint (can't remember the name) which is something like 30% more reflective than normal paint.
You can also get big rolls of self-adhesive plastic mirror film and stick that onto the ceiling and top of the walls. I did a similar thing when I
was lighting my garage with 2*16w 12v fluroscent lights except I used kitchen foil glued onto bit sheets of plyboard and stuck those on the walls.
Works well....
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maartenromijn
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 11:57 AM |
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I'd go for four double tubes: two where you are working on the car, one above the bench and one above the 'storage part' of your
garage. The tubes are not expensive and you will enjoy them a lot. Concerning power consumption: you don't have to use all of them at the same
time. Tubes give better light for working, and produces less shades than bulbs.
What about the total power consumption? Your welding machine uses at least 10A?
Painting the walls of you garage is cool. In the Netherlands we can do so, as long as it is an 'accepted' colour, (not purple). You can
discuss this with the landlord.
BLOG: http://thunderroad-super7.blogspot.com/
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wilkingj
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 12:16 PM |
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I have a 6x4 metre car port. 4 x 5ft tubes works OK.
If you cant paint the walls.
How about using gaffer tape or even thin wooden battens and hang banqueting roll
(White Paper) on the walls.
Its easily removed. and cheap.
Get it from a catering wholesaler like nisbets or Booker cash and carry type of place.
1.2metre x100 meters £16
http://www.nisbets.co.uk/products/AdvancedSearch.asp?keyword=banquet+roll&x=0&y=0
Cheap and removeable. you can even write on it!
Just a thought!
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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hellbent345
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 12:28 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by BenB
I did a similar thing when I was lighting my garage with 2*16w 12v fluroscent lights except I used kitchen foil glued onto bit sheets of plyboard and
stuck those on the walls. Works well....
awesome, thats the locost way! i may well try the same thing to up my lighting tonight!
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oldtimer
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 12:30 PM |
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I have 4 x 4' tubes and that plus a cheap Screwfix portable halogen has been very good.
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twybrow
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 12:56 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by BenB
It's also worth using dulux's special paint (can't remember the name) which is something like 30% more reflective than normal paint.
You can also get big rolls of self-adhesive plastic mirror film and stick that onto the ceiling and top of the walls. I did a similar thing when I
was lighting my garage with 2*16w 12v fluroscent lights except I used kitchen foil glued onto bit sheets of plyboard and stuck those on the walls.
Works well....
Were you growing something in this tin foil lined garage...?!
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Phil.J
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 01:00 PM |
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I've got 18 5ft twin fittings in my 15m x 6m workshop and would say that gives about the right level of lighting with very few dark corners.
Can't have a workshop too bright in my opinion.
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James
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 03:14 PM |
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Do you really think they'd notice if the walls were white in the garage?
Can't be too likely.
they just don't want you trashing the inside of the house/flat!
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"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."
- Muhammad Ali
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DarrenW
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 03:21 PM |
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2 should be fine. Worth putting them in roof as per normal installation. Maybe run a wire for a 3rd just in case. You could also fit a couple of
sockets then run an extension cable to power the lot. As long as you dont take a lot of load through the temp circuit it should be fine.
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gregs
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 05:00 PM |
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Drop your landlord a note to ask if he is ok for you to paint the garage walls internally - landlords very rarely turn down free upgrades to their
properties!
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Stott
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| posted on 10/10/08 at 06:51 PM |
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I have a 6x4m garage and have 3 twin 5ft 58W units and a single 4ft 36W above my bench and I need another 4ft over my vice TBH
As mentioned above you can't have it bright enough, and also as mentioned above, use daylight tubes which are very white and make it so much
better it's unreal.
As for the power consumption, for instance my situation is 384W which is sod all (1.7A without going into AC theory to get the 'true'
current) so put a load of fittings up, they're only cheap really for the benefit of having such a nicer place ot work
hth, Stott
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