how bright to make a garage

[Bob Cooper]

I downloaded the Lithonia software -- actually very nice and pretty easy to use -- and am re-laying out my lights. Thanks for all the input from members here. Anyway I chose 35 footcandles as the desired light level. Seem reasonable? This resulted in 12, 4 foot 2 light T5 35W covered fixtures. Amazon has the SB232 120 GESB units for pretty cheap.

I'll make the workshop much brighter.

Here's the new layout
garage lighting.jpg

[Paul McGaha]

Bob,

My shop is a 2 car garage. A little less than 20 ft x 20 ft. 10 ft ceilings. I have (5) 2 lamp, 4 ft strips, with 32 watt lamps. No lens.

Lights it up well. Really cant imagine I would want it lit more than it is. Dont know what the footcandle level is.

PHM

[Ted Calver]

It really depends on what kind of work you do. 35fc is OK for general office work, but for detailed work you will want more light, something on the order of 50-100fc. Google 'recommended illumination levels' for suggestions. Here is a start:
http://www.mts.net/~william5/library/illum.htm

[Thomas Canfield]

Go for brightest you can since they will dust up some and then you may need to do some work down on the floor and it does tend to get dimmer as soon as you get below table level. Having multiple light circuits is also nice. I wanted mine split to 2 light only circuits, but electricial put all the inside on one circuit and outside on a separate circuit. You might also consider an emergency battery operated exit light for the rare time you are working and have a power failure.

[Jack Lindsey]

35 footcandles is pretty low for a woodworking shop. 50 to 100 is more reasonable based on your age and what you are doing. 50 if you are under 40 and your tasks are easy to see. 100 if you are over 40 and/or doing detailed work or working on small objects. I can't read the dimensions on your plan so I can't comment on the number of fixtures.

[Glen Butler]

The more light the better. Use mulitple circuits if you require less light at times and want to save energy.

[Bob Cooper]

I'm planning on putting 100 in the workshop...this is a 3 car garage and its pretty big. Right now i have 2 circuits -- 1 turns on the 4 lights closest to the workshop (near the cabinest) and the other turns on the remaining 8. My plan is to have under cabinet lighting to help illuminate any benchtop work and if/when i'm working on detail work on the cars i'll bring in more task oriented lighting as the hood most likely will block a good portion of the overhead light anyway.

[Chris Damm]

You should have 100 footcandles at workbench height. With fluorescent lighting they will never be as bright as when they are new so going over 100 is not a problem. The older you are the higher this number should be. My 25'x25'x9.5' workshop has 9 8' 2 bulb T12 fixtures and it is great for my 62 year old eyes and is about 6 times brighter than what you propose.

[Jim O'Dell]

Bob, where can I find this Lithonia software? I checked their site under Resources, but didn't see anything. Thanks! Jim.

[Bob Cooper]

Jim:

I'd asked the exact same question a few days ago and Ted (also on this thread) answered it. If you go to the Lithonia site and look under the resources tab you'll see "Visual". Or click on this link...the basic version is free.

http://www.visual-3d.com/

[Greg Peterson]

Too bright? I suppose it is possible. But getting to that point is challenging. With a large space, I would consider two forms of lighting. The first would be general work space lighting. The second would be task oriented lighting. I would probably make sure that the general lighting would be adequate for general task purposes while more specialized tasks (drill press, lathe, router table, assembly table, RAS) had additional task lighting via conveniently located switch.

[Kevin W Johnson]

Nearly impossible to have too much light. I have 7, T8 style, 32 watt 4 foot dual bulb fixtures in a 12'x20' area. I know that i wouldn't want any less light than i have now, and my eyes aren't bad.

As suggested, go for more lighting on multiple circuits, or have select fixtures on pull chains that can be turned on/off as needed.

[glenn bradley]

Sixteen fixtures with 2 T-8 lamps each in a 20 x 30 space. Works well but, I still use spot lighting for some tasks. Multiple circuits with one circuit running off the house panel. If the shop panel blows I am not left in the dark; never happened in 6 years but, I'm ready.