Additional garage lighting......thoughts?

[reb]

There are foldable LED lights that would open up (screw into the same socket that your existing light uses and maybe give you all the light you need.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Brilliant !
I use 4' led tubes. Painting ceilings,rafters and walls white helps regardless of type lighting.

And if you don't mind seeing imperfections in walls or ceiling using a gloss or semi gloss (vs flat) paint helps with reflecting light.

 

[Richard]

Wife wants to build a detached garage so not sure where that's going.

Meanwhile, I know I need more light in here, this shelving unit (two of them actually) just shadow everything else in there since they're so tall.

I'll look at the local stores & see what they have.

What temp would be best? I'm thinking soft/warm verses cool temp (Kelvin).

 

[Richard]

There are foldable LED lights that would open up (screw into the same socket that your existing light uses and maybe give you all the light you need.

yeah, that's what we had. It was great.....while it lasted. I literally pulled it out yesterday and tossed into trash. Only one panel remained lit. The other two had slowly withered away and were now useless. Even so....that SAME light brand new, in the same fixture would still be a problem. I now need light to the sides as we have two isles down the garage and this monster (essentially 8x8) shelving unit. Two of them side by side (4x8 each) and probably near 8' tall (we have 9' ceilings)

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Color temperature performance can be very subjective based on the color of surrounding objects, walls, and items in storage racks.
With the 9' ceiling and 8' height of the storage racks I would recommend a something in the 4000K range for brightness and a fixture without reflectors, so the light gets distributed over the top of your storage rack. That way it doesn't cast any shadows.
The fixture that @ponytug posted canbe installed very close to the ceiling height so there is better distribution of light up high.

WYZM 2 ft. x 4 ft. 7800 Lumens Integrated LED Panel Light, 5000K White Led Drop Ceiling Light (4-Pieces) panel-4pack-B - The Home Depot

LED lighting uses less energy to produce more illumination. It is 1 of the most versatile and efficient lighting solutions on the market. With our selection of 2 x 4 LED flat panel light fixtures, add

www.homedepot.com

I also like the "linkable" fixtures for aplications like this.

Search results for: 'linkable' | Super Bright LEDs

www.superbrightleds.com

 

[Yander]

As @Eagle1 mentioned LED shop lights are very bright and pretty cheap. Here is what I have been using for several years. They will also double as a grow light because of their specs. Very versatile. They will light up your garage like an air strip.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BPN72816/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[Richard]

Went to the Home Depot. Bought two 4' shop lights... LED and adjustable. Hard wired. I think I'll take the box that's up there and run two lines, one on each side. If that's enough, I'll be done. If not, I'll buy two more and add them to the circuit. If THAT doesn't do it then I'll buy a flashlight!

 

[nyone]

The LED lights are the way to go. I've had pretty good luck with the Barrina V-Shaped shop lights from Amazon. I tried a few from Harbor Freight when they were on sale and they were badly made and failed quickly.

I have the same Barrina brand in my garage but 4ft chainable lights for about 5yrs.

 

[JDSimmons]

I swapped out my old shop lights with LED panels I got from seuslighting.com and the difference is night and day. Super easy to install and way brighter, plus they're cheaper to run. I spaced them about 4 feet apart and there's no more dark spots anywhere in the garage. Made working on my tractor a lot easier.

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

I bought a couple of boxes of 4' LED lights from Amazon for ~$90 but the real help was buying a spool of cord that fit these "Vampire" connectors. That made hanging the lights the toughest part of the job.