Garage Plan Ideas (1 Viewer)

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This isn't the correct size but the concept is the same. Light surrounding the bays. Thoughts?



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I would not think you would need that much. I currently have three off the shelf 4 foot LED lights in my shop and aside from some placement issues those provide me with ample lighting. My shop is 24 x 24 with 8 foot ceilings.

Incidentally, I find it way too small for my needs. My old shop was 40 feet deep but only 18 wide and it was better because I could pull an engine or have a body off in front of a frame and still have room to do stuff at my work bench at the end of the room. That shop had three 4 foot fluorescents which was not quite enough.
 
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. . . My shop is 24 x 24 with 8 foot ceilings.

Incidentally, I find it way too small for my needs.

For most of us, the ideal shop is larger than the one we have!

:)
 
Exterior is coming along. Wiring and HVAC now.

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It's time to order the exterior light fixtures. These are what I'm looking at. I'd appreciate some input.

9 of these under the eave above the doors:
Kichler Galveston 9" Wide Bronze LED Outdoor Ceiling Light - #16T93 | Lamps Plus

4 of these flanking the doors:
Kichler Elba 12 1/4"H LED Bronze Outdoor Up/Down Wall Light - #4N184 | Lamps Plus

1 of these above the entrance:
Kichler Brandt 5 1/2" High Bronze Outdoor LED Wall Light - #4N176 | Lamps Plus

My questions are:
Is that too much light under the eave? They're 14 feet off the ground, evenly spaced about 5 feet apart.
Are these LED fixtures worth the money versus regular bulb fixtures? The LEDs are built in and appear to be difficult to replace.
 
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My questions are:
Is that too much light under the eave? They're 14 feet off the ground, evenly spaced about 5 feet apart.
Are these LED fixtures worth the money versus regular bulb fixtures? The LEDs are built in and appear to be difficult to replace.

Do you want outside light for security? If so, then you probably can't have too much. For me personally, security is not an issue, and I don't like to attract bugs - so I did not put any exterior lights on my shop.

In any event, LED lights anywhere are way worth it to me. They generate little (no?) heat, and use a fraction of the electricity that any other conventional bulb does, not to mention the longevity. The cost of LED's has come way down in recent years. I wouldn't even consider anything else.
 
1911, I'm using the exterior lights for security but also as accent lighting. I don't know about the output of 9 of those related to their height.
I also don't have any experience in the quality of the LEDs. Kichler products are good but expensive. I'm guessing LEDs are like anything else, you get what you pay for.
 
I've been changing over to LEDs where I can - mostly using replacement LED bulbs rather than the "all-in-one" LED units, though. For the "all-in-one" units I'm guessing you're looking at replacing the whole unit rather than just the LED - which could be decades from now. The penny-pincher in me cringes at the thought of replacing whole units, but then you have to wonder what lighting options will be like in another twenty or thirty years.

I'd say the nine 60W (equivalent) lights are entirely too much for accent looking at where you're putting them in the soffit. I'm using a couple 15W (equivalent) units for accent lighting and it is more than enough to light things up to see by. Personally, I feel that there can be too much light for accent/security. You end up creating glare and harsh shadows that end up being easier to hide in. Yes, it's bright to see them if someone is standing in the light, but if you're in the light you have a harder time seeing out into the darkness and shadows become pitch black and you can't see anything there either.
 
I just couldn't stomach the price tag on those lights. I little more research yielded build.com where I got last year's styles for a quarter of the price. I decreased the size and output of the eave fixtures as well. Kichler fixtures for a reasonable price.
 
After much research into LED accent lighting, the "beam spread" is the factor the determines whether it looks like a laser beam or a flood light. There are lots of choices in beam spread for interior LEDs but not so much for exterior or wet rated.

Ended up going with these for the soffit lights.

https://www.beeslighting.com/lithonia-led-canless-downlight/p/WF3-LED-30K-MW-M6

At 550 lumens and warm white color, it should look like 9 flashlight beams coming down from the eave. Or at least I hope so.
 
Should look nice. That is just over a 40W bulb. Worst case maybe put them on a dimmer....set your light level at will.

Are the soffits vented?
 
Power company specs 3 1/2” conduit for a 400 amp service. Lowe’s only carries up to 3”. Guess I’ll be calling around for a plumbing supply house open on Christmas Eve. Always a wrench thrown into the plans.
 
That is a fine looking garage!
 
Great looking shop!

I replaced all my old flos with 4' LEDs and am very happy with them. Never enough light as far as I am concerned.

There was talk early on about a beam to be used with chain falls on trolleys, great idea!. The first thing I noticed when looking at buying our property and shop was the beam placement in the shop. Mine is 30' deep, if the beam were placed in the center like most are to carry ceiling joist load, it would make pulling drive trains a PIA.

The guy that built my shop raced Jeeps. He put the beam about 9' off the back wall. There is a bench and tool boxes on the back wall and plenty of room to pull a truck in, shut the door and used the chain falls. The lift is positioned so the lift and chain fall can be used in combination. I can pull a motor/trans/t-case and then just roll it down the beam to the next bay. Want something large off the back of your truck? Just back in under the beam and your package can be moved laterally anywhere in the shop.

Electric
Figure out how many outlets you want, then double it.
Spread out some 220V outlets as well, they will come in handy
Put at least on outside outlet on each side of the building
Ceiling outlets are handy for future things like fans, drop down lights or cords

Plumb you air now if you can, going back later will be a PIA ask me how I know
 
Electric
Figure out how many outlets you want, then double it.
Spread out some 220V outlets as well, they will come in handy
Put at least on outside outlet on each side of the building
Ceiling outlets are handy for future things like fans, drop down lights or cords

Good advice on the electric.
In addition, I put 110V outlets every four feet and alternated them on two circuits. That way I can plug in a dust collector and tool on alternate circuits without worrying about overloading them - or if I happen to overload a circuit, I can plug into the next outlet over and finish my work before a trek to the panel board.
 

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