Garage lighting

slumlord44

I have some old 4' and 8' florescent fixtures in my garage/workshop. A couple of bad ballasts and sockets starting to deteriorate. Thinking about a better replacement. What's everyone using now? Don't mind spending a few bucks but don't want to break the bank. Will replace them a few at a time. Have a 26' x 32' attached garage that never is well insulated and never gets below freezing. Have heat and AC when needed.

wpage

Newer places are moving toward the multi mini bulb florescent...

CaptFun

Costco had some LED replacements that look intriguing but I need to do some more research on the light output. I also saw some LED bulbs that are direct wire. You use the same fixture and socket but remove the ballast and feed the bulb with 110. I need to replace one in the garage and 2 in the basement. The ballast on one in the basement sounds like a poorly tuned lawnmower.

gjshaw

We just switched over the animation shop that I work in with direct replacement LED 4 foot tubes. They are rated at 40 watt just like the florecent bulbs that were in there but they are much brighter. The electricians just took out the old bulbs and put in the LED's using the same Ballests and fixtures. I'm going to put them in my garage. The LED's will save power and are much brighter.

Smitty500mag

fordsix

i just had my 24x30 garge lit up, tryed 4ft floresent, not worth a dang..put in 9 bulb fixtures with 100 watt compact floresent bulbs in the 5000k range and it is perfect i can see everything and me eyes are getting bad[^]

jimdeere

Being cheap, I installed the 4 tube drop-in fixtures used in suspended ceilings, except i hung them from chains. I think they are about $50 each.
I also installed some halogen fixtures at places to shine down on an angle.
They're cheap, also.

LesWVa

You can buy 4 and 8 ft. LED replacement 40 watt tubes that fit T8 and T12 fluorescent tube lights for less than $25 each.

But as Captn stated. You need to remove the ballast and direct wire the sockets like you would regular light fixture. Best thing about doing the LED rework. You do not have to listen to them buzz or take 20 minutes to heat up before they work when they are cold.

pip5255

I did my garage 2 years back and just did ballast and lamp replacements switched over to T8's from the old 4 foot T12's with a case of lamps it cost less then 200 to do 8 fixtures using a 2 lamp ballast to do 2 single lamp fixtures instead of 1 ballast per fixture so I see better and can see the energy savings too.
Leds are good too but for the upfront costs and from my maintenance experience they stll have not proved longevity to me so cost and lifetime replacement are issues still to be resolved and they are already working on better ideas.

buddyb

I replaced the florescent fixtures in my garage with LEDs from Home Depot.33 watt and much better than the old ones.I think they were about 40 bucks each.

Oakie

My garage is 42x28 and I use four, 300 watt light bulbs and it works great. I use to have about 12 florescent,2 and 4 bulb lights to do the same job. Get the clear rough service bulbs.