Hi Gang,

I'm in the process of wiring my garage/workshop. It has a 10'
ceiling and will be painted off white.

How many lumens per sq ft should I use for lighting?

Also, what type of lighting is recommended? I'm thinking flourescent
to save on costs, but am open to any suggestions.

Thanks, Gary

"G Mulcaster" wrote in message
...
Hi Gang,

I'm in the process of wiring my garage/workshop. It has a 10'
ceiling and will be painted off white.

How many lumens per sq ft should I use for lighting?

Also, what type of lighting is recommended? I'm thinking flourescent
to save on costs, but am open to any suggestions.

Thanks, Gary



For general garage lighting I think 10 footcandles (fc) should ok.
Depending on the specific working task, it could be anywhere form 30 to 300
fc or more on the working surface. The IES lighting handbook has the fc
requirements for many specific tasks. Good flourescent fixtures are hard to
beat but make sure you don't have strobe effect when working with rotating
machines or tools.

For example, my woodshop (table saw, radial arm saw, drill press, etc.) has
about 100 fc with flourescent fixtures. This translates to about 3 to 4
watts/sf at 8' ceiling mounting height and off white paint.

G Mulcaster wrote:
Hi Gang,

I'm in the process of wiring my garage/workshop. It has a 10'
ceiling and will be painted off white.

How many lumens per sq ft should I use for lighting?

Also, what type of lighting is recommended? I'm thinking flourescent
to save on costs, but am open to any suggestions.

Thanks, Gary

What are you going to be doing in the garage? If you just park cars in
there, you don't need much a bare bulb in the middle should do fine, If you
want to do detailed hobby work you will need a lot more.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

To get an idea of what is required for diferent tasks you need to google
up lighting specifications rating different ocupations, flourescent are
most common but metal halide? is used in large areas.

I learened TONS about what was needed in my shop the FIRST time I tried
working much in there.

Set up a test, do the job, add lights till your satisfiued add 25%,
since new bulbs always dim over time.

the briter the better, have 3 switches, one is I need to walkl thru
here and not trip over something

number 2 switch I need to see good enough to look for stuff

number 3 I have a detailed project

this way you dont waste energy, and bulb life of the briter ones is way
longer.

fluroscents are ideal buy good ones not the cheap ones.

wrote:
I learened TONS about what was needed in my shop the FIRST time I tried
working much in there.

Set up a test, do the job, add lights till your satisfiued add 25%,
since new bulbs always dim over time.

the briter the better, have 3 switches, one is I need to walkl thru
here and not trip over something

number 2 switch I need to see good enough to look for stuff

number 3 I have a detailed project

this way you dont waste energy, and bulb life of the briter ones is way
longer.

fluroscents are ideal buy good ones not the cheap ones.

The suggested of having switched levels of lghting is a good one, that
way you don't have light for surgery when you've just taking out the
trash.


Suggested light levels (in foot candles)

Hallways or corridors 10 general area average

Work and circulation areas 30 eneral area average

Normal office work 50 (40-60) Measured at work surface

Prolonged office work 75 (55-90) Measured at work surface

Visually difficult work 100 (80-210) Measured at work surface

A rough rule of thumb is about 2 watts fluorescent per square foot of
work area. This will yield light that is adequate for general work (40
to 60) any boost above that could be handled with task lighting or
extra fixtures.

YMMV as the specfic conditions can influence final lighting results
(ceilign height, paint color, fixture type)

cheers
Bob

How many lumens per sq ft should I use for lighting?

What are you going to be doing in the garage? If you just park cars in
there, you don't need much a bare bulb in the middle should do fine, If you
want to do detailed hobby work you will need a lot more.

I'll be doing woodworking and mechanical work on cars. The garage is
540 sq ft.

Thinking of going with 100 FC/sq ft.

Gary

On Mon, 19 Jun 2006 02:23:05 GMT, G Mulcaster
wrote:

Hi Gang,

I'm in the process of wiring my garage/workshop. It has a 10'
ceiling and will be painted off white.

How many lumens per sq ft should I use for lighting?

Thanks for all the help everyone. I'm thinking of 100 fc using good
quality flourescents.

Gary