New Garage Lighting Recommendations

[King31]

I am in the process of finishing my garage out after buying the house last year. It is 24' x 42' but only has a 8.5' ceiling. I plan on putting galvinzed metal on the ceiling and I'm looking for some light fixtures that would screw through the metal and into the bottom of the rafter or to a runner I could install. Currently there are 5 large fixtures that have (4) - 4' bulbs in them. These are all hardwired right now so something similar would be nice. I bypassed the ballasts on those already, but looking at doing something different to give as much clearance as possible. Does anyone have experience with a similar situation? If so, what did you go with for lighting? There are no windows in this garage so ideally Ill probably put 8-10 fixtures as I do all my tackle prep and general shop work out there.

[King31]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/VEVOR-LE...VNV1/327191779

Currently something like this is the front runner.

[Bug Bunny]

This is what I put in my garage and I love them. Not sure they would work for your application but worth considering!! Very easy install as they plug into an outlet.

https://www.amazon.com/HYPERLITE-War...zcF9hdGY&psc=1

[BrianKF]

I put 15 of these in my 20' x 40' garage. I did three rows and staggard the middle row. My ceiling is 8' unfinished (2"x12" joist). I went with the 1800 lumens because I didn't want to be blinded every time I may look up. Worked out good for me. It's a decent amount of light. Not the brightest but decent. My garage is unfinished and not painted. I hard wired mine with a separate switch for the middle row.
https://www.homedepot.com/s/1001%20391%20348?NCNI-5

This is what mine looks like.
Garage light.jpg

[Rangerdeepv]

Had the same issue but a little different in the garage at the the lakehouse. There are 6 overhead screw in type fixtures and no matter how big the wattage of the bulbs it never worked until 5 of the LED multi-light adjustable paddle screw ins showed up from Amazon. Can actually pour baits, work on boat, etc now.

[22Clint]

With that low of clearance, I would go with 6” recessed wafer fixtures. Cutting the holes with a 6” hole saw can be challenging though.

[21XDC]

These will blow your mind at 12,000 Lumens https://www.superbrightleds.com/led-...0k-hba-50k100s

[Ranger Skipper]

LED's will definitely give you the most light for your buck. I put these in a 45x35 with 12' ceilings a couple of years ago and they work great compared to the old fluorescent fixtures I removed

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Edit. Added photos. Used one of the old metal fixtures to mount one of the lights in to hang over the work bench. Worked out pretty slick I thought

IMG_3581.jpg IMG_3582.jpg IMG_3517.jpg IMG_3970.jpg

[CastingCall]

This is what I put in my garage and I love them. Not sure they would work for your application but worth considering!! Very easy install as they plug into an outlet.

https://www.amazon.com/HYPERLITE-War...zcF9hdGY&psc=1

I second the high-bay lights! Have some in a pole building and in my garage (11' ceiling). 8' ceiling might be a bit low to get full benefit, but they are so bright there are very few dark spots.

[Corkpuller]

don’t use high bays on an 8’ ceiling

[kailor]

Lithonia LED shop lights...daisy chain-able!

[Babe Winkleworm]

IMG_20240315_172027779.jpg
Here is one row of 200 watt LED on my indoor arena. Crazy how bright they are. If do outlets in the ceiling boxes have one side for the cord on the led light the other for a drop cord

[jejb]

Had the same issue but a little different in the garage at the the lakehouse. There are 6 overhead screw in type fixtures and no matter how big the wattage of the bulbs it never worked until 5 of the LED multi-light adjustable paddle screw ins showed up from Amazon. Can actually pour baits, work on boat, etc now.

This. We have 2 separate attached garages. I put up what were then the brightest tube type lights in one of them. Worked well, had no complaints. But the wife was whining about how poorly lit "her" garage was and wanted the paddle lights. So I pulled down the old style tube light fixtures that were in there and converted them to screw in's. I also went into the attic and added 3 more. So 5 paddle lights in a 30'x30', 10' ceilings. It's like daylight in there. The light is so white and brite. Has been that way for going on 2 years now, no problems with the paddle bulbs. Wife loves it.

I will likely convert the other garage to these as well.

[Greenwing1]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/VEVOR-LE...VNV1/327191779

Currently something like this is the front runner.

My brother in law just put those in his garage with the same height ceiling but his metal is white and it turned out great with lots of light.Not sure what brand he used.

[96 Champ]

I just had a garage completed a couple weeks ago and went with LED lighting from Barrina. Tube lighting that you connect together. It lights up the garage very well.

[Toby]

Your local electrical supply store will probably have some low profile 8 ft led lights at half the price of the box stores. They will have a big selection of different bulbs too

[BP in ME]

These will blow your mind at 12,000 Lumens https://www.superbrightleds.com/led-...0k-hba-50k100s

I have two slightly smaller versions of those in my garage and it's plenty bright for 90% of what I do. Still need a task light over the workbench though. Mine came from Job Lot at $10-$12 apiece. Full disclosure: I don't tear down engines on a daily basis and I have sensitive little vampire eyes

[AMMOT]

rule of thumb i use,14' and higher go with a high bay 14' and lower go with a linear 8ft,and stay away from anything less than 4000k

[21XDC]

I have two slightly smaller versions of those in my garage and it's plenty bright for 90% of what I do. Still need a task light over the workbench though. Mine came from Job Lot at $10-$12 apiece. Full disclosure: I don't tear down engines on a daily basis and I have sensitive little vampire eyes

There are definitely other brands and models available, even at Home Depot. But I don’t think they are near as bright based on the lumens printed on package

[USS COMANCHE]

https://www.amazon.com/Barrina-Integ.../dp/B01HBT3BVM

I have these and going to be adding more. Can be hardwired or plugged in. Garage has 12ft ceiling and these 5000k light it up perfectly. Had them in 4 years now...