Wiring lights in garage

Nuzzy · Sep 15, 2008

Our garage is in dire need of lights. Currently there is only one bulb in there on a switch besides the bulbs in the garage door opener that go out after a minute. So I've been trying to come up with ways to get light in there cheap. By cheap, I mean I can't currently afford to by 6ish $40 a piece 4ft florescent light fixtures. Plus, I've heard florescent lights struggle in the bitter cold and for now the garage is not insulated.

Part 1)

So I got to thinking, is there any reason I can't just install a bunch of these guys in the rafters and then screw in standard issue home indoor/outdoor floodlights?

Part 2)

Can I just piggy back off of the wire to the one switch in there? (Assuming I can since I think it's my understanding that's sort of how house light wiring goes...) And if so, how many lights is it safe to run like that on one wire? I can certainly bring up more wires from the panel since I just did the 220v outlet, and can add more light switches as needed.

Basically I need a quick light wiring 101...

:beer:

Toyotanut · Sep 15, 2008

you should be able to piggy back off of the one but you will need to make sure you don't over load the breaker.

AberdeenLiberty · Sep 15, 2008

If you use 100 watt bulbs they draw 1.2 amps at 120 volts. On a dedicated 15 amp circuit you can have 12 of them. {Divide voltage by wattage to get amps 120V/100W=1.2A} Way more light than you will need in a garage. As far as that fixture get the ones with a ceramic base and secure it to the bottom of the rafter. Maybe use a small square piece of plywood nailed to the rafter.

pokey · Sep 15, 2008

If its going to be a temporary fix then just buy a string of construction lights they run about $60-$100 and have 10-20 light sockets with cages to protect the bulbs and you can just plug them into a outlet. When you get around to putting in some real lighting you will have a nice string of temp lights for outside partys and such. We even take them in the motorhome for group campouts.

99redtj · Sep 15, 2008

first off, if you want flourescent lights you need to get them with 0 degree starting ballast.most flourescent lights lights come with 50 degree ballast.

do not use what you have shown in the picture. they make a porcelain lamp holder that will mount to a box.

mount either a round or single gang nail on box where you want a light and run either 14-2 romax (15 amp breaker) or 12-2 romax (20 amp breaker) between each box and then to a box for your switch and then to your panel if you want to add a new circuit.

a 20 amp breaker at 120 volts is good for 2400 watts,15 amp breaker is good for 1800.

so lets say you plan on using 100 watt bulbs on a 20amp circuit you could put 14 incandescent lights on that 20 amp circuit safely without loading it up.

to be on the safe side lets say around 10 incandescent lights on a 15amp circuit.

happy wiring if that makes any sence at all to you.just remember bad wiring can equal fire.

99redtj

99redtj · Sep 15, 2008

the ceramic lamp holder in the picture is the same porcelain lamp holder that i was talking about.

do not just nail or screw the lamp holder to the bottom of rafter without using a box.

plastic nailon boxes are very cheap.

hopefully your garage ceiling is not sheatrock

AberdeenLiberty · Sep 15, 2008

99redtj said:
the ceramic lamp holder in the picture is the same porcelain lamp holder that i was talking about.

do not just nail or screw the lamp holder to the bottom of rafter without using a box.

plastic nailon boxes are very cheap.

hopefully your garage ceiling is not sheatrock

Oh crap I forgot the part about the box.

Probably because the one in my closet has no box.

84Toyota4x4 · Sep 15, 2008

Home depot has twin tube 4 foot fluorescent "shop lights" for $9.99 each. Ive used a dozen or so of them between a couple sheds/shops. They have a wired plug that you just plug into an outlet, and come with chains and such to hang them. I just screwed them directly to the rafters though, and wired outlet boxes on the ceiling. Good for a retractable extension cord from the cieling too. They havent given me any problems in the cold here, but then again, this is WA. It doesnt get cold.

~T.J.

Nuzzy · Sep 15, 2008

Thank you for the responses. The garage looks like this

And basically this is what is already there. Just the one light inside and the rest outside. Each gray box is a double light switch with a read line going to the light(s) it operates.

So by using those porcelain lamp holders securely attached to boxes which are attached to the rafters, I can safely run 14 or so 100 watt lights assuming they're on their own 20 amp breaker...

That would certainly add much needed light

86tuning · Sep 16, 2008

84Toyota4x4 said:
Home depot has twin tube 4 foot fluorescent "shop lights" for $9.99 each.

Yup those work. Plus flourescent tubes put out much more light than incandescent bulbs for the same amount of wattage/power usage.

I'll bet three or four 4' fixtures will light your garage up pretty good.

TheMasterbater · Sep 16, 2008

I put 8 flourescent lights that are 8' long in our garage 2 years ago. Now i just need to cut a hole in the concrete and build in a box for lights in the floor and put 1" lexan over it for lighting under the rig.

all 8 lights cost me 80 dollars. :masturbanana[1]: But After seeing the difference, i would pay the normal price just for a happy lit up working area.

Fordzuki · Sep 16, 2008

84Toyota4x4 said:
Home depot has twin tube 4 foot fluorescent "shop lights" for $9.99 each. Ive used a dozen or so of them between a couple sheds/shops. They have a wired plug that you just plug into an outlet, and come with chains and such to hang them. I just screwed them directly to the rafters though, and wired outlet boxes on the ceiling. Good for a retractable extension cord from the cieling too. They havent given me any problems in the cold here, but then again, this is WA. It doesnt get cold.

~T.J.

These are what I have, every once in a while walmart will have the same ones for 8.99, then the "shop" bulbs run 99 cents. Cheap, easy to install, and put off plenty of light.

84Toyota4x4 · Sep 16, 2008

86tuning said:
Yup those work. Plus flourescent tubes put out much more light than incandescent bulbs for the same amount of wattage/power usage.

I'll bet three or four 4' fixtures will light your garage up pretty good.

Exactly my opinion. If youre going to put boxes up there anyway for the lamp holders youre talking about, why not make them outlet boxes instead, and just plug these fluorescent lights into them?

Id bet you could put two outlet boxes up there (with two plugs each like a standard wall outlet), and run 4 of those fluorescent lights, two on each box, and light up your whole garage just fine. Two 35 watt bulbs per light is 70 watts, times 4 lights is 280 watts, which is only 2.5 amps or so at 110 volts for all of them. Much less than a ton of bulbs like youre talking at 100 watts a piece, which is 12.7 amps in comparison for 14 bulbs at 110 volts. I always try to calculate "worst case". At 115 or 120 volts it would be even less amperage.

Thats how I ended up doing my Dads 30x32 shop. Just put outlet boxes on the ceiling and plugged em in, along with a drop down retractable extension cord that plugs right in also. We have 8 of them on the ceiling wired in sets, and controlled at a 4 switch panel at the front door so you can turn on different areas of the shop. PLENTY of light :awesomework:

The only downside in my opinion would be the possibility of extreme cold weather performance, in which case they might take longer to start, or might not start at all. If it means anything to you, I have a 4 tube 4 foot fluorescent light mounted OUTSIDE my shed under an overhang in a pseudo car port area. It has never not started, even with snow on the ground.

~T.J.

Pat · Sep 16, 2008

I would also recommend the cheapo flourescent tubes plugged into outlets in the cieling. You can probably have as many as you need without overloading the circuit, and they will provide better light for working than the single bulbs. From the one light that is there just run a 12/2 or 14/2 from it to the next light location, then to the next, etc. Outlets are easy, black wires go one one side and white wires on the other side, bare wires get tied together with a pigtail to the green screw.

CrustyJeep · Sep 16, 2008

Pat said:
I would also recommend the cheapo flourescent tubes plugged into outlets in the cieling. You can probably have as many as you need without overloading the circuit, and they will provide better light for working than the single bulbs.

About 10 of them on a 15 amp circuit, assuming 40 watt bulbs.

I have 5 of the cheapies in the garage and they light the holy piss out of it. I haven't had one fail in the roughly 6 years they've been out there. Money well spent, I'd say.

99redtj · Sep 16, 2008

when using flourescent lights you don't use the wattage of the bulbs to figure how many you can put one one circuit.you have to use the amp rating that is on the ballast.

99redtj · Sep 16, 2008

if you buy flourescent lights that doesn't have a cord on them you will not need to put boxes in the ceiling with outlets in them.

just mount the flourescent lights to the bottom of your rafters and run either 14/2 or 12/2 with ground between the lights and to the switch.

flourescent lights have knock outs in the ends of the fixitures to run the romax into them.