Shedding Light On a Dimly Lit Garage

Since moving into our home a year ago, I find that I spend most of my time creating things out of wood in my garage, working on cars and hanging out with our neighbors. When we moved in, there were three light sockets in the ceiling spanning across the garage and two 4 foot fluorescent light fixtures on the other side. Ideally, not the best lighting, but got the job done for the most part. Over the weekend, I sold some of my lumber and decided to use the funds to upgrade the lighting to see better.

I purchased 6 more fluorescent light fixtures and 20 ultra cool bulbs and go to work. Initially, I used the chains accompanied with the fixtures, but did not light the way they hung on the ceiling. I took a break, had a beer and got back to it. My second option was to mount the fixtures directly to the ceiling... Much better!

The difference is night and day. The light I have now with the new lights is no comparison to the previous lighting situation. For now, there are a total of 5 lights that are mounted and a total of 10 bulbs. I will be adding a total of 14 to the ceiling. 8 in the main portion of the garage, where the cars will be parked and 6 in the woodshop section of the garage. The added light helps immensely and increases the safety factor while working with sharp chisels and power tools.  The power cords are very unsightly, but will eventually be hardwired to a switch in the near future.

The eventual plans for the garage is to add insulation to the walls, garage doors, drywall, spackle and paint the walls to give it a more complete look. It is taking time to build and create my ideal garage, but it is a work in progress and it probably will always will be. Bit for now, I can see when I am hard at work on a project!