<VV> New Garage - Lighting

[Rad Davis]

I'd add that it's a lot easier to get light on the floor and under the 
vehicle if you have a more reflective floor.

Fresh concrete has a pretty good albedo.  Unfortunately, if you actually 
use the garage, the floor will get darker and darker over time.  Consider 
putting down a white or light grey floor epoxy over the work areas.  Not 
only will this prevent oil stains, dirt, and tire rubber darkening the 
floor over time, it will also reflect more light from the surrounding area 
under the car.  It's never easier to paint a floor than just after it has 
cured--there will be no soaked-in oil to cause the paint to spall.

Likewise, a coat of white primer on the sheetrock around the cars is very 
helpful with getting light where you're working.

I agree completely with Kent about getting some high-index 
fluorescents.  You get a lot of eye fatigue from cool white flouros, and 
even more from mercury vapor and sodium.  If you're feeling really poor, 
you can mix soft white and cool white fluorescent tubes in the same 
fixture.  It looks odd, but throws a more balanced light.  The high-index 
tubes are my choice, though, and they're not so much more expensive that 
you'll break the bank on them.

At 08:14 PM 10/22/2005 -0700, Kent Sullivan wrote:
>It's hard to do better all-around than good quality, modern fluorescent
>tubes that have a high Color Rendering Index (low 90s tends to be pretty
>true without the premium cost of getting still closer to 100). Mercury vapor
>and other kinds of specialty lights have some supposed advantages but they
>also have some big downsides, such as cost, amount of light output variance
>over the life of the bulb, and startup time. By output variance I mean that
>some bulb types start out really bright but their output curves down for
>quite some time before the bulb blows, whereas fluorescents tend to have
>about the same output until the die.
>
>Be sure you work with someone who knows how to lay out lighting properly.
>You should have about 100 candles/foot at the floor. You can go somewhat
>brighter but you actually can get it too bright, which is just as bad as too
>dim. Working with someone who knows their stuff will also help with fixture
>placement to help ensure that you minimize shadows--something you definitely
>want to avoid.
>
>--Kent
>-----Original Message-----
>From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
>[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of dcvjrv at comcast.net
>Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2005 7:49 PM
>To: Virtual Vairs
>Subject: <VV> New Garage - Lighting
>
>I am in the process of building a garage to store and work on my vehicles.
>I will be 50' x 64' with 13' from floor to bottom of trusses and will be
>clear span.  I am looking for comments and recommendations as to the best
>lighting to install.  I want to keep the lights even with the bottom of the
>trusses.  The walls will be drywalled (sheet rocked) and the ceiling will be
>left open.
>
>Thanks for any and all comments and recommendations.
>
>
>Jim V.
>1964 Chevrolet Corvair Spyder Convertible
>http://www.angelfire.com/mi2/jrvvehicles
>dcvjrv at comcast.net
>
>
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