My New House & Workshop

[Jim Oaks]

If'n it was mine, I'd put an 8' over each bench.

Probably a smart idea, but damn I'm tired of screwing with drywall, electrical boxes, and running wire.

I should have planned this better. I'm use to a room with a light in the middle of the ceiling.

 

[Rick W]

I still like the four footers, with a pull chain, so you can have one come on when you flip the switch if you just have to see around, and you can turn on the others as you need them so you’re not just spinning the meter all the time.

If you space out four of them, whatever you gotta work on in whatever corner should have plenty of light.

And take it for my gray hair and my tired old bones, finish up the rest of it now, while you’re in the groove. If you let it go a week, you’ll be cussing about it five years from now or more.

 

[scotts90ranger]

The ones I got on Amazon can be daisy chained and are 4' with switches in the middle of the cords. I got lazy and for the purpose I want it will be fine but I wired the switch to one outlet in my shop office and have 3 lights connected to that in a row, right now the cords still have their twist ties but I'll zip tie and romex staple the wires to the ceiling when I get to that point which should be soon... I'm more for function over form on this project though although we are going to texture the walls and ceiling but that will just hopefully hide imperfections and hopefully help the echo...

I've seen lights that can be connected directly together with short couplers to make an 8' light or have a 5' cord between them, those had little metal clips that you screwed up then clipped the lights to instead of going through the lights like what I got.

 

[Curious Hound]

Probably a smart idea, but damn I'm tired of screwing with drywall, electrical boxes, and running wire.

That blows my idea. But here it is anyway.

I would put round recessed led fixtures in in several switches. There would be a row aligned with the front edge of the workbench on each wall. Each row on its own switch. That gives you light at the optimal place for working at the benches. Then a few more dispersed around the room as needed, all on another switch. Putting the light in the center of the room casts shadows when you’re at the workbench.

 

[Jim Oaks]

This wall on the left (see pic below) is going to have two rows of shelves on it that will come out about 18-20 inches and each row of shelves will have (3) Highway Patrol / Police lightbars on them, so I don't really need lighting over them. There will be a metal shelf behind me that will have my collection of dash lights and sirens.

I've considered a single shelf along that white wall with a light under it, but I haven't put that much thought into it because I've been working on other things. If I did any work in here it would be along that white wall, and it would be more hobby stuff.

This biggest reason I built this cabinet was for storage, not for a work bench. I don't have much storage space in my house.

I'm tempted to hook up one of the 8' lights to see how well it lights up this room before I install it in the shop.

 

["Risky Bizness"]

FWIW, I installed some of the LED lights that "screw" into a regular light bulb socket. They have the "wings" on them to help direct the lights. I believe they were something like $20.00 each.

I also installed one of the mini ceiling fans over my bar in my new garage. It also has a 3 stage light function. It has a remote to run it for both the lights as well as the fan speed.