Lamps for the garage: how to choose?

Many motorists, buying a garage, plan to do car repair work in it. To perform these works, good lighting is necessary: ​​as a rule, the garage has no windows. Consequently, the daylight does not penetrate the garage room, so it is necessary to use artificial light sources for illumination.

Consider their main types and subtleties of choice, as the garage light must meet many parameters.

Insufficient or excessive illumination affects a person’s eyes very adversely. The choice of lamps for lighting the garage must be approached seriously and carefully. It is not enough just to choose the design of lamps, the power of light bulbs and place them in the garage.It is necessary to take into account every aspect.

For convenience of choice, the instruction 52.13330.2011 was developed in the recommendations of the SNiP.

It is often necessary to illuminate not only the perimeter of the garage, but also its individual zones. From the illumination of the working area depends on the quality of work and the person's vision. It is necessary to plan in advance where the work areas will be located. This will allow in the future to optimally choose the design of the lighting device and the type of light sources. Before choosing the lighting for the garage you need to solve a few questions.

It is important to determine:

• for what will use the garage;
• what types of repairs are planned in the garage;

• where the main working area will be located, as well as auxiliary;
• what is the maximum number of people can be in the garage when performing certain types of repair work.

As soon as there are answers to all these questions, you can easily choose the design of the lighting device, their layout.At this stage, you can determine the optimal light source. This will help make the lighting project cost effective.

By way of mounting distinguish ceiling and wall lamps.

Ceiling lamps are suitable for lighting garages with small dimensions (for example, 3x4 meters). This is the most common type of fixtures. This arrangement ensures uniform light distribution throughout the garage..

Installation of such lamps is a little difficult: it is connected with performance of work at height. For these works requires an employee with appropriate qualifications.

Wall lights are used when it is necessary to illuminate certain parts of the room. For example, these may be workbench, table, shelf or shelf areas. Simplicity in installation and service does these light devices especially popular. Skills in the commission of electrical operations - the only thing needed for the installation of wall-mounted light sources.

Lighting devices are distinguished by the light source. They are:

• LED (LED);
• fluorescent;
• halogen;
• with incandescent bulbs.

The most popular solution is to use lamps with incandescent bulbs. The main advantages of such light sources are low cost and ease of use. However, they have their drawbacks, which include a relatively short service life, high consumption of electrical energy and unstable light radiation.

The light emission of such a lamp has a yellow color spectrum. This greatly reduces the color perception of the person working in the lighting zone. The efficiency of such a lamp is low, because the energy used by the incandescent lamp is converted to heat.

The use of this lighting unit in areas with an explosive environment is undesirable.. In the event of a malfunction, the incandescent lamp tends to spark, which can lead to fire. This lamp is not recommended for use in rooms with flammable environments.

Many motorists use the circuit lighting fluorescent lamps or linear lights. This choice can hardly be called good, although these lamps have their own advantages.

These lamps have a uniform luminous flux, high efficiency and long service life. but fluorescent lamps do not work well at low temperatures. At +5 degrees C and below, they are not ignited. In addition, these light sources at work emit a characteristic buzzing sound.

When an overvoltage occurs in the network, such lamps begin to flash or dim with a dim light. The biggest disadvantage of this type of luminaire is the presence of mercury vapor in the lamp. It is necessary to operate such a light source with utmost care., so as not to cause harm to health.

An uninterruptible power supply is necessary for the flawless operation of such lighting devices. This leads to an increase in the cost of installing the garage lighting system. Operation of such light sources without a voltage regulator will lead to their failure.

Before using this type of luminaire to illuminate the garage is necessary purchase a voltage regulator and take care of space heating.

Energy saving lamp - a modern type of light source. All the benefits consist of a long service life, good light output and stable operation at low temperatures. Before using this luminaire, you must carefully weigh everything.

For a local lighting device today LED lamps are often used. They are also called LED lamps. Their use for lighting individual areas of the garage due to the long service life, efficiency, high color reproduction, even without pulsation luminous flux. The only disadvantage of this light source is its high cost.

Big spread in recent times diode tapes. This is due to the reliability of operation, ease of installation, high performance. The use of this light source improves comfort in the garage, making its appearance more aesthetic. Many modern garages are equipped with this type of lighting..

The tape can have one or two rows of LEDs of different sizes and densities. In some cases, it can completely replace the central lighting of the garage.as the light from the LED light sources is bright enough and the electricity consumption is low. They are economical: the consumption of LED light sources is 10 times less than incandescent bulbs. Varieties are remarkable in that, depending on the type of device, they can change the shade of the light flux.

This type of lighting device has a closed, sealed enclosure, inside which is located the light source. Due to the hermetic enclosure, the harmful factors contained in the garage cannot get inside the luminaire and damage the light source. This increases its service life.. This light source is the safest in operation.

Portable light sources are used in garages as an auxiliary light.. The so-called carrying is a simple extension cord (cord) attached to a light source. This is an outdated design of a portable lamp. The presence of the cord makes it inconvenient in operation and limits the area of ​​application of the device.

Recently, widespread rechargeable portable lighting devices. Their main advantage is the absence of a cord. This allows you to use it in any place (even where there is no electricity). But the absence of a cord is also a disadvantage: this device requires constant recharging of the battery.

All portable luminaires should be powered from a 12-volt network (not more) with a degree of protection not lower than IP44. This requirement must be met for safety. A universal converter is required to connect the diode tape. This device is designed for a standard voltage of +220 volts, it is necessary for the operation of the diode tape.Its capacity is 12; 24 or 38 volts (the longer the tape, the more powerful the converter should be).

All other designs of luminaires can be connected to the mains with a voltage of 220 volts. To determine the power of the lighting, we assume that at 1kV. m. garage accounts for at least 20 watts of lighting.

The design of the lamp for the garage depends on the type and nature of the work performed in the room. Not the last role is played by personal preferences of motorists. We can give some recommendations that will help determine the choice of lighting devices.

• To calculate the exact number of light sources in the garage, it is necessary to determine for what purpose it will serve.
• One bright luminaire in the working area and background illumination around the perimeter of the room may suffice.
• If you need a uniform and powerful luminous flux in the garage, you should install two central lamps in the ceiling.
• To eliminate the failure of the entire lighting system at once, it is necessary to power on two automatic switches.

When choosing lighting fixtures, an important role is played by the quality of selected products. Cheaper options tend to be substandard accessories.This leads to a decrease in the working life and technical characteristics of the lamp.. Safety in the operation of such lighting leaves much to be desired.

Using a lamp with an E27 base makes it versatile in terms of the application of any light source. You can always change the light source in such a luminaire to the one that best suits the work currently being done. Any lamp can be fitted to this base.. At the same time there is always the possibility of choosing a warm or neutral shade of the glow.

The number of lamps depends on the area of ​​the garage and the power of the selected lamp. It is necessary to multiply the area of ​​the garage by 20 W (the minimum illumination of one square meter of the garage). The result should be divided by the power of the selected lamp.

Example: a garage has dimensions of 3x7 meters, a lamp with an incandescent lamp of 75 watts. Find the number of lamps: 3x7x20 / 75 = 5.6 pieces. It turns out that to illuminate this garage you will need to put 6 lamps with 75W incandescent lamps.Changing the power of the lamps in a big way, their number will decrease.

The most common arrangement of lamps in the garage - ceiling. In this scheme, all the lighting devices are placed on the ceiling of the garage. This arrangement ensures optimal and uniform distribution of light over the garage area with a minimum number of light sources. Due to this, this scheme is popular with car enthusiasts.

Wall layout of lamps used at least. Simplicity in installation and convenience in service cause its popularity. This scheme allows you to save the space at the height of the garage, if it is necessary to perform some type of work. However, the wall lights are inferior in the degree of illumination of the center.

Often use a combined layout of lighting devices. This allows you to perform many types of repair work in the garage. Such a scheme is considered universal. Connection to the mains is carried out separately. Wall lights are connected to one automatic switch, and ceiling lights are connected to another.This makes it possible to use each scheme separately.

If repairs require frequent use of a viewing pit, stationary wall lighting with a voltage of 36 volts is installed in it. The use of carrying in this case is not required, which is the advantage of this method of placement of lamps.

For the best location of lamps in the garage, you can consider a few tips:

• When installing street lighting in the garage, attach a motion sensor to the lamp. This will save energy.

• In a heated room, install fluorescent lights or LED, if the garage is not heated.
• To protect the garage lighting system against short circuits and overloads, install RCD circuit breakers.
• It is necessary to mount the grounding circuit of the wiring in order to avoid accidents.

• Be sure to install emergency lighting and power it from a 12 volt battery. You can think about alternative energy sources.
• Do not save on the quality of component materials.Remember that the miser pays twice.

See how to make your own LED garage lighting in the next video.