Most garages are equipped with inadequate overhead lighting in the form of bare bulbs or cheap fluorescents. If you work in the garage after sunset, either wrenching on your car or applying stain to your latest woodworking project, you need to upgrade the lighting. I prefer fluorescent lighting. For most garages, the main concern with fluorescents is the temperatures that are typical in your garage. Cheap fluorescent lighting will provide light, but will be slow to light or not at all, if the temperature drops below 55 degrees. If your garage temperatures dip below 55 degrees for extended periods of time you want fixtures with electronic ballasts. Electronic ballasts will give you good service down to 0 degrees. But if your garage gets down to 0 degrees it might be time to move! Fluorescent fixtures use either a T12 or T8 tube. Your cheaper fixtures will use the T12 tube and have an electromagnetic ballast. My preference is a fixture that uses two T8 tubes, usually more expensive, but works better in cooler temperatures because it has an electronc ballast. I've seen these in home improvement stores under $20.
After choosing the T8 fixture you have to choose the T8 tube to provide the lighting effect. You can find the tubes in two-packs with various ratings on the packaging. The Color Rendering Index(CRI) is vital for seeing colors clearly. Look for a CRI of 85 o
r more. Brightness, which is measured in LUMENS, is your next consideration. A 40-watt cool white fluorescent tube has 3,050 LUMENS compared to a 60-watt incandescent bulb that puts out 850 LUMENS. That's over 6,000 LUMENS for each two-tube T8 fixture! Another rating you might see on the tube packaging is color temperature. The unit of measure for color temperature is called KELVIN. A lower color temperature makes the light appear warmer. Where a common light bulb has a color temperature of 2,800 Kelvin, a cool white fluorescent has a color temperature of 4,100 Kelvin. You may have to experiment to find the color temperature you like. So how many fixtures does your garage need? This also may take some experimenting due to different ceiling heights. In general, the average garage should have fixtures 3 to 4 feet apart.
r more. Brightness, which is measured in LUMENS, is your next consideration. A 40-watt cool white fluorescent tube has 3,050 LUMENS compared to a 60-watt incandescent bulb that puts out 850 LUMENS. That's over 6,000 LUMENS for each two-tube T8 fixture! Another rating you might see on the tube packaging is color temperature. The unit of measure for color temperature is called KELVIN. A lower color temperature makes the light appear warmer. Where a common light bulb has a color temperature of 2,800 Kelvin, a cool white fluorescent has a color temperature of 4,100 Kelvin. You may have to experiment to find the color temperature you like. So how many fixtures does your garage need? This also may take some experimenting due to different ceiling heights. In general, the average garage should have fixtures 3 to 4 feet apart. 
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