Florescent Lights Above Garage Door?

[Dan Duperron]

Ladies & Gents,

I have done the usual search of these forums and elsewhere and not found a definitive answer, so I'm hoping one of the electricians or lighting engineers in the house (you know who you are ;) ) can help.

In the end this is on my list of questions to ask my electrician when the time comes, but I'm hoping for something more than "depends on your local codes and the mood of the inspector" so I can complete my plans.

My garage/shop is ~21 x 26 with two single roll-up garage doors and 8' ceiling. Living space (MBR and part of living room) is above. The entire garage is sheet rocked.

Currently I'm planning my lighting layout and struggling with the area that is blocked when the garage doors are up. Most of the time I spend in the shop is with the doors closed, and it would be really nice to not have big dark 'holes' in the lighting plan where the doors are. Especially since my cabinet saw is right under one of those holes.

I measure 5" of clear space between the ceiling and the top surface (outside) of the doors when they are raised. The lights I am buying have an external depth of 2 7/8" when flush mounted. I don't have automatic openers to work around. So from a strictly Newtonian standpoint I am in the clear. The spec sheet for the lights also does not list minimum clearance required below the lens.

If I installed them this way I would have all of the lights that are obstructed by the doors on a separate switched circuit so I could turn them off when the doors are up.

I have found several posts where it is clearly implied that some people have installed lights in this fashion, and other references (such as the Article "Let There Be Light" from the 2010 FWW Tools & Shops issue) where a close look shows no lights installed above the doors. There is a thread in this forum debating the merits of various options for placement above a garage door, but it is inconclusive and doesn't mention surface mount florescent fixtures.

My question is this - can anyone tell me if this type of installation is in violation of the NEC, or likely to be in violation of local code? Have you done it and it passed inspection? Are there other problems with this arrangement that I am not anticipating?

Thanks in advance for any help and/or sarcastic remarks - both are always welcome.

-Dan D.

[George Bregar]

I just went without but I only have one door, and that end of my three car garage shop will be an assembly, wood storage, etc area. As it is the shop is 24' wide, so the 17' not under the door is well lit. I doubt there is a code issue, but others in the know can chime in.

[Lee Schierer]

I'm not overly familiar with NEC, but I don't think it would violate any codes ot have lights over the open door unless those were the only lights in the room or else incandescents where the light might heat up the door surface.

Put windows in your doors and have the lights positioned over the windows when the door is open.

[Dan Duperron]

Put windows in your doors and have the lights positioned over the windows when the door is open.

Lee you are one clever dude! I just happen to have a row of windows in each door, so I certainly could use that to my advantage. I think it will be rare that I will be working with the doors open when it's dark outside, but I could dream about spending warm summer nights out in the shop. It's a nice thought looking outside at the snow right now...

[George Bregar]

Put windows in your doors and have the lights positioned over the windows when the door is open. Smart!!!!!

[Rod Sheridan]

I have surface mounted fixtures above the garage door, as I don't work with the door open at night.

I used EMT since the ceiling is finished............Regards, Rod.

[Dan Duperron]

I have surface mounted fixtures above the garage door, as I don't work with the door open at night.

I used EMT since the ceiling is finished............Regards, Rod.

So are you willing to admit honestly in a public forum - did you have that installation inspected / approved? :eek: If not you can always shoot me a PM or call me on the phone. ;)

I'm guessing that if it passed the Canadian code it's likely to be OK here, but just guessing. I've already established that I'm not the expert!

[Rod Sheridan]

Yes I had the installation inspected, in my line of work I know better than not to have it inspected.

I had it inspected at the same time as the welder receptacle in the garage, and the shop distribution panel.

The inspectors comments were, "gee. I don't think I've seen this much EMT in a house before", as the shop walls are concrete I used EMT for all the installation except the lighting and the cyclone ( I used AC90 for flexibility to the motor).

Regards, Rod.

[Matt Armstrong]

having your door open in the summer is not all it's cracked up to be. Bug city!

[Bob Wingard]

Why couldn't you have a few fixtures mounted so as to hang from the door tracks for use when the door is up ??

[Mike Henderson]

I was thinking the same thing but instead of hanging them from the door tracks, I'd drop some supports from the ceiling, just outside the door tracks, then go just under the door tracks with a beam and mount my lights on that.

Mike

[glenn bradley]

I have five 2 lamp T-8 fixtures above the door. The door is normally closed or just open about 18" for ventilation along with a side door or window being opened. I can raise the door about 3 feet before it starts to cover the lights. I can turn them off if I have the door open for an extended time (very rare). In SoCal, with the door open during the day, there's no need for lights anywhere nearby. I thought about hanging them from a guy-wire below the door but the clearance wasn't good for me. YMMV.

[Randy Bonella]

I have 4 sets of 4' T8's that get covered when my garage door is open. Yes it was inspected and yes it passed, no issues. T8's generate almost no heat so not a problem as long as you clear the door. I didn't hardwire mine in but wired switched outlets in the ceiling to allow for different placements if needed. I'd be surprised if there were any NEC or local code issues with fluorescent lights, incandescent and or Halogen and recessed can's maybe different story

[Doug Carpenter]

I can't imagine it would be a problem. I know that these days on my jobs my electrical contractor uses flourescent lights in closets because there is a risk of fire with the old pull chain incandescent bulbs. I don't think it will get hot enough to ever cause a problem even if you forget to turn them off when the door is open.

I have a similar situation and I might do the same thing, or get one of those old miner helmets with a candle on it!

I will speak to my Electritian today so I'll try to remember to ask him about it.

[Dan Duperron]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I've laid out my lighting plan to include some fixtures that will fall above the doors when open. Those will be on a separate switches. After I get the rest of the power laid out I'll run the thing past my friendly electrician and see what he says after I talk him down from his first reaction - which I expect will be "You've got way too many lights in there!" :-) You know that if I get any heartburn from him or the inspector about it I'll let you know.

BTW I laid out the lights using the free trial version of the "Visual" application mentioned in the FWW article in the recent Tools & Shops. It's really cool! It had a bit of a steep learning curve though. I'm used to using Visio and like 2-D tools, and found this one to be far less intuitive. Perhaps if I was experienced at 3-D CAD it would have been easier. In any case I was able to model my shop, including a duct chase projecting down from the ceiling, all luminaires, and generate a nice plot including lumen values at working height and lumen contour lines. Probably overkill, but it was quite fun to do. I'm a little OCD sometimes and being able to move things around and try different orientations was very satisfying. After lots of screwing around I've at least convinced myself that I have arrived at the best setup possible for my needs in the space I have to work with. More importantly I had the data to coach my wife through her initial reaction, which was, you guessed it, "you're nuts! That's way too many lights!". In case you are wondering, it's 28 T-8 bulbs in a 21' x 26' space, shooting for an average of 75 lumens at working height.

If you have some patience or an unusual situation (like my duct chase) that makes planning your lighting a little complex I highly recommend using Visual. You can download the tool from the Lithonia web site.

[Doug Carpenter]

I'm sorry Dan I forgot to get back to you I had a bummer of a day on Wed. and couldn't finish my job. Which meant I didn't get paid. :mad:

Yet another Christmas I was left short at the last minute.

There is no code that says you can't put the lights you want above the garage door.

Sometimes the door panels go higher than the rails as the door operates; so be sure of your clearance before you do it.

Good idea. I'm going to do it too.

[Dan Duperron]

Hey Doug, thanks for the reply. Good to hear from a pro on the topic. Very sorry to hear about your compromised Christmas :-(

I'm still working for "the man", not myself, but I sure admire guys like you who aren't. You have so many challenges you have to manage I don't know how you do it. Big cojones I guess!