So I went to the orange box store and picked up a couple of these to see if they would give me some better lighting in the garage:
These
And I get them home and in the instructions they say "not recommended for surface mounting". Label on the fixture says to mount a minimum of 18" away from ceiling. And the orange box store had them on display screwed into a board, which tricked me into thinking that's how they could be mounted 
. Of course a quick perusal of the manu's website doesn't yield anything interesting/helpful. So I figure if there is someone out there in GRM land that can help when someone needs advice on getting animal blood for a project, there's gotta be someone out there that can tell me why these can't be screwed into my garage ceiling.
Plan B: anyone got a good recommendation for a fixture/light I can use in the garage. Garage is ~880 SF and has 8 foot ceilings. I've gotten by with a bunch of el-cheap-o workshop lights surface mounted to the ceiling, but they were cheap, buzzed, started slow when cold, and I put up like 12 of them to give me some light in there.
thx in advance....
I used to work with lighting fixtures. I'll do some research and get back to you..
One of the guys over on the garage journal board was nice enough to create a number of lighting layouts for various size garages: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=289441
Thanks in advance 32dxman -- appreciate the help!
Stuart -- thanks for the link -- off to check it out now...
84FSP
Reader
5/17/15 10:47 a.m.
I ran 4 of those in my 22'x22' garage with 14'ceilings and it's a good amount of light. I had previously run 8 of them in a 24'x24' garage which was epic but often mistaken for a landing strip...
If there aren't any vents on top of that ballast box, I don't see why it would need to hang.
84FSP wrote:
I ran 4 of those in my 22'x22' garage with 14'ceilings and it's a good amount of light. I had previously run 8 of them in a 24'x24' garage which was epic but often mistaken for a landing strip...
How were they mounted? what kind of ceiling did you have in those 2 spaces?
Kenny_McCormic wrote:
If there aren't any vents on top of that ballast box, I don't see why it would need to hang.
See? That's exactly what I was thinking -- and why I looked them over for about an hour after I brought them home....
How do you access the ballast on the fixture / Luminaire? I think that there is a ballast Cover on top of the fixture. There is nothing to screw into. If there is not a ballast cover the Ballast cover on top, that is where the ballast would be mounted and those T5 get hot. I would suggest 4 point mounting with eye hooks and a couple of links of jack chain.
orphancars wrote:
Plan B: anyone got a good recommendation for a fixture/light I can use in the garage. Garage is ~880 SF and has 8 foot ceilings. I've gotten by with a bunch of el-cheap-o workshop lights
You are describing my garage. Same size, 8 ft ceilings.
I used
these cheapies. Surface mounted. Electronic ballasts & they have none of the issues you describe. Instant on, no flickering, no buzz. Great lights.
Before cheapo lighting:
After:
If I get ambitious or decide I need more light, I'll paint the walls & ceiling. I did that in the other room in my basement and the difference is incredible.
