Well we have been in our new home almost three months now and I am finding more time to convert our detached 2 car garage into a NYC/NKP layout room. Actually I have 2/3 of the space leaving enough room for the workbench and our yet to be purchased Harley (lost our last one with Hurricane WILMA). My area is 18 ft by 15 ft. I plan on a around the room with a pennisula down the middle. I like my layouts to be around 52 in or so off the floor so I can sit on my stool and be looking at it eye ball to eye ball. Who ever wired the garage certainly was not an electrician (I hope) so I just finished rewiring the place using all new materials. So I am now trying to decide on what type of white light I will use. I wired in two separate breakers for white and blue lights. For the blue I figured 6 standard 60 watt hippy blue deco bulbs in ceramic fixtures spaced in two rows of three for night time running. For the white I would prefer something I can dim. But on the other hand I don’t want to deal with allot of heat. Dimable florescents are priced too high to consider. So I will probably just get three double bulb shop lights. Any ideas on lighting would be appreciated. My other quandry is the AC unit. I need to install a window AC unit. There is only one window on this side of the garage and I don’t want to lose it so I will be cutting a hole in the wall for the unit. I ran a sep 30 amp line for it (and heater for winter) and placed the recepticle up high figuring on putting the unit above the layout. But after looking at that closer I am more inclined to put it under the layout. Easier to maintain and not an eyesore. My concern however is its effectiveness if placed under the layout. The space will be complely insulated and drywalled and it is a fairly small area so I think it will be fine. Any AC & R folks out there with any comments/suggestions? The place is a mess right now but after I clean it up a bit I will post pics and a draft track plan. Tks for any input. I have been thinking of this for
Hi, Terry,
Speaking as one who is also building in a garage, have you considered putting your white lights on two separate circuits? You can turn off alternate fixtures to simulate dawn/dusk lighting, or have them all on to run in daylight.
Every motel I have been in lately had a low-level AC - and they all kept the room cool, even in the desert southwest. As long as air can circulate freely to and from the unit, it shouldn’t have any problems. (IMHO, the low-level unit has a big advantage. If your legs and feet are cool, you feel cool - even if the air at eyebrow level is blood-warm.)
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
If you put an air conditioner down low, it won’t be as efficient. Reverse for a heater. In either case, you don’t want it to be buried back under benchwork, you’d want both to be on clear walls or, in the case of an air conditioner, up above the layout.
–Randy
Chuck - I hadn’t thought about putting in two white light ckts. Excellant idea However the garage has a small sub-panel and I have used up all of the breaker spots. I was lucky to be able to split the white and blue ckts. Randy - The garage is unfinished so the studs are exposed. After insulating I plan on installing 24 -28 in 2 x 4’s at 52 inch height on each stud. That way the bench work will be suspended above the floor sans legs. Of course the penninsula will have legs. With that in mind I am thinking the AC would be able to circulate air sufficiently to cool the small space. Probably not as efficient as above the layout however. I just read a british newspaper article on how 2007 may become the hottest year on record due to a combination of an EL Nino and global warming. Maybe I should get one size larger AC unit just to be sure. LOL Terry
Or think about insulating. At least from the floor up to the top of the backdrop. Perhaps you could locate the heat and AC ont he opposite side of the garage fromt he layout, all in all if there is better air flow and fewer restrictions both heat and AC will do a better job while using less energy to do so.
–Randy
You don’t need a separate breaker circuit to run two separate lighting lines, unless you’re going to put more than 10 amps on each one. You can branch the wires coming out of the box to two or more dimmers, and then run those lines up to the ceiling.
I would think about installing track lighting, with one dimmer for each of several tracks. That gives you a lot of flexibility, as long as you’ve got the headroom to do it. You could even dedicate one track to red and yellow bulbs for sunrise/sunset lighting.
Through-the-wall is definitely the way to go with the AC. We’ve got 4 separate units like that, and they have all performed well. Two are mounted high, two low, and all keep the room cool. I’ll agree that it’s more efficient to put them up high, but as long as you’ve got good air circulation that’s a pretty minimal effect. I think all of our AC’s are Panasonics. Two of them are over 10 years old, still working well, and the outside is subject to New England summers and winters.
Sorry to hear about the Harley, though.
If you do have so many lights that you have over 12 amps for a fifteen amp circuit or 16 amps on a 20 amp circuit, you can also buy something called a “Tandem Breaker” (not to be confused with a two pole breaker) for most panels. This will give you two functioning circuits in one panel slot.
Good luck,
Karl
Whether or not you mount the A/C under the layout, make sure that its air flow is unobstructed out into the room, and that the condenser is well drained outside and away from the building. You may want to add ceiling fans to your thinking to provide air circulation for heat and cooling distribution for more balanced temperature throughout the space. While cooling may be your primary focus, do not forget to insulate overhead to keep the cool in in August and the heat in in February.
Your flourescents can be set up on seperate switches to bring them up or down to make transition for your dusk to 1/3 or 1/2 daylight. While not a dimmer, a simulation at least of a transition in lighting levels.
One other thought, you may want to seal, paint, or put down some type of floor finish to help minimize dust and grime that garage floors seem to either create or collect in copious amounts. We know the Harley will appreciate a cool clean parking place!
Will