DonnaFreak

Howdy y'all ☺

We are getting ready to move, hopefully by the end of this month! We will be moving into my husband's parent's house, which has been sitting empty for a couple of years now. The house has an attached garage, but my father-in-law had another one-car garage built in the back yard to use as a storage shed. As a reward for not grumbling too much about moving (I HATE moving!), I get to turn the backyard garage into my sewing room!!! The first step in this will be to seal off the roll-up garage door and have a regular walk-in door and 3 windows put in. The next step will be to put in whatever type of lighting I decide to use before I call an electrician to run electricity to the shed and install the outlets.

Since I first joined this board, opinions on lighting a sewing room have ranged from fluorescent lighting to daylight bulbs to LED lighting. I'm pretty sure that the fluorescent lights are outdated now, but I'm not 100% sure which of the other two choices are the best. Would LED lights be TOO bright to light the entire room with, or not? Should I go with the daylight equivalent bulbs for general lighting, then use LED lighting for lamps and direct lighting, or should I go with LED for all lighting? No matter which lighting I go with, should I go with bulbs overhead, or would some type of fixtures (longer perhaps?) be better?

If it helps with the answers, I plan to put in a door with windows in it at the front left corner of the garage, then one window in each of the other three walls. My main sewing machine (in a cabinet) will be in the back left corner, and a countertop will be put at the front, running from the door to the right front corner to hold my other (portable) machines. So if y'all were in my position, what type of lighting would you use? Thanks in advance for any and all advice! 😃

Donna

Nammie to 7

Even fluorescent bulbs come in the daylight bulbs. I was so surprised by how natural that lighting is -- the old bulbs were more yellow.

OhCanada

You may want to look into putting in some solatubes to bring in natural light as well. I had one installed in a windowless bathroom and it was amazing.

Bree123

I would get that UV-blocking film applied to the windows so you can enjoy all the benefits of sunlight without worrying about any damage to thread/fabrics/quilts.

My studio space is like noontime at the equator. I have a floor lamp with 3 adjustable shades that each have a 19-wt LED in them, plus 2 other lamps each with a 4-wt LED.

The nice thing I learned when speaking with the electrician is that I just needed the physical space for the 19wt bulbs in the socket (they are larger -- like those recessed spotlight bulbs) because if a socket is rated for 60wt, it can literally power 60wt. So even though my 19-wt LED is as bright as a 120-wt incandescent, I can still screw it into an outlet rated 60wt because it only uses 19wt.

That said, LED's come in varying wattage & different colors. My father likes to get the 4-wt LED bulbs with a warm glow to mimic the old 60-wt incandescent bulbs. His favorite brand is Cree. Personally, I don't like the "warm glow" because it casts a yellowish hue on my fabrics, making it hard to determine their actual color/tone. I do a lot of handwork and turn on all the lights when doing that so I can see. If I'm just using my machine to FMQ, I typically just need 1 or 2 lights on (1 of the 19wt bulbs & maybe 1 of the 4wt bulbs)... plus the 2wt LED that's inside my Bernina.

The other benefits of LED's are that they don't give off UV light like CFL bulbs; they don't get hot like incandescent bulbs; and you can buy LED's that work on a dimmer, allowing you to set your lighting level at whatever is comfortable to you based on your project. Also, you may be able to get a rebate from your electric company for purchasing LED light bulbs. It's a pretty substantial amount in Illinois through ComEd.

Congrats on your new studio space! What a wonderful treat!

Peckish

I could not agree more! We also installed one in a windowless bathroom that was at the center of a long, dark hallway. The solatube is so bright, we rarely turn on the lights in the bath or hall anymore.

Sandygirl

Is the space air conditioned and heated? Just curious.congrats and post pics!
sandy

NJ Quilter

LED's are an expensive initial outlay but do save you quite a bit of $$ over time. Plus, it's 'the wave of the future' and eventually all you're going to be able to buy so may as well power up for that in your shed now. And yes, they, too, come in various color ranges.

I will say this about the dimmable ones... Not sure if it's because we are using them in an older fixture or not. Not only do you need dimmable-specific LED bulbs, you need to marry them with the same brand/manufacturer dimmer switch. AND they do not come on instantaneously like an incandescent bulb - there is a several second delay. Frankly makes me crazy when I walk into the office first thing in the AM to cruise here with my coffee!

quiltin-nannie

I have no experience with LED bulbs yet, but I know when I replaced all my bulbs with those curly ones, I saved over $30 a month on my electric bill! I even put them in the dining room light fixture. I was told by my friend's husband that would look pretty tacky, but I told him to save $30 a month, I didn't care!

PaperPrincess

While the electrician is there, make sure you put in lots of outlets too. You might want to make them all counter height so you don't have to crawl around the floor to find them.
I'm also curious about this. Your comfort is important, but I would also be concerned about how an unconditioned space will treat your machine (and fabric). Especially humidity.

Cactus Stitchin

Congratulations on your new space. I'm glad you are thinking about lighting now - its so important in your work space. My "sewing room" is our dining room and I have an overhead fixture with 7 daylight, instant on, 15 watt LED bulbs. I LOVE it! It is bright, no shadows and no need for additional lamps in the room and the light in the room is very similar to daylight. Since I live in Arizona we have sun screens on our windows which darkens our rooms but does cut down on the heat coming into the house. From a previous background in photography, I know that incandescent bulbs cast a yellow light, florescent bulbs a greenish cast which I find difficult to work with especially the longer I am in the room. LED bulbs are an investment up front but so worth the initial cost which usually has about a 24 month payback. The advantage is they last for years. We have converted our entire house to LED about 5 years ago and we do save quite a bit every month due to it. In choosing your bulbs, also look to see if the light is broadcast throughout the room or if it is directional - only shining downward. It makes a difference.