Something that has been steering me away from the LED panels is that some manufactures state that certain things like gasoline can affect the acrylic diffusers, even if it is just in vapor form.

Ask your electrician for his input. I did 4' LED Cloud lights, but I don't work on cars.

Thanks for reminding. My center garage/shop which has a 16' ceiling has provision for 12 ceiling fixtures. Electrician has temporarily installed porcelain fixtures. I intend to replace most fixtures with 6 Lamp T8 LED fixtures, each providing almost 16,000 lumens - 5000K

Don't forget to have a storage area by the garage access door for your bottles of sunscreen...it's too late for Pinebaron...!

LOL. I'll be working beneath a vehicle on the lift. Kinda dark right now.

I am going to check out "Big Ass Lights". I've dealt with the cans and I don't like the spottiness of them for car work.

I'd want to see the panel lights in an environment before purchasing.

One needs to determine how much illumination you'll need per square yard or meter. For performance of visual tasks of low contrast and very small size for prolonged periods of time, you may need 2000-5000 lumens/m2 and 5000-10000 or even double that for very prolonged and exacting visual tasks, a category I generally work in with building scale model planes, electronics and working under cars; I'm getting old too :)

A good tip for determining if your may have reached the limit for garage
lights is whether or not the rest of the neighborhood dims momentarily
when you turn on your garage lights...

Seriously though it is a good point. This 400Amp beauty will take care of that.

One trick we used was to paint the ceiling with outdoor theatre screen paint. It creates a reflective surface and more even light. We'd the use a combination of porcelain fixtures w/ A19 lamps and a few fluorescents.

With LED's you'll want to look at the color spectrum if you'll be doing any painting as otherwise you could have some surprises when out in the sunlight.

I was going to suggest the Haiku garage lights like Janinecone suggested.

Haiku Garage Lights

Good luck!

Well, I was going to get six of these lights for my garage. Not going to happen with this one at around $350 each. Leaning towards dual 4' T8 tubes at this point, I can get those online for around $60 each, and they put out 4000 lumens each.

I wondered what those lights cost...?

I guess one other thing to consider here... If these lights are mounted on the ceiling 9ft up off of the floor, do I have to get lights rated for a damp location? I'll never intentionally spray water or anything else up there, but there are times when they could be exposed to high humidity when opening the garage door.

If the fixtures are rated for exterior or "damp" installations they should be fine.

But what if they are rated for "dry" installations? Does that mean no drinking in the garage?

"...But what if they are rated for "dry" installations? Does that mean no drinking in the garage?..."

Absolutely!

But what if they are rated for "dry" installations? Does that mean no drinking in the garage?

if that's the case... what's the point of having a garage?

A few years back, I switched by standard 200w incandescent bulbs to these bad boys and they throw a lot more light. I also added two of these over the one car bay for when I want to add more light and I couldn't imagine wanting or needing any more light from them in the area. I put these in before LED's were getting popular so they're still fluorescent. I'm still on the original bulbs for each fixture.

By 1x4' panel I assume you mean the LED fixtures that are meant to replace an traditional fluorescent troffer. Frankly I'm not a fan of the these new fangled LED fixtures because when they fail, and they will, you take the entire thing and throw it in the trash. It seems horribly wasteful without any real benefit, other than eliminating the onerous task of changing a light bulb.

Personally I'd go with a traditional strip fixture and use LED tubes if you're concerned about the energy cost. I might suggest paying particular attention to the light output of the LEDs. Some of the low end varieties put out a fraction of the light of the fluorescent tube they are meant to replace.

Very good point Mike, I had the exact same thought about the panel. If it goes out, what do I do? In a few years I might not be able to buy that exact same panel anymore... But most likely I can replace the tube.

Standard white recessed can new construction or remodel lights are very inexpensive. A19 100w equivalent 13-15w led bulbs screw right in. 1500 lumens per light. Put in the number you want. This creates a quality finished look. You'll still need a led trouble light to work on/under your cars.

Hard to beat the standard fixture for these settings from many years: double 4' fluorescent surface mounted fixtures in tandem.

I don't think tubes are going anywhere in the near future, just look at the number of commercial establishments that use them. Sure an LED tube, but it's the same fixture.

It's just a bugaboo of mine but I see, what I call, "boob lights" at the local home center that have all been "converted" to LED. The LED is going to fail at some point and what's the average homeowner going to do? Replace it with another boob light? How about just replace a $2 bulb?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor a new technology, when the technology is beneficial. Those flat LED panels meant to replace a traditional troffer are great if you doing a basement with a drop ceiling and every inch of headroom counts. Otherwise, why bother?

I wouldn't use recessed cans in a garage that has a fire rated ceiling (most).

Lithonia has a great 4' LED surface mount for about $50-60 that puts out more than 4 bulb flouresents.

Jeffrey, can you share a link or a model number for the light you are recommending?

If you are going to be working underneath a vehicle, why would you have all your lighting overhead? Consider mounting something near the floor where light can reflect closer to the work area. I know a guy who does paint and body work where lighting is always a concern. His garage has some old track lighting mounted 2 to 3 feet above the floor, each side on its own switch. The lights have Led bulbs and can be pointed wherever needed otherwise he just points them at the floor.

Because most care work is done under the hood, not much is done from underneath. Also, he noted car detailing which would need overhead lighting.

Any thoughts about the following for garage/unfinished spaces - in terms of how many needed per square foot?

https://www.feit.com/products/fixtures/ceiling-flush-mount-fixtures/3200-lumen-4000k-flush-mount-ceiling-fixture/

https://www.feit.com/products/fixtures/ceiling-flush-mount/2000-lumen-4000k-1ft-x-4ft-led-flat-panel-ceiling-fixture-copy/

https://www.feit.com/products/fixtures/ceiling-flush-mount/4000-lumen-4000k-1ft-x-4ft-led-flat-panel-ceiling-fixture/

Recessed cans are available airtight with insulation contact. $6ea and the A19 100w equivalent LED bulbs from Costco are about $4ea for 1500 lumens 2700K or 3000K temperature dammable. If you're doing dentless or detailing in your garage a stand light with high output is part of your toolset.