Unfinished attic lighting

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nickelec

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What are you guys using to light up attics on houses u do, I was thinking to put some led tubes in my house should be pretty bright if I line the whole ridge with them, or do you guys have any experience with some type of fully enclosed fixtures

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Still mostly just the porcelain keyless sockets and incandescent bulbs. I think the high temperatures will lead to very short life spans on any LED lamps unless the drivers are located elsewhere... At least near the floor as opposed to the peak. If energy is a concern, you can buy 60 watt Edison base LED bulbs at the dollar store. I bought some for my living room just to see how long they might last
 
I assume putting a bunch of porcelains with led bulbs would be pretty Bright

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Are we talking about a usable attic space or just a place that you would only enter just a few times at the most in say ten years?
 
But like said before it would be really nice to walk up into a very well lit attic to do some work, maintenance

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JFletcher said:
... I think the high temperatures will lead to very short life spans ...
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If an attic is properly ventilated and the roof is lined with radiant barrier, (aka. builder's foil) there won't be high temperatures up there. I did that to my own attic and the temperature never exceeds 104°F. (about 10°F above ambient)

The bright, shiny radiant barrier really cuts down on the need for lighting. One small bulb goes a long way.

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Are we talking about trying to make $$ on a job or "gold plating" it ? Plastic key-less fixtures are the way to go unless the HO wants to pay for something more.
 
nickelec said:
But like said before it would be really nice to walk up into a very well lit attic to do some work, maintenance

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If you want well lit there is always stadium floods, probably only need one in most applications:D
 
Lighting directly at the peak is very likely to cast a shadow via your body anywhere you want to work. Having two sets or sources of light a little bit away from the peak, depending on the pitch of the roof, will be much less likely to do this.

On a large house, or one with a high roof pitch, it will be a pitb to wire one set of lights at the peak anyway unless the attic has walk boards or is floored .
 
drcampbell said:
If an attic is properly ventilated and the roof is lined with radiant barrier, (aka. builder's foil) there won't be high temperatures up there. I did that to my own attic and the temperature never exceeds 104°F. (about 10°F above ambient)

The bright, shiny radiant barrier really cuts down on the need for lighting. One small bulb goes a long way.

View attachment 20238
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very nice product however here it might as well be a unicorn; I have never seen that installed in an attic, and very very few attics of existing buildings have any sort of thermostat controlled fans, ventilation, or air conditioning. most of them probably don't even have proper ventilation judging from the hundred forty plus degree temperatures they reach in the summertime
 
JFletcher said:
Lighting directly at the peak is very likely to cast a shadow via your body anywhere you want to work. Having two sets or sources of light a little bit away from the peak, depending on the pitch of the roof, will be much less likely to do this.

On a large house, or one with a high roof pitch, it will be a pitb to wire one set of lights at the peak anyway unless the attic has walk boards or is floored .
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I did one with 12/12 pitch once. They put in power ventilators and had to build a platform and ladder in the trusses just to be able to get to it. thanked myself for doing that a few years later when needing to service it. I did put lights at low enough level to reach from the lower level catwalk though.
 
JFletcher said:
very nice product. however here it might as well be a unicorn ...
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That's most unfortunate. A radiant barrier doesn't just reduce the need for attic lighting; it also greatly reduces the amount of heat that comes in through the roof, greatly reducing the amount of energy needed for cooling the building.
Adequate roof ventilation not only reduces the air conditioning load; it also reduces the roof temperature, extending its life in the summer and preventing ice dams from forming in the winter.
I've never thought attic fans were a good idea. (not to be confused with whole-house fans located in the attic) Out of sight, out of mind, never maintained, and if the attic & roof have adequate passive ventilation, fans are just not necessary.
 
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drcampbell said:
I've never thought attic fans were a good idea. (not to be confused with whole-house fans located in the attic) Out of sight, out of mind, never maintained, and if the attic & roof have adequate passive ventilation, fans are just not necessary.
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My thoughts as well in most instances.

Ridge vents are nice and inconspicuous, but sometimes not enough ridge - but there is still other natural vents that can go near the peak for those cases.
 
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