Closet Lighting


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Old 02-19-16, 11:06 AM
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Closet Lighting

This part of the forum seemed like the best spot to post this. I have a closet that's about 87x21. I have emptied it all out of its original contents and have decided to create a workspace. As of right now I have a "floating" desk I have built and I am in the middle of a "floating" shelf I will be installing. Anyway, my biggest issue that I am trying to figure out is lighting. The walls all have fresh (white) paint on them and I am trying to find lighting that will light up the closet nicely and provide enough (bright maybe 5000k) light onto my workspace. I will be working on people computers so the brighter the better. But I also dont see any reason to spend $200+ on lighting up a closet...lol

Any help would be much appreciated.
 
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Old 02-19-16, 11:21 AM
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And when it comes time to sell; you'd like the future Owner to be able to have the space revert to again being a Closet ?
 
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Old 02-19-16, 11:30 AM
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You could go with something like this:

Commercial Electric 4 ft. White LED Linkable Shop Light-54103161 - The Home Depot

at 3000 lumens it's like having 3-4 60 watt incandescents so it will be plenty of light in a closet for not a lot of money.

There are nicer looking versions with wraps, but hard to beat for lumens per $. I guess tube fluorescent would be cheaper still so that's another option.
 
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Old 02-19-16, 11:49 AM
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That was one reason for building this the way that I did. My wife and I have been in the house for only 5 years and have no intentions on moving any time soon. Of course things can change. But yes, the way i have designed everything so far makes it removable and portable. There would be small screw holes left in the wall, but a little spackle would take care of that. In the end, if it were to happen, yes I would want the ability to have the space easily become a closet again, whether it be for me or someone else.
 
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Old 02-19-16, 02:27 PM
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Carbide - That looks like a great option and really affordable considering its LED. I may have to go into my local Home Depot and check it out in person and see how bright it is. Thanks again.
 
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Old 02-19-16, 10:30 PM
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Have you considered track lighting? Many years ago now I converted an old bedroom in our basement into my office. I too thought I would need more space in my office so I converted an old closet too into what I thought would be a work space. I used fixed track lighting though and had thought about using fluorescent lighting but I also wanted to be able to direct my light where I wanted it and that is when I thought about track lighting. The fixed track lighting was cheaper than the kind on a track and it could still swivel.

I found some LED track lighting kits a bit more expensive than what CarbideTipped linked to but I think that some may still be in your budget. Either option I think would work great for you and give you plenty of light here is a link to what I found http://www.homedepot.com/b/Lighting-...REP_PRC_MODE|0 . I didn't focus on just one kit as I wanted you to see all of what they have.

Or you could go with something like this http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercia...atalogId=10053 . I used several of these one in a fairly large room at a former rental I will eventually sell and the lighting is really great at a fantastic price. All of these should be in stock at your Home Depot I would check online first and then call your local store. I agree too best to see what they have at the store as the internet doesn't tell you enough. Good luck!
 
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Old 02-20-16, 05:25 AM
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I asked about the possibility of the "space" reverting to again being a Closet because some Building and Electrical Codes restrict the size and location of the lighting fixtures that are permitted within Closets . . . . so you may want to be conscious of what you're installing so as to minimize the future costs involved in returning the space to being a compliant Closet.
 
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Old 02-21-16, 08:32 AM
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crazy -

I put lights in some clothes closets in my house and this is the type of NEC regulations that I followed. I don’t know what the rules are for other types of closets and if in fact those vary from close closets, but if your closet is, and would most likely always be a clothes closet, then I think maybe this is an important consideration.

http://www.juneau.org/cddftp/documents/ClosetLights.pdf
 
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Old 04-19-16, 06:44 PM
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What's wrong with a few standard desk lamps maybe? That way you can take them with you when you move on and there's not too much pain in wiring.
 
 

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