Shop lights

[blueywa]

I replaced all my shed flouro's.
Bought 4ft LED tubes from bunnies, they came with a 'false' starter and its definitely plug n play.
No flicker,and saves a few dollars in running costs.

 

[deverett]

Thanks Cogsy.
I wondered about the harshness of cool white but in my workshop I only have a small north facing window, so the cool white might be OK when it comes time to change from the fluorescent tubes.
On the rare warm, windless days, I open the roller door to let in more light (my workshop is a single garage).

Dave
The Emerald Isle

 

[blueywa]

My shed/workshop is freestanding in my backyard.
The gable roof faces east-west so I get the sunlight coming up in the east and down in the west.
It is clad with corrugated sheeting, but I installed a few transparent 'Polycarbonate sheets' as well.
This allows daylight in even on overcast days, and so I don't need lighting until night time.
The transparent sheets do let the heat in as well, so on the 40 celcious days I use shade cloth under them.
The shade cloth is stapled into lightweight wooden frames which I made to suit.
All that aside, the LED's I use are 'daylight' rated and having the 'false starter' means there is no need to worry about ballasts etc. it just replaces the old starter, so power goes direct to LED tube giving instant start up and as said before zero flicker.
I have two banks of ceiling mounted lights, and since switching to LED's I only need to turn on one bank.
And being rated at 30 thousands plus hours I recon they should do the job for a while.. :thumbup:

 

[bobs7-62steamair]

Does anyone have input on shop lights? I currently have tube fluorescent lights but they seem to have a flickering problem after a time. I am wondering about LED lights. I am talking about ceiling fixtures, not individual machine lights. There seem to be quite a variety of fixtures ranging from $20 to $150. What could I replace my 4 foot and 8 foot fixtures with and is it worth it? Also what do LED light do to true color?

 

[bobs7-62steamair]

Have Replaced all my Fluoro lights with 4 Ft LED's, FANTASTIC improvement in lighting quantity and quality. Not sure what the color is but they are quantum leaps better than any fluro tube light I ever used. Ava locally at SAMS and WALMART in the $35 to $39 range for a 4 foot unit. Of course they consume much less power and will probably last the rest of my lifetime. Probably the best overall improvement I ever made to my shop!

 

[tim9lives]

https://www.hyperikon.com/products/led-shop-lights/
Amazon has them for 59.00 each. I couldn’t be happier with these shop lights.

 

[bbutcher85]

I replaced some 4 foot fluorescent bulbs with cheap ($5 ea from E-bay) LED bulbs. I shopped around and found bulbs that produce 1584 lumens. Although this is less than the old fluorescent ones (2850 initial), the LED lamps are directional and the light goes where it is wanted. The fluorescent lamps and reflectors waste some of their light. Visually the LEDs are at least as bright as the old lamps.
The LED lamps are direct wire, meaning eliminate the ballast. After a few months, they started to strobe (flicker does not describe it). At first they would flash for a few minutes and then stay on, but it got worse and eventually they would be off more than on. It turns out these LED lamps have an electronic driver board to convert the 110 AC to about 72 Volts DC. The driver board can be easily accessed by sliding one end pin assembly off the LED bulb.There are three electrolytic capacitors on the board, and at least one of them was degrading. I purchased 100 of each size from Mouser electronics and replaced all three which solved the problem. It may come back since even the new capacitors are rated for 5,000 hours. The LEDs may last 50,000 hours, but the driver electronics will probably not last that long. Easy fix and cost only about $0.35 to fix each lamp.

 

[LSAGuy]

I've had the same experience with LED's. Amazingly bright, especially when compared side by side with fluorescents. Costco has two LED bulbs for $14.99 so every time I go I pick up a couple of boxes (I have 10 hanging lights in the work section of my hangar). Really made my paint booth brighter. Now if they could just do the painting for me, too. :-}

 

[DJP]

Many decades ago I converted outdoor incandescent bulbs at our yacht club from AC to DC. On rural AC the bulbs burnt out quickly but on DC they would last for 10 to 20 years. The reason that I mention this is that my conversion was from 120VAC to 75VDC and it was accomplished by a single diode in the neutral line. Half wave rectified DC reduced the light output but the bulbs would last a very long time. I also know the issue of capacitor failure in miniature electronics. A swollen capacitor is the first thing to look for as their life is limited. If you have an inexpensive LED tube that can be used for testing, try a simple diode in series to see if the resulting DC component will operate the lamp. When sized correctly diodes last a long long time too.

Just sharing some experience that may be useful again.

 

[oldchadders]

Does anyone have input on shop lights? I currently have tube fluorescent lights but they seem to have a flickering problem after a time. I am wondering about LED lights. I am talking about ceiling fixtures, not individual machine lights. There seem to be quite a variety of fixtures ranging from $20 to $150. What could I replace my 4 foot and 8 foot fixtures with and is it worth it? Also what do LED light do to true color?

You could use "high Frequency" flourescents which look identical to normal ones but run ant a higher frequency, thus no visible flicker. These also have the benefit that they do not cause rotting machinery to be stationary - you need a hf fitting with hf tubes.

 

[oldchadders]

Many decades ago I converted outdoor incandescent bulbs at our yacht club from AC to DC. On rural AC the bulbs burnt out quickly but on DC they would last for 10 to 20 years. The reason that I mention this is that my conversion was from 120VAC to 75VDC and it was accomplished by a single diode in the neutral line. Half wave rectified DC reduced the light output but the bulbs would last a very long time. I also know the issue of capacitor failure in miniature electronics. A swollen capacitor is the first thing to look for as their life is limited. If you have an inexpensive LED tube that can be used for testing, try a simple diode in series to see if the resulting DC component will operate the lamp. When sized correctly diodes last a long long time too.

Just sharing some experience that may be useful again.

The reason that the bulbs last longer is because they are dissipating less power, as they are only working on half of the ac cycle. The thing that really kills incandescent bulbs is the surge when they are switched on from cold. The ideal power supply would be smooth dc, ie not simply rectified ac, but more like a battery supply.

 

[Em14]

I did quite a bit of 'internet" research before I made the jump to LED change from flouresecent to LED in our closet! Then I ordered the kit with bulbs and when it arrived was amazed at how easy the conversion was. Since I'm very Senior, I don't think I will out live the LEDs .... I have gotten quite good at changing out the #*XXXX ballast as they never last very long. Therefore I almost had a Parade to bury the Closets' Ballast! Even the Devil would not come get it! Now I'm a Happy and well lit Camper! Just belive what the instruction say and be careful how you handle those sharpe edges on the fixture!
Leo

 

[DJP]

The reason that the bulbs last longer is because they are dissipating less power, as they are only working on half of the ac cycle. The thing that really kills incandescent bulbs is the surge when they are switched on from cold. The ideal power supply would be smooth dc, ie not simply rectified ac, but more like a battery supply.

Agreed, as the original Edison bulb running on pure battery DC is still burning in a NYC museum. However, the practical (low cost) solution to timer controlled lighting was to use a diode with a screw base that could be mounted directly on the neutral bus of a panel box. That change to DC for all lamps on that circuit saved huge costs in bulbs, labour and safety.

My curiosity is whether such a simple change would power LED lamps and remove the weakness of a miniature power supply.

 

[cuhlik]

I bought 25 T-12 LED bulbs (4ft) for $119 on eBay. Search for "4 Foot T8 Bulbs 18w LED Tube Light Lamp Single-End". These connect directly to 120vac. You need to remove the existing ballast. But the result is at least 50% more light and roughly 2/3 the power, instant on at all temperatures, and no flickering. I'm never going back!

 

[tjwal]

I wired up a bunch of sockets like #2, and use BR30 LEDs. I found the sockets at a Reno re-use store. I replaced 3 x 4 tube fixtures with about 20 fixtures. There’s lots of light but the ceiling is pretty busy. lol. . New cost would be about $6 Canadian per light, counting material I already had it was closer to $4.

Led tubes look interesting but they’re still a bit rare and pricy at the local stores.

 

[rmd55]

Two things about lighting. 1. The color of the light makes a difference in the apparent brightness of the light. The shorter wave length of the cool white, more blue, appears brighter than a warm white white more yellow or daylight. I have 3800 lum T8's in my shop and just put up a cool white led at 3300 lum . It appears almost twice as bright as the T8. 2. Your high output flor uses more watts to put out those 8300 lums. High output fixtures have different ballasts that have higher watt ratings to run the high output bulbs there are also Very High Output bulbs.

 

[madmike]

heres my 2 tenths regarding led lights. i purchased 1 led single strip complete fixture- 16.95 @ rural king. lit up the area above my dpm mill so well i couldnt see the screen without placing a visor over the top of the display. i figured i knew something about lumens ,i was wrong . these lights put out a cleaner brighter light than high output floros . i bought 20 more replaced all my shop lights,even 8 footers . my electric bill went down 52.00 a month!!!! the work areas are like standing in sunlight .. these even have a plug in the sides,and dont buy the double rows they cost more but appeared the same output to me..

 

[madmike]

this is a added comment regarding the leds, ive had old ballasts melt and catch fire,makes you nervous even if your building is block.. ive worked at many shops with the old tubes pain in the a$$ ,and i even tried the high bay lights real costly to operate even on 208v, id say throw em on the scrap heap takes the bulbs to a haz recycling center...

 

[adolfgalland]

I also have been replacing fluorescents as they die with 4 foot LED units. I am buying Smart Electrician brand from Menards. Mine are the single unit with 4200 lumens and 4000k bright white which is in the mid range between warm and daylight.
I am very happy with them and when on sale they are a good deal. Gary

 

[wolframore]

I have had LED light fixtures in my garage for a couple years now. I will never go back! The light never needs a "warm up" period in the winter and never gets hot in the summer. They use less power and produce more light! I want more of them! The fixtures are becoming an inexpensive thing now. It's cheaper to replace the fixture than to mess with bulbs and rewiring your old fluorescent ballasts.