Lighting in the shop

[sircrunch]

I have a 36x20 shop with unfinished walls inside. 9 foot ceiling. It was built about 15 years ago. At the time, I put (14) 8 foot twin fluorescent fixtures in there. I have been extremely unhappy with them.

For one, the bulbs are constantly dying out.

For two, the ballasts are constantly dying out.

For three, the original ballasts were magnetic style, ballasts are not magnetic anymore, to put a new ballast in, it costs at least 25 bucks and you have to wire the fixture differently.

And last but not least, I have had on TWO separate occasions, the bulb fall out of the sky onto the garage floor (once on my truck) and shatter. Looking at the fixture, the plastic part that springs in and out burned up and that's why the lightbulb fell. This led me to climbing up to each fixture and zip-tying the bulb to the fixture loosely.

So at this point, LITERALLY half of the bulbs in my garage are working, for whatever reason, broken fixture, bulb blown out, ballast not working, etc etc.

A few months ago I invested in LED bulbs for INSIDE MY HOUSE, but I'm thinking about investing further in LED, by purchasing enough LED fixtures to light the way.

One site helps me calculate how many lumens I need for my space. About 40000.

That means about 9 or 10 of these.

https://www.amazon.com/LED-Watt-Line...d%2Blight&th=1

these fixtures are half the length of my 8 foot twin flourescents, will almost never need changing, will be more energy efficient, and will never need a ballast replacement. Seems almost maintenance free.

Cost will be over 500.00

Talk me into it. or talk me out of it.

[Richardwa]

another option may be the T-5 fluorescent fixtures. When I had my 48x36x14 shop built the electrician recommended these over the LED.
I like them, instant on, and very bright

[mongocanfly]

I have 6 8ft t5 lights in my 35x50...very bright...but if I was starting over I would look into led lighting. .little more expensive but they'll last longer and pay for thereself in the long run

[davischevy]

I am replacing all our T5's with LED.

A friend of mine bought a bunch of Led fixtures w/lamps online a while back and replaced all his.

he bought the whole fixture for about what I have been giving for lamps.

[truckster]

I replaced the fluorescents in my garage with LED shop lights from Costco. The light is way brighter and I expect they'll be maintenance-free for years to come. I'm very happy with my new lights.

[BR3W CITY]

I light to keep an eye out for shop and industrial sales. If you have the height, those big HPS or MH bulbs put out crazy light, but need the distance to make use of it without the heat being an issue.

If you've got a more normal sized space, then I really like LED horticulture lighting for clean areas or above the primary work area. Its low heat, and usually has variable output and color options, as well as variable mounting height. They put out an extremely consistent light which is low fatigue and great for doing small detail work with high contrast light. Its also great for filming. (Yes, these are "Grow lights" if you google them, don't be surprised at the types of sites you get taken to). Because of cost they are overkill to light an entire shop, but when paired with other lighting, they can really pull their weight in crucial areas.

['63GENIII]

Try taking a look at LEDTronics. They make a ballast ready (just put them in and run them on an electronic ballast) and a ballast bypass (which removes the ballast) 120 volt F96 LED replacement. There are others as well but these are the ones that Im familiar with. I personally like the ballast bypass and dimmable option.

Over the last 2 years, I have been in charge of the LED retrofit project at the airport that I work at. We have put in well over 10,000 of these and the 4' T8 versions. Seldom do they burn out, they are very easy to wire in and will utilize the existing fixtures that you have. You may have to replace any tombstones that are burnt out or cracked but it will likely be the last time you do so. The 8' versions come with a spring clip to support the center of the lamp. Ive never seen one fall out yet.

We have overwhelmingly used the LED lamp replacements over replacing the entire fixture. Initial outlay may be the same but labor for removal of the existing fixture (when 90% of the fixture is still good) and remounting and wiring a new fixture is the break point for us.

We install these in high bay applications (15' - 18') and the tenants that we have replaced them for rave about them compared to the F96s. We have been using the 4100k lamps and in some instances, should use the 3500k as they are a little easier on the eyes. I would stay away from anything over 4100k as the 5000k and up have studies that show that they can mess with sleep patterns etc. (not good stuff)

Not sure on the cost if you go through a wholesale house but you might try a couple out and see if you like them.

One important note... If you do get the ballast ready type, DO NOT use them with a magnetic ballast. They are meant for electronic ballasts only.

For me IMO the best combo would be a shop full of the 4100k LEDs with a good Lutron dimmer.

[old Rusty C10]

Home Depot has some8 ft LED fixtures that I replaced all my 8 ft floursecent fixtures with and now I can use my shop for a tanning booth is so bright in there

[GR8-68]

We bought some of these for the shop and the lighting they put out is amazing and much cheaper florescent lights

[PanelDeland]

I would replace if the budget works. I wouldn't do anything but LEDs in a new construction. The problem with most fluorescents is that many are HD or Lowes versions and not nearly up to industrial standards. They are cheaply designed and made which is probably causing your problems. We did a retrofit to an industrial plant I worked in. The projected payback was 5 years, 28 months later they had already hit that mark. Just no comparison for energy savings. If you use your shop 3-4 hours a day, they'll probably have a payback under 5 years.

[boogieman1]

I have been replacing mine with Led fixtures from SamsClub and are very happy with them. They look just like the one on the amazon post you put up but are about $35.00 each. Even if you dont have a sams membership if you buy 3 then the savings would pay for it and the rest would be in your pocket.
Here is a link to a 10 pack for $299.98
https://www.samsclub.com/sams/linkab...lp:product:1:1

[HeavyD]

I must be the only person alive who finds LEDs give me glare issues and an instant headache. Mind you my eyes aren't great and I have problems with oncoming headlights at night etc, but I just can't get into them.

I too am purchasing lights for the tiny garage (more like bicycle storage) am still considering old school fluorescents..they seem to work fine in the trailer at my worksite, rarely burn out, light everything up nice. Maybe I am looking at the wrong lumens or warmth?

[davischevy]

I used to be constantly changing bulbs. Since I started switching to LEDS my nightmare has slowly gone away. I haven't changed a bulb out of necessity in a long time.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by HeavyD

I must be the only person alive who finds LEDs give me glare issues and an instant headache. Mind you my eyes aren't great and I have problems with oncoming headlights at night etc, but I just can't get into them.

I too am purchasing lights for the tiny garage (more like bicycle storage) am still considering old school fluorescents..they seem to work fine in the trailer at my worksite, rarely burn out, light everything up nice. Maybe I am looking at the wrong lumens or warmth?

'63GENIII mentioned the problems in Post #7.

I would stay away from anything over 4100k as the 5000k and up have studies that show that they can mess with sleep patterns etc. (not good stuff)

I would imagine in a small area you would want even less than that.

LockDoc