Shop lighting?

ryan9977

ryan9977

Joined
Feb 16, 2006
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What do u guys use in your shop fo overhead lighting....I have to redo the lights in my garage....right now I have crappy fluorescent lights that are really old.....I was just gonna replace them with new ones, a friend was telling me about led bulbs that he uses that are awesome, looked em up, they're like 30 bucks a piece.....anyway was just curious as to what you guys use.....ryan
 
The newer fluorescent fixtures and tubes are really bright.
LED lights last a very long time in use. I use LED bulbs in my house. Fluorescents in the shop-lots of them.
 
Lowes has a 4 light shop light using the new slim bulbs they are very brite. Work very well
 
I'm a fan of t5ho fixtures. Some say they are for high bay only but I use them with an 8 ft ceiling and love it. Another gripe is that the bulbs are too expensive but if you buy by the case they can be had for less than $3 a pop.
 
The place where I work just replaced all of the lighting with the new LED tube style fixtures. It was all free from the power company. Anyway, I got two three lamp led fixtures and put them above my bench and grinder. When I flip the switch at the door the florecents come on first, two seconds later the led's come on and it is like night and day.

They are expensive, but worth every penny.
 
The LED shop lights have recently dropped in price dramatically. Home Depot and other Big Box places sell a 4' two light unit for less than $30 now. I am in the process of changing the fluorescent lights in the garage and shop to LED.

Just like regular lighting, check the Kelvin temperature of any lights you get. The difference between cheaper 2800-3500K low temp lights and slightly higher cost 4500-7000K lights is very noticeable. Be sure to check the CRI ( Color Rendition Index). It should be above 80%. The closer to 100% ( sunlight color rendition) the better.

Some people find the high kelvin light is too harsh and even hard on the eyes. In a shop it will make small details and scratches stand out clearer. The 4500K lighting is easier on the eyes to some, but a bit less "bright". High temp lighting is best placed on the ceiling. Lower temp light (4500K) is better for lights closer to your eyes.

For a good general recommendation I would suggest 6500K at CRI-85.




We recently changed all our store lighting that was practical to do over to 6500K LED lighting. The change was dramatic. The whole store looks more "sparkling" and gems show much stronger color.
 
Thanks for all the info....I'm not too worried about the cost of the actual fixtures but more so the bulbs....I looked up one at Home Depot with the recommended numbers Stacy suggested and the bulb was 65 bucks....I'm gonna be spending almost a grand on bulbs?....I know I just did a quick search and I'm sure there are cheaper places but what's an average to pay for these bulbs....anybody have any idea?
 
Get LED's and forget about lamps and maintenance.
 
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Over head lighting what ever. For me spot lighting is best to work around shadows and really see properly.
 
ryan9977 said:
Thanks for all the info....I'm not too worried about the cost of the actual fixtures but more so the bulbs....I looked up one at Home Depot with the recommended numbers Stacy suggested and the bulb was 65 bucks....I'm gonna be spending almost a grand on bulbs?....I know I just did a quick search and I'm sure there are cheaper places but what's an average to pay for these bulbs....anybody have any idea?
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To answer your question about the cost of LED bulbs/lamps, if you just want something you can put into an existing T8 fixture and use with a standard T8 electronic ballast then I would recommend something like the Cree LED tubes which are in the $25-30 range per lamp. Imo, you're better off going with a quality T8/T5 setup than a cheap LED setup. Good fluorescents still are cheaper, just as efficient and last just as long as the LED shop fixtures I've seen at HD and Lowes. You can find cheaper but typically you get lower light output and lower quality and I've seen a lot of people have massive issues with crappy LEDs. They're not magic. If you get a cheaper one you're probably just getting less light and shorter life which doesn't improve your lighting situation any.

here is one of the Cree lamps:
https://www.earthled.com/products/c...ible-with-existing-ballasts?variant=737364089

You won't find those in 6500k though. I don't know of any major manufacturers that still make 6500k fixtures or T8 tubes. I've done a lot of commercial and industrial lighting projects and never had anyone prefer 6500k over lower color temps. Light levels and CRI are what matter most. High color temps are not going to help you see any better.
 
I just added a few cheap aluminum heat lamps ($9 a piece) and 60W (equiv) Cree LED bulbs ($8.50 a piece), for spot lighting over my work areas. I have plenty of spots to clamp them, so they're easy to reposition as needed, and add to my already pretty bright flouros for less than $20 a piece.

I considered swapping the flouros out for LED but couldn't justify it.
 
I loaded the ceiling with 'cans' (60 per 500 square feet.) Running BR30 CFLs in em now because that was the technology when I did it a few years ago. They're great.
LED will be better, and I'll be switching to LEDs as the CFLs fail. I loose them at the rate of about 1 per year, so it may be a while ;)
 
I actually have really old crappy fluorescent lights overhead but I'm ripping them out and putting up new fixtures , so I wanted to go with something compatible with the LEDs.....any advice on the actual fixtures, I'll probbaly be going with a smaller light, probably like four feet...I don't wanna skimp but I can't go overboard if that makes sense....ryan
 
Any 4' T8 fixture with electronic ballast will work with the LED tubes that operate on T8 ballasts.
 
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