LED Shop Lights

[Digger 66 3,478]

Got sick an tired of waiting for the florescent light fixtures to come on ( if at all ) in the garage during the cold weather .

Also getting too old to spin wrenches by candlelight .

Ordered 5 LED 4 foot shop fixtures from Amazon and will post before & after pics today when install is finished .

 

 

As promised I love them ! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 25, 2018 by Digger 66

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,305]

  I have one 4' LED over my workbench in the garage and the rest are fluorescents...the LED not only starts instantly it's much brighter. I was so impressed I went out and bought a couple more. Mine came from BJ's Wholesale Club and were about $34 each.

  Youll be happy!

 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,492]

Got mine (3) at Costco - Fantastic change...You will not regret it!

[ebinmaine 67,277]

I have led in the basement shop and will update the other shop soon... Curious to see how yours work for you.

I love the bright white light !

 

[rmaynard 15,427]

Since the prices are steadily coming down on LED's, I am have been upgrading the whole house to them. Most of the color temperatures in the beginning were too "cold", but now there are more and more choices. After 68 years was having my brain be used to standard incandescent bulbs, I couldn't stand those curly CFL's, and the bright, cold white of the first LED's. I was one of those guys who stockpiled cartons of 60 watt bulbs before they were outlawed. Now, all of the bulbs in the living areas of the house are LED's. Three-ways have been replaced with dimmables, and I just ordered new outdoor LED flood lights. My garage which is now equipped with four 300-watt curly-cue CFL's for the last 3 years is getting the upgrade this spring. 

 

As an interesting side note, back in 2014, 7-Eleven stores upgraded 1600 of their convenience store/gas stations across the US to ALL LED lighting, amassing energy savings of over 2.4 million dollars per year. 

[JoeM 7,871]

Rural King had 10,000 Lumens Commercial Shop Lights $70. Probably need Sun Glasses!  

[edgro 677]

When my florescent lights gave out, I replaced them all with screw in light bulbs. So when I updated the house to LED, all the CFL bulbs went to the garage. Yes a noticable difference in electric bill by going LED

 

[cafoose 3,354]

My part time job is working as a maintenance man for a local foster care/adoption agency and they just bought a new building last year. I converted all the fluorescent fixtures to LED with these bulbs from amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/SUNCO-10-PACK-Fluorescent-Replacement/dp/B01CRB8ITO/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1519568940&sr=8-1&keywords=sunco+4+foot

We are very pleased with them and they can be wired directly to 120 VAC eliminating the ballast. They come on instantly and they are very bright.

[ebinmaine 67,277]

1 hour ago, rmaynard said:

I am have been upgrading the whole house to them. Most of the color temperatures in the beginning were too "cold", but now there are more and more choices. After 68 years was having my brain be used to standard incandescent bulbs, I couldn't stand those curly CFL's, and the bright, cold white of the first LED's. I was one of those guys who stockpiled cartons of 60 watt bulbs before they were outlawed. Now, all of the bulbs in the living areas of the house are LED's.

I followed a very similar pattern.

Bought a bunch of 75 watt incandescent when I could a while back and when they were gone a year or so ago, found a good LED replacement.

Just a few weeks ago switched to LEDs above the work bench and discovered I should have done that a Long time ago!!

The outside workshop has 5 four foot fluorescent fixtures that will be replaced soon with Lithonia brand from a local lumber place. $23 each.

 

[Sarge 3,463]

I've switched almost everything around here to led since I can't stand that blue hue from the fluorescent lights any more with the eye issues - it's an instant migraine now. Still have 2 fixtures in the shop and I'll probably just swap out the T8 bulbs over to the direct-wired led replacements - can't wait to get rid of them. The lower Kelvin rating leds are finally becoming more common and coming down in price, thankfully since the first ones were north of 6,000K color temperature and nearly just as harsh on the eyes - 3,000K is far better and more like natural sunlight. Above 4,500-5,000K is not something humans are built to handle, lol.

 

I swear , somehow I have to figure out how to get that heavy led heagear lamp from being permanently mounted on my head when working in the shop, it's pretty ridiculous but at least the huge 18650 battery lasts all day long easily. Shadows really affect how I can see things if it's otherwise well-lit in the surroundings, that's enough to drive a guy nuts.

 

Sarge

[Thisguyisnew 114]

These are great but I mix in some incandescent sources of light to combat the artificial look that is cast over everything. 

[Sarge 3,463]

Incandescent bulbs are in the lower 3,000k color range  - there are led's available in the same range and the lifespan as well as the energy savings make them a worthwhile investment. Our power bill here is down over 30% compared to just 3yrs ago and I have yet to have to change any led bulbs that have failed,  two are over 5yrs old now with one that is in the hallway running 24/7. I'll never use another fluorescent light again.

 

Sarge

[953 nut 55,081]

We have been replacing the most frequently used lamps in the house with LEDs, but I had replaced most of the shop lights a couple years back so I will be behind the curve on this one.

I have only had one epic failure with LEDs, The ceiling fan in my wife's quilting room has six candelabra base incandescent 40 watt lamps. I replaced them with dimmable LEDs a few years ago and it was VERY interesting (and rather amusing to me). The electronics of the six lamps being in close proximity caused them to flash on and off independently. Kind of reminiscent of a press conference with flash bulbs going off randomly. My wife didn't see the humor in it that I did.

[SylvanLakeWH 25,492]

18 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

We have been replacing the most frequently used lamps in the house with LEDs, but I had replaced most of the shop lights a couple years back so I will be behind the curve on this one.

I have only had one epic failure with LEDs, The ceiling fan in my wife's quilting room has six candelabra base incandescent 40 watt lamps. I replaced them with dimmable LEDs a few years ago and it was VERY interesting (and rather amusing to me). The electronics of the six lamps being in close proximity caused them to flash on and off independently. Kind of reminiscent of a press conference with flash bulbs going off randomly. My wife didn't see the humor in it that I did.

 

I had similar experience - they did not like my ceiling fan either...

 

Off topic but... Reminds me of my favorite saying: I am not the brightest bulb in the chandelier...

 

The older I get, the more I find myself repeating this mantra...

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

I let a couple of the guys here talk me into going with LEDs in my new shop, and I am glad that I did. Put 5 of them in my 12x32 building, and there is not any dark spots anywhere, really nice when you're working on a project. I have actually had to unplug one a couple times while laying under a tractor, it was so bright it was blinding me. I bought mine at Wal-Mart, right at $20 each, lit my whole shop for $100 and never had any regrets

[BOB ELLISON 2,980]

Got mine at Lows and they were very cheap. But I didn't want to change the light fixtures. The LED bulbs wouldn't work with my ballasts so I changed all the ballasts and after adding it all up I had about $20.00 in each with 7  fixture $140.00 but they wanted $48.00 for each LED light with fixture or $336.00.

That's a no brainer. I love the light in my garage now. I can see now

[Cvans 1,009]

I was going to change the Mercury vapor yard light to LED. So I picked up a 500w LED at Menards to have on hand when the yard light burned out. Upon closing up the addition onto the shop I needed a light in there until the fixtures were installed so I hung that 500w bulb in there. Needless to say it is going to stay there and one was installed in the old part also. The ceiling is 12' high so the light isn't in your eyes. They only use 100 watts and it's like working in the sunlight. They fit a standard socket and I love them. 

[cafoose 3,354]

10 hours ago, Cvans said:

I was going to change the Mercury vapor yard light to LED. So I picked up a 500w LED at Menards to have on hand when the yard light burned out. Upon closing up the addition onto the shop I needed a light in there until the fixtures were installed so I hung that 500w bulb in there. Needless to say it is going to stay there and one was installed in the old part also. The ceiling is 12' high so the light isn't in your eyes. They only use 100 watts and it's like working in the sunlight. They fit a standard socket and I love them. 

I have a yard light that has a switch on it so I can turn it on only when needed. However, when it's on it shuts itself off randomly and comes back on randomly as well which is very annoying. I bypassed the light sensor and it didn't make a difference. Maybe if I changed it to LED it would work correctly   Here is a link to the Menards light:

https://www.menards.com/main/electrical/light-bulbs/led-light-bulbs/feit-electric-reg-500w-equivalent-yard-light-daylight-corn-light-led-light-bulb/c10000-5k-led/p-1459185047586-c-7482.htm?tid=4845813111073693671&ipos=1

I don't have a Menards near me but I did find this:

https://www.amazon.com/Feit-C4000-LED-Replacement-Non-Dimmable/dp/B00RKLXJOQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520094451&sr=8-1&keywords=led+yard+light+bulb

and this:

https://www.amazon.com/Feit-Electric-C10000-LED-Non-Dimmable/dp/B06XFWV92R/ref=pd_sim_60_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B06XFWV92R&pd_rd_r=TTGH1TAQ3NGMVP6134FY&pd_rd_w=wr91r&pd_rd_wg=o1LCD&psc=1&refRID=TTGH1TAQ3NGMVP6134FY

They both use the E26 base which I believe is standard lamp size and if I remember correctly my light has the larger E39 base. I need to verify the size it's been a long time since I looked at it and my memory isn't what it used to be Lots of choices here:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_15?url=search-alias%3Dtools&field-keywords=led+yard+light+bulb&sprefix=LED+yard+light+%2Ctools%2C159&crid=2Y2U6ZMRO9WMF

I found this in case mine is the E39 base:

https://www.amazon.com/ABI-Socket-Adapter-Medium-Reducer/dp/B00GPVEKH2/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1520095670&sr=1-3&keywords=e39+e26+adapter

[Cvans 1,009]

This is the adapter that was purchased for the yard light. $2.49. 

You might want to consider a bulb with the LED's enclosed to keep them clean. 

Edited March 4, 2018 by Cvans

[Pullstart 62,795]

This summer I strung some LED rope lights inside my father in-law’s barn.  It works so well that he rarely uses the mercury lights in there.  The 50’ ropes were $50 each.  

 

We found this deal on Amazon (Prime) for a 130’ roll for $80 I believe.  I’ll see how well it works in the back building!

 

 

[Pullstart 62,795]

The lights hanging have been moved to the front of the building.  They were on separate switches, so I’ll be able to run either bank or the other if needed for any reason.  Who knows, I might just tape one switch in the off position!

Edited November 14, 2019 by pullstart
Pictures...

[Pullstart 62,795]

BIG BIG difference!  There’s barely a need for the front lights.  I had extra rope that I double backed in the end, so if I wanted to restring them I could come forward quite a few truss sets before heading back.

 

They came with plastic clips, I’m sure the front shop would benefit from screwing some to the ceiling as well!

[Razorback 1,035]

I like that..... great idea!

[Tractorhead 9,064]

LED stripes are a good Lightsource.

 

are this 110volts or 12 volts with transformer?

 

[Pullstart 62,795]

110V Stefan