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Author Topic: LED shop lights  (Read 6576 times)

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Offline bkharman

  • Posts: 2072
LED shop lights
« on: April 08, 2014, 09:15 PM »
I am in the midst of rebuilding my workshop and one area that has totally sucked for me has been lighting.  On one hand I am very luck to have a mostly dedicated space to work in, but it isn't setup for task lighting at all.  I recently grabbed a few of these Utilitech Pro 4' LED fixtures from Lowes.  I hadn't had a real chance to put them in, but did yesterday and man are they nice!  In one area they replaced a bank of for fluorescent and i think I get the same amount of light from the 40 watts of LED power that I did from the old setup.  They aren't the easiest install but like any warm blooded male, I tossed the instructions aside and went my own route.  They have about a 1-2 second delay to start up but other than that, they light up my room like Memorial Stadium.

They are about $70.00 each, but the fact that I shouldn't have to replace them for quite a few years and they don't hum or flicker will be worth its weight in gold.  Check them out at Lowes if you want, but they are very nice for the price.  And evidently I am a poet and didn't even know it...

 [tongue]

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People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along?

Offline ccmviking

  • Posts: 411
    • Blue River Cabinetry Kitchen and Bath
Re: LED shop lights
« Reply #1 on: April 08, 2014, 09:25 PM »
LED is definitely getting more adaptable as time goes by.  T5 HO florescent is still the best you can do for shop lighting.  Light output per fixture and cost per lumen.  We'll see some great things in the next few years.

Chris...
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Offline Sparktrician

  • Posts: 4393
Re: LED shop lights
« Reply #2 on: April 09, 2014, 11:28 AM »
I used a bunch of Utilitech 0163697 48" fixtures that hold two T32 bulbs.  It takes several minutes for them to warm up and glow right, but they light the shop reasonably well.  The issue I've had is that in the ~year since I first bought them, two have smoked their ballasts.  I should have expected no less, since they're made in China.  If any more smoke their ballasts, they'll be replaced with LED fixtures like the ones you used. 

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- Willy -

  "Show us a man who never makes a mistake and we will show a man who never makes anything. 
  The capacity for occasional blundering is inseparable from the capacity to bring things to pass."

 - Herman Lincoln Wayland (1830-1898)

Offline bkharman

  • Posts: 2072
Re: LED shop lights
« Reply #3 on: April 09, 2014, 12:25 PM »
Quote from: Sparktrician on April 09, 2014, 11:28 AM
I used a bunch of Utilitech 0163697 48" fixtures that hold two T32 bulbs.  It takes several minutes for them to warm up and glow right, but they light the shop reasonably well.  The issue I've had is that in the ~year since I first bought them, two have smoked their ballasts.  I should have expected no less, since they're made in China.  If any more smoke their ballasts, they'll be replaced with LED fixtures like the ones you used. 

That stinks. Do you recall how much you paid for those?  At 70 buck a pop for these LEDs I am all over them. If they last a few years then it is well worth it. They are about 3200 lumens on 40 watts so that works for my shop with 8 foot ceilings.
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People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along?

Offline Sparktrician

  • Posts: 4393
Re: LED shop lights
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2014, 01:14 PM »
Quote from: bkharman on April 09, 2014, 12:25 PM
Quote from: Sparktrician on April 09, 2014, 11:28 AM
I used a bunch of Utilitech 0163697 48" fixtures that hold two T32 bulbs.  It takes several minutes for them to warm up and glow right, but they light the shop reasonably well.  The issue I've had is that in the ~year since I first bought them, two have smoked their ballasts.  I should have expected no less, since they're made in China.  If any more smoke their ballasts, they'll be replaced with LED fixtures like the ones you used.

That stinks. Do you recall how much you paid for those?  At 70 buck a pop for these LEDs I am all over them. If they last a few years then it is well worth it. They are about 3200 lumens on 40 watts so that works for my shop with 8 foot ceilings.


When I bought them, they were $19.97 in lots of 5 or more.  Right now they're $21.74 each.  Yup, El Cheapos.  'Nuff said. 

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- Willy -

  "Show us a man who never makes a mistake and we will show a man who never makes anything. 
  The capacity for occasional blundering is inseparable from the capacity to bring things to pass."

 - Herman Lincoln Wayland (1830-1898)

Offline Slappy

  • Posts: 564
Re: LED shop lights
« Reply #5 on: April 09, 2014, 01:43 PM »
Quote from: ccmviking on April 08, 2014, 09:25 PM
LED is definitely getting more adaptable as time goes by.  T5 HO florescent is still the best you can do for shop lighting.  Light output per fixture and cost per lumen.  We'll see some great things in the next few years.

Chris...
I put a grid of 9 double bulb "T" type fixtures in my 2 car garage when I redid the power out there ,the lights were dirt cheap money wise , I was amazed on how well they light the place up
 fast on NO Flicking at all
« Last Edit: April 09, 2014, 04:34 PM by Slappy »
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Mike

Offline leer

  • Posts: 261
Re: LED shop lights
« Reply #6 on: April 09, 2014, 03:07 PM »
Sadly everything is made in China, and it's a junk shoot regarding brand, as far as which is a higher quality.  You expect a Phillips or GE or other name brand to be better than a Utilitech (*if for no other reason than reputation), but who knows?  You could be paying more just to have a name brand on the package.  I've bought several brands of LED A19 style light bulbs and figure I am just doing my own long-term product comparison test.  They all claim incredible life, and it will be interesting to see if they last the 10+ years I'm expecting.  But the prices are coming down, and the power savings is dramatic.

Currently my shop is full of T8 fixtures for primary lighting, and a number of clamp-on style "utility lights" which I've outfitted with the "60W equivalent" LED lamps.  I've switched to Daylight tubes in my T8 fixtures, and purchased Daylight LED bulbs for the task lighting.  They complement each other nicely.
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Lee

Offline amt

  • Posts: 379
Re: LED shop lights
« Reply #7 on: April 09, 2014, 04:21 PM »
I put 36 T8 bulbs in my garage, and it went for about $600.  LED would have been about 6x that.  While I want to get LED, I can't justify spending $3600 to do it.  Task lighting, however, might be a good fit.

As for reliability, I am not convinced the LED products sold are a lot more reliable.  I have started replacing bulbs with LED in my house, and I probably have a 10% failure rate.  While the LED itself is supposed to last a long time, I am concerned that these products are built with every other component being junk.
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Offline Slappy

  • Posts: 564
Re: LED shop lights
« Reply #8 on: April 09, 2014, 04:31 PM »
Quote from: amt on April 09, 2014, 04:21 PM
I put 36 T8 bulbs in my garage, and it went for about $600.  LED would have been about 6x that.  While I want to get LED, I can't justify spending $3600 to do it.  Task lighting, however, might be a good fit.

As for reliability, I am not convinced the LED products sold are a lot more reliable.  I have started replacing bulbs with LED in my house, and I probably have a 10% failure rate.  While the LED itself is supposed to last a long time, I am concerned that these products are built with every other component being junk.
that's my issue with LED's  I find more like a 20% failure rate & add the higher costs , it's not acceptable to even buy any more .
I have some in select special use lamps (desk ,spot) around the house but as far as converting everything over to LED  I'll let the tech mature 1st . I went whole hog on CFFL's years ago & most all of the early models failed in short order . I not repeating that fiasco again .
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Mike

Offline bigchas

  • Posts: 315
Re: LED shop lights
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2014, 06:40 PM »
Quote from: Slappy on April 09, 2014, 04:31 PM
Quote from: amt on April 09, 2014, 04:21 PM
I put 36 T8 bulbs in my garage, and it went for about $600.  LED would have been about 6x that.  While I want to get LED, I can't justify spending $3600 to do it.  Task lighting, however, might be a good fit.

As for reliability, I am not convinced the LED products sold are a lot more reliable.  I have started replacing bulbs with LED in my house, and I probably have a 10% failure rate.  While the LED itself is supposed to last a long time, I am concerned that these products are built with every other component being junk.
that's my issue with LED's  I find more like a 20% failure rate & add the higher costs , it's not acceptable to even buy any more .
I have some in select special use lamps (desk ,spot) around the house but as far as converting everything over to LED  I'll let the tech mature 1st . I went whole hog on CFFL's years ago & most all of the early models failed in short order . I not repeating that fiasco again .

I swapped all of my halogen g10 lamps with LEDs from Costco. I think the brand was Osram. In over 2years failure rate of zero.

I'm a convert  I've also seen a 12% drop in electricity bills but that might have a lot to do with a daughter leaving to university.
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