LED shop lights

[shortfuse]

I never saw any reviews since I bought mine in the store. I'll go check the reviews out and see what they have to say, thanks for the tip.

I went back and read the reviews on the CREE LED bulbs. There were a lot of bad reviews for both burnouts and dimming with age. I had both.

[BaTu]

Cheap lamps rarely work well, so you need to choose an expensive model.

No WAY is is true!

They're All made in China (or from Chinese parts) and the best idea is to buy them from someone with American support. My vote is the 3-panel 80W screw-in $29 2-pak "Garage Lights" at CostCo. They are Incredibly Bright (80 watts of LED light, not an 80w "equivalent")

[danielplace]

No WAY is is true!

They're All made in China (or from Chinese parts) and the best idea is to buy them from someone with American support. My vote is the 3-panel 80W screw-in $29 2-pak "Garage Lights" at CostCo. They are Incredibly Bright (80 watts of LED light, not an 80w "equivalent")

https://www.costco.com/3-panel-led-g...100688345.html

[moose]

I agree they are bright BUT I find they leave unlit shadow areas. It might be due to the low ceiling in the garage i installed them. Fortunately it is not a work area.

[smithdoor]

I use screw like in you use in your home. It saves money 💰. I uses to great light shop but became out of this world. Simple is cheaper.

Dave

Have any of you guys tried these out? Folks in another forum seem to like them. Thinking about buying a bunch for my shop.

http://www.costco.com/Feit-Electric-...100155638.html

[BaTu]

I agree they are bright BUT I find they leave unlit shadow areas. It might be due to the low ceiling in the garage i installed them. Fortunately it is not a work area.

The answer to that of course is to have multiple sources of light so that the shadows are filled-in (the contrast between light & dark are harder to see in a dim room )

Since these are screw-in, adding a "porcelain" (or plastic) ceiling fixture is pretty easy...

[whtbaron]

My shop was wired 8 yrs ago with a combination of box store cheap LED's, electrician supplied more expensive LED's and fluorescents... to date I have not touched any of the lights in the shop, but I did have trouble with a cheap LED nightlight fixture over the door outside. When I opened it up, the daylight switch had malfunctioned but I can still use the LED on a switched circuit somewhere else. I don't have issues with shadows, but some of my lights are mounted high on the wall, and some on the ceiling. Most of the lights I have been adding to the tractors the last couple of years had the CREE technology.... some bought cheap on sale, some bought from pricier quality suppliers. I have yet to have any of them fail.

[bigb]

Since this thread started some of my T-8 fluorescents began to fail so I ended up getting Phillips LED ballast bypass lamps from the electrical supply and changed them all out. Glad to actually get rid of the ballasts, one less failure point. I also added 6 more of the Costco 4 footers and the original ones I bought 5 or six years ago are still going strong. I am now fluorescent free.

[SweetMK]

Back in the year 2000, I bought some 400 watt Metal Halide light fixtures for my shop.
I do not use the shop every day, and I do not use the shop 8 hours per day,,
so, electricity usage is not an issue.

Two fixtures FULLY light an area 30X40 feet, and they have needed zero service for 21 years,, amazing lights.

I recently bought a new bulb, because they say the bulbs get dim over time.
I installed the new bulb, and you can not tell it from the 21 year old one.

Per lumen, these fixtures use exactly double the amount of electricity as compared to LED, BUT, they never fail,,
AND, there are so few that need to be installed.

The fixtures are 16 feet high, and always work perfectly.
I would rather pay a little extra for electricity, rather than have lights that do not operate!!

Now, many times you can find them on Craigs List for $25,, as take outs, after a local big box upgrades theirs.
I bought two more , They can be wired for 120 volts, 220 volts, or several higher voltages.
I wired them as 120 volts.
I put one over my weld bench, it is so bright, it will trigger my self dimming weld helmet. (That one is only 9 feet high)
When that light is on, I got to position myself with the helmet so that I am not directly facing the light.

THAT is a LOT of light!!

Having that fixture over my weld bench is like having the weld bench outside, on a bright sunny day.
That sure helps with getting things ready to weld,,
heck, it even makes it easier to see DURING welding,, as it adds enough light to illuminate the weld.

You do need a high ceiling,, but, I have that.

This pic was taken in my shop, lighted by the metal halide light,
you can notice the shadow is pretty much straight down, it was under one of the lights.

[moose]

Oh I agree and will wire in additional ceiling screw-in fixtures just pointing the shortccomings of this style for the nonDIYers.

[smithdoor]

I this one LED fixture simply come by and time tested.

Oh I agree and will wire in additional ceiling screw-in fixtures just pointing the shortccomings of this style for the nonDIYers.

[rexcormack]

Too bad metal halide fixtures were outlawed in 2008!

[John Baptist]

I agree they are bright BUT I find they leave unlit shadow areas. It might be due to the low ceiling in the garage i installed them. Fortunately it is not a work area.

i think all LED lights make weird shadows, a real bulb seems to give ambient light & LED's seem to give None. The blue/white ones are the worst

[mcspeed]

I built up my own LED shop lights.

8’ 4HD light strips 4k

440 lumens per foot

Aluminum channels with light diffusers.

12 volts dc

I wanted something that is low profile and would not impede access to rafters for storage with good light output.




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[farmersammm]

The yellow bandwidth is relatively new. The older LED's have a sick blue color. I hate 'em.

[mcspeed]

LED Lights come in different colors. Some are even adjustable like the can lights I have in my house. I prefer the 4k color which is a more “natural” color.

Some skew waaay white or blue. I’m not a fan of the yellow color which leans more incandescent as far as color goes.

Light changes the color of objects it illuminates. I used to be in the printing business and proofs were matched under a certain color spectrum light. Clients would view the finished product under fluorescent office lights and complain……..”color doesn’t match proof.” Of course it doesn’t under the wrong light!


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[whtbaron]

I've seen problems color matching auto paints under different lighting as well.... looked good under flourescents or incandescents, but out in the sunlight the color was off. I never worked under LED's.

[NavyVet1959]

The enemy to LED lights is heat... My house has ceiling fans in most rooms and I've noticed that the LED bulbs do not last anywhere close to what the SAY that they should last, even if the fan itself never runs... I did some tests and found that if I removed the "tulip style" globes from around the bulbs, they lasted a LOT longer... These tests were done in ceiling fans where one bulb still had the globe and another bulb would not have the globe, so the time that each of the bulbs was on in a particular ceiling fan was the same... At one point, I bought the Harbor Freight LED shop light... It has an aluminum chassis and seems to dissipate heat quite well... I have yet to have one of these fail on me...

[shelby]

I just got my shop framed and I'm getting ready to wire it.

40' x 67'-3" with 13' ceilings. I bought 38(I'll have 2 extra) of the 4' 4,500 lumen Honeywell LEDs from Sam's 5 years ago(the shop project has been on the back burner, I've been busy building the new house).

They are non linkable. I'm going to run rows of 6 lights between the 5 bay doors and on either end for 6 rows.

I may run rows of 6 LED can lights in the center on the bays for extra light.

Plan is 14/2 wire with a 15 amp receptacle in the ceiling between two lights so they both plug in. Not looking forward to wiring 18 extra receptacles.

Does anyone have a similar size shop to critique the lighting plan?

On a side note, I'm a builder and I used a framer that I've used on and off since 1998. He has framed 100's of house for me. He pimped a sub crew on me(one that I've used before) and they sucked. 9 out of 10 windows out of plumb. All 5 bay doors 1/2-3/4" out of plumb, the front left corner out of plumb both directions. 60+ missing or improperly installed plywood clips(out of 350), 10 studs that needed to be straightened. One joint in the green plate 3/4" off the layout. OSB not gaped at all joints.

They framed the rough openings for the windows 1/2" too big in both directions and we fit a window in the hole and it can plumb up so no need to reframe the windows.

Everything was fixed today except for the bay doors. The OSB comes off the front wall tomorrow and we'll get the doors plumb.

It blows my mind that those guys would do such crappy work when they know I'm a framer and a builder and they know how I walk a framing job, with a level, a string and several cans of orange paint.

[mcspeed]

I just got my shop framed and I'm getting ready to wire it.

40' x 67'-3" with 13' ceilings. I bought 38(I'll have 2 extra) of the 4' 4,500 lumen Honeywell LEDs from Sam's 5 years ago(the shop project has been on the back burner, I've been busy building the new house).

They are non linkable. I'm going to run rows of 6 lights between the 5 bay doors and on either end for 6 rows.

I may run rows of 6 LED can lights in the center on the bays for extra light.

Plan is 14/2 wire with a 15 amp receptacle in the ceiling between two lights so they both plug in. Not looking forward to wiring 18 extra receptacles.

Does anyone have a similar size shop to critique the lighting plan?

On a side note, I'm a builder and I used a framer that I've used on and off since 1998. He has framed 100's of house for me. He pimped a sub crew on me(one that I've used before) and they sucked. 9 out of 10 windows out of plumb. All 5 bay doors 1/2-3/4" out of plumb, the front left corner out of plumb both directions. 60+ missing or improperly installed plywood clips(out of 350), 10 studs that needed to be straightened. One joint in the green plate 3/4" off the layout. OSB not gaped at all joints.

They framed the rough openings for the windows 1/2" too big in both directions and we fit a window in the hole and it can plumb up so no need to reframe the windows.

Everything was fixed today except for the bay doors. The OSB comes off the front wall tomorrow and we'll get the doors plumb.

It blows my mind that those guys would do such crappy work when they know I'm a framer and a builder and they know how I walk a framing job, with a level, a string and several cans of orange paint.

That’s going to be awesome!

IMO you can’t have too much light. I like to have the option to run all lights or partial so you run high lumen option only when needed.

I would also compare light output on your lights to current ones available……may be surprised at the difference in both output and cost.

I went through the same BS when I contracted work at my house.

Concrete elevation off by 3/4”

Poor not square. Builder kept arguing with me that it was ( 3” off)

Had to re set windows 4x.

Ended up hiring a skilled friend to re-do a ton of stuff.

I didn’t go with the low bidder or cheapest and still had more issues that expected.


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[whtbaron]

Sounds like lots of lights for the size, which is good. I like McSpeed's idea for double switching low/full lighting. Is it just for storage, or will you be working on the vehicles in there? If all your lights are on the ceiling, and you're working under the hood of a vehicle, you'll be working in the shadow. Consider running some over the windows along the front wall. White metal on the interior will also increase the amount of bounced light. Bummer on the contractors.... give em hell...

[M J D]

I just got my shop framed and I'm getting ready to wire it.

40' x 67'-3" with 13' ceilings. I bought 38(I'll have 2 extra) of the 4' 4,500 lumen Honeywell LEDs from Sam's 5 years ago(the shop project has been on the back burner, I've been busy building the new house).

They are non linkable. I'm going to run rows of 6 lights between the 5 bay doors and on either end for 6 rows.

I may run rows of 6 LED can lights in the center on the bays for extra light.

Plan is 14/2 wire with a 15 amp receptacle in the ceiling between two lights so they both plug in. Not looking forward to wiring 18 extra receptacles.

Does anyone have a similar size shop to critique the lighting plan?

On a side note, I'm a builder and I used a framer that I've used on and off since 1998. He has framed 100's of house for me. He pimped a sub crew on me(one that I've used before) and they sucked. 9 out of 10 windows out of plumb. All 5 bay doors 1/2-3/4" out of plumb, the front left corner out of plumb both directions. 60+ missing or improperly installed plywood clips(out of 350), 10 studs that needed to be straightened. One joint in the green plate 3/4" off the layout. OSB not gaped at all joints.

They framed the rough openings for the windows 1/2" too big in both directions and we fit a window in the hole and it can plumb up so no need to reframe the windows.

Everything was fixed today except for the bay doors. The OSB comes off the front wall tomorrow and we'll get the doors plumb.

It blows my mind that those guys would do such crappy work when they know I'm a framer and a builder and they know how I walk a framing job, with a level, a string and several cans of orange paint.

My garage is 20'x30' with 9' ceiling. I ran a row of 3 on 1 side and a row of 2 on the other side( 1 short because the overhead door prevented that). Plenty of light for that size. The number of lights you have should be plenty. Staggering them in the rows may help as well.

[farmersammm]

I just got my shop framed and I'm getting ready to wire it.

40' x 67'-3" with 13' ceilings. I bought 38(I'll have 2 extra) of the 4' 4,500 lumen Honeywell LEDs from Sam's 5 years ago(the shop project has been on the back burner, I've been busy building the new house).

They are non linkable. I'm going to run rows of 6 lights between the 5 bay doors and on either end for 6 rows.

I may run rows of 6 LED can lights in the center on the bays for extra light.

Plan is 14/2 wire with a 15 amp receptacle in the ceiling between two lights so they both plug in. Not looking forward to wiring 18 extra receptacles.

Does anyone have a similar size shop to critique the lighting plan?

On a side note, I'm a builder and I used a framer that I've used on and off since 1998. He has framed 100's of house for me. He pimped a sub crew on me(one that I've used before) and they sucked. 9 out of 10 windows out of plumb. All 5 bay doors 1/2-3/4" out of plumb, the front left corner out of plumb both directions. 60+ missing or improperly installed plywood clips(out of 350), 10 studs that needed to be straightened. One joint in the green plate 3/4" off the layout. OSB not gaped at all joints.

They framed the rough openings for the windows 1/2" too big in both directions and we fit a window in the hole and it can plumb up so no need to reframe the windows.

Everything was fixed today except for the bay doors. The OSB comes off the front wall tomorrow and we'll get the doors plumb.

It blows my mind that those guys would do such crappy work when they know I'm a framer and a builder and they know how I walk a framing job, with a level, a string and several cans of orange paint.

That looks like a dream. You're gonna love it.

One thing, and it's just me................................... Get rid of the trees. They're too close to the shop. Wildfire comes through, and you'll have the sad pleasure of watching the shop burn down to the ground. Coupla hundred feet increases your chance of survival by multiples. You have no idea what wildfire is, until you live through one.

[whtbaron]

MJD mentioned the rollup doors blocking the light, which I have also experienced. With that many doors, that might be a good argument for running your rows parallel to the rafters between the doors, rather than perpendicular rows down the length.

Edit.... Dah.... I see that's already the plan....sorry.