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New lighting

4K views 19 replies 13 participants last post by  Dan3103 
#1 ·
In the new year my plans are to install new/more lighting in my garage/shop (back wall of a 2 1/2 car structure) - perhaps track lighting to adjust the light where needed, but am concerned with dust/dirt gathering in the light tracks. Presently there is only a 4 foot fluorescent double tube light fixture above the work bench. What type of lighting do you have in your shop, and is it satisfactory? Thanx for the info. Be safe.
 
#4 ·
My shop has 3x 8' 2 tube shop lights. I just ordered some 8' LED 5000k tubes today. One of the issues I noticed with fluorescent tubes in cold weather is the humming and they take a while to warm up to brightness. Unfortunately I have about 4 boxes of these tubes. I have 12 fixtures in the other part of my garage at the moment. It would cost me about $1100 to convert them all to LED. That's going to have to wait. I can buy a new tool or several for that much.
 
#5 ·
I installed my 8' LED tubes today. What a difference they make. I didn't realize how bad my lighting was. I had 3x 2 bulb t12 fixtures. I added a 4th and spaced them 4' apart starting about 6' from themed end wall. Wired them all up and continued working on my cabinet drawers to celebrate the brightness I now have. And no more humming.
 
#8 ·
Went to the local box store and invested in some LED shop lights....4000K (close to natural daylight) and about 3000 lumens. Love them and will replace (and relocate) the old fluorescent tube style ones as they go bad....or until that annoying hum drives me nuts.
 
#10 ·
I have very little general shop (12' x 16') lighting. The light on the walls, ceiling and floor don't contribute to what I am doing. I have replaced all incandescents with 8W (50W eq) LED lights to be able to see what I am doing with both carvings and with power tools. Never go back. Otherwise, I have whopping 45W LED lights for good vision.
 
#12 ·
One other advantage of LED lighting that CFL and Incandes. can't do at all well = I bought LED lights which are quite focused.
Of course, that gives me very bright light for wood carving. The LED lights give me really hard/sharp shadows.
When rounding off a curved surface, that begins as an overlapping mesh of little flat spots. The LED let me see the ridges that need to be cut down.
 
#14 ·
Least expensive in terms of capital expenditure. Second place for energy cost, and last place environmentally.

Oh, and they don't work worth s*ht when the shop is cold.

Each two-tube 48" shop light with old-style ballast uses ~100W. The same fixture with 48" 18 watt LED tubes uses less than half the power and produces more lumens. From tubes that don't need replacement anywhere near as often.
 
#16 ·
All I can say is that; 1) all my fluorescent fixtures are pre 1970, so all use magnetic ballast, and they do not work properly when the shop is below 40F. and 2) the lifetime of a typical fluorescent tube in my shop is less than a year, so I'm always changing a tube, and 3) here in So. Oregon it costs $1 per foot of tube to properly dispose of fluorescent tubes at the recycling center.

Those 3 factors alone make the conversion to LEDs worthwhile in my case. I did not replace fixtures, I simply rewired them and removed the ballast.

YMMV
 
#17 ·
If your lights are pre-'70's, I think you've got your money's worth. They're over 45 years old!
Disposal fees vary in different parts of the country. It's no charge for my area.
The fluorescent lights now sold at the Big Boxes are now different than the old ones. They proclaim they are more efficient.
Regarding the life of the old tubes, my shop lights last so long, they get very dirty with a layer of dust and need a good cleaning every few years. I certainly don't replace the tubes every year.
 
#18 ·
A couple of fun facts. Did you know that that people are exposed to far greater amounts of mercury by eating tuna fish than if a fluorescent tube breaks in front of them. LED diodes are not toxic free. They contain high levels of lead and nickel.

Like is said before, I am not anti LED. I have some in my home. I am very much in favor of energy savings but this needs to be tempered with common sense. Not like outlawing the 60 watt light bulb. How many have bought the 59 watt (this is the mandated replacement for the 75 watt) to replace their burned out 60 watt light bulb.

I do need to make a retraction though. While at work today I looked up specs on different ballasts. I had stated that the ballast that drives the new 4' 28 watt tube starts and 20 below. I was wrong. This starting temp is on the 32 watt ballast. The 28 watt needs heat to start. It needs to be 60 degrees. The wattage usage on the the 32 watt ballast for 2 tubes in 59 watts.
 
#19 ·
Two car garage, dedicated shop, 8' ceiling, and we have installed seven 4-lamp T-8 fixtures, so 28 tubes. I have another 4-lamp fixture still in the box and it will go up when I have time. I have arranged the lights in three zones so I can control where the light is for shadows, highlights, etc. when I do finishing and photography, or if I'm only going to work in a specific area and don't need all the lights. The entire setup cost about $300 at Lowe's. The lighting is superb!


This photo was taken well before the shop was setup -
 
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