LED work light advice

[Gus Youmans]

I am in the process of upgrading and adding lighting in my workshop/reloading room and want to use LED lights.

First question: The existing lights are 4, 8 foot, 2 bulb fluorescent fixtures and are used for general lighting. Recommendations?

Second question: I am adding new lights over the workbench/reloading bench and need to light a wall that is about 20 feet long where the reloading bench/workbench sits. The bench is 14 feet long but the lights also need to provide light for the electrical panel that sits along the same wall. All together, there is about 20 feet of wall/bench that needs to be lighted. Should I go with one or two eight foot fixtures, two or four bulbs per fixture or can I get the same light with some combination of four foot fixtures?

Third question: In relationship to the workbench, should the lights be placed directly over (casting the shadow straight down), in front (casting the shadow back toward me while standing at the bench), or behind (casting the shadow forward of me while standing at the bench)? I am only talking about a foot in either direction, so does it really matter? The room has an eight foot ceiling.

I know that I have not asked some of the pertinent questions, so any additional advice would be appreciated.

Gus Youmans

[salpal48]

I recently did this .attempted to change to LED. If your using the existing fixture and just replacing bulbs. You must Know the Model # Ballast for each fixture to see if they are compatible.. Even if they look alike They may not be compatable. some CO's Have a Ballast List some don't
They also make an LED bulbs that you must Disconnect your Ballast completely and direct wire.. If you Have Many size Fixtures / this process Must be with all.
after The first One i did , i gave up
New LED Fixtures you do not change bulbs. Most when it goes , you have to dump the fixture

[Lead pot]

Gus, I just finished my Man cave and work shop and I switched to LED lights.
For the shop over my Milling Machine I put a 10,000 Lumens 4' long shop light and that makes the room look like the sun is shining, very bright.
For my just finished man cave I really don't need the 10K light over the loading bench and the room is used for other things then loading ammo, it's a man cave :)
I used one 2'X4' central ceiling light that is a 55K Lumens and two 12" 1200 behind my back by the bench and a strip light in front of by at the bench and the ceiling integrated celling lights are on a dimmer.
Two 10K 48" shop lights in your area would be more then enough light.
266468266469

[Ozark mike]

I have seen the circuitry short out in those so i wont use em. Had one in the bathroom was already on next thing i know its glowing red and smoking flipped the switch off and promptly threw all remaining led lights in the garbage no more for me

[gwpercle]

I had the hodge pogdge of 24" , 48" and 8' fluorescent lights replaced in my shop/reloading and work bench a few years ago with all 24" LED's .
I hated having to keep three different sized bulbs on hand and it's easier for me to change 48" bulbs than those long 8' bulbs ...The LED's are the best thing since sliced bread .
The Main bldg. area has , down the center , replacing the (1) two bulb 8' strips with (2) two bulb 4' strips , mounted end to end ...this results in a 8' fixture but has (4) 48" bulbs instead of (2) 8' bulbs.
Bldg is 12' x 20' . left side wall has work / reloading bench full 20' . The double 4' strips run side to side and are 3 rows spaced 5 feet apart ...lots of light .

Along the left wall, a high shelf 7'-0" above fin. floor , runs above the work bench .
48" LED work bench lights were mounted on the wall , just below the shelf . The fixture diffuser directs light down and out at about a 45 degree angle . When standing or sitting at the bench the light illuminates the wall and bench area but doesn't shine into my eyes...Highly recommended for work bench . Without these my old lights were behind me and my body cast a shadow ... I installed some cheap 2' under counter lights under the shelf ...they helped but honestly they sucked when compared to proper designed work bench lights and the bright LED bulbs .
The electrician wired a switch by the door to turn on the main center row of lights and he put a separate switch at the work bench to turn those light on/off.
Best of all I have lived with 1 duplex receptacle out there for near 40 years ...he put two more over my work bench ....no more extension cords and power strips !!!!

I hope some of this helps , new fixtures are being developed every day . The bulb type LED are probably old hat by now but I love the extra light and I love the 48" bulbs for all of them .
Also some old fluorescent fixtures may not take the new LED bulbs without a "conversion kit" ... don't waste your time and money ...just buy a new fixture...conversions don't last or work that well .

I think my bulb type bulbs are called T8 and have two pins just like regular bulbs.
Gary

[skrapyard628]

My garage and reloading room are loaded up with these cheap LED lights.

https://www.amazon.com/Barrina-Integrated-Fixture-Utility-Electric/dp/B01HBT3BVM

For the garage I ended up gutting the ballasts and bulbs from the existing fluorescent light fixtures and using some sheet metal screws to mount the LED lamps to the existing fixtures. Then I just used the power wires that were already there to connect power to the new LED lamps.

Since you can connect these in series (up to 6 lamps) I ran a line of them mounted under the top shelf on my workbench so that I had light coming from in front of and behind me when Im standing at the bench.

Yes, I know they may not be the highest quality. But I have not had a single failure across 18 of them that I have. I even have one that I use as a droplight for when Im working on vehicles. That one has been dropped, stepped on, covered in old motor oil and coolant, and it is still working. So I guess cheap works out sometimes.

[bangerjim]

Check the lumens light output vs a standard florescent lamp!

That is why I bought 2 cases of 36ea) standard 40 watt 4 foot good old florescent tubes while you could still get them.

They last in my shop around 3-4 years. LED's are just not quite there yet for the light output I want. And warm white is the ONLY color to use! I hate that bluish da-light garbage the sell in LED's and florescent lights.

bangerjim

[gnappi]

I went to Home Depot and picked up 4 GE or Westinghouse LED tubes for my garage which are direct replacements for any tube with a ballast. Then bought 6 more for my kitchen.

[DDriller]

Put 2 lights from Big A** Lights in the room and you will need shades. Expensive lights but really impressed with them. They recommended two for my 2 car garage but only used one - extremely bright. I use (2) 4' LED fixtures above my reloading table.

[C.F.Plinker]

I just replaced the fluorescent lights in the kitchen and bathroom with LEDs. I used the two tube shop light LEDs from Costco. They are much brighter than the old fluorescents. These are not easily wired to the existing circuits so I had the electrician put outlet boxes in the ceiling to supply power to them. These lights can be either surface mounted or hung from the ceiling. I chose to hang them since the entire fixture will have to be replaced if (when) the bulb goes bad.

Generally speaking I like to have the light above and slightly behind me so the surface that I am looking at is lit and not in the shadow. The exception is if I am drafting then I want the light in front of me so the edge of the triangle I am running the pencil against is not in the shadow of the triangle.

I would go with 4' LEDs because they will be easier to install and remove especially if you do the work by yourself.

[Three44s]

Less juice, more light!

What is not to like?

Viva affordable Led lighting


Three44s

[dbosman]

Take a look at these. So far I've been pleased with the quality and the light.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XJXPWFL/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07XJXPWFL&pd_rd_w=GDjrx&pf_rd_p=48d372c1-f7e1-4b8b-9d02-4bd86f5158c5&pd_rd_wg=xmiNS&pf_rd_r=3PQDSCHD2SFXRG8PVX28&pd_rd_r=2e90363b-8189-4217-bbff-3ddf4a3f3280&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExVkM3V1BTVkpWU1hHJ mVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTM2MjY0M1E3R00zV0oyMjRIMSZlbmN yeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDgxOTkzM1U3M1BLRThEUkYzVSZ3aWRnZ XROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbCZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZ kb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

[Alstep]

I have been replacing my 4' florescent lights with LED's. Can't believe the difference, hello sunshine!
Bypassed the ballast and wired white lead to all the pin brackets on one end, and the black lead to the other end. So 120 volts pass through the bulb from one end to the other. Old 4' florescent bulbs are 40 watts each, the new LED's are 16 watts and so much brighter.
I've also replaced the ceiling bulbs in the cellar with LED. A regular 60 watt bulb produces 640 lummens, a 60 watt LED produces 6000. Now I can see what I'm working on without bringing on extra lighting where I work.

[Mal Paso]

I just looked and it must have been last month Costco had 4' LED shop lights for $18. Great product.

Might be $28 regular price.

[jimlj]

I know this isn't answering any your questions, but....
Check prices for new fixtures vs LED bulbs for existing fixtures. Sometimes new LED fixtures are less than replacing the bulbs. Plus new fixtures will have an improved diffuser that will give you more even lighting. I drug my feet switching to LED lighting because the early ones stunk. There is a world of difference in LED's made now verses ones made even a few years ago.

[Mal Paso]

Check the lumens light output vs a standard florescent lamp!

That is why I bought 2 cases of 36ea) standard 40 watt 4 foot good old florescent tubes while you could still get them.

They last in my shop around 3-4 years. LED's are just not quite there yet for the light output I want. And warm white is the ONLY color to use! I hate that bluish da-light garbage the sell in LED's and florescent lights.

bangerjim

Those dang florescent bulbs Flicker! That's why I laid in a stash of Humphrey Gas Lamps. They take very little propane to run and put out real light. Not like that electric stuff.

[NyFirefighter357]

Gut the fixtures and replace with direct wire LED bulbs. They are known as ballast bypass as apposed to plug & play and can be wired to either one side or both depending on the type of 2 pin socket you have in the lights, shunt or non shunt & the bulb you buy. The best part about converting to LED is one tube can give you the brightness of two, so you can cut your energy consumption to 1/4 of the florescent bulbs or get more light in the same area with 2 bulbs. You can get 8ft bulbs or a kit to convert the 8ft fixture to 4ft bulbs as well. The ballast is 80% of the problems with those lights, remove the ballast and your only issue for the most part is the bulb. Read the bad reviews on-line for ballast retrofit LED most say light didn't work or light not bright. That's because the bulb wasn't the problem it was the ballast! Also it rids the annoying buzzing noise of ballasts. I've converted almost a dozen 4ft fixtures they can be done in only a few minutes with the existing wire.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/search?facet.multiselect=true&page=1&q=led+tube+light&rows=15&son=0&start=0&filter=(a_lighting_technology_t_fq:%22LED%22)&filter=(search_within_this_category_fq:%22LED%20Li ght%20Bulbs%22)

[Cast_outlaw]

I got 20w 120v 4’ led tubes, 5000k spectrum. They are 20% brighter than 40w Fluorescent. It works for me, I do like it, although you might like a different spectrum, get what you like their your eyes.

[samari46]

Had 5 4' 4 lamp 40 watt flourescent fixtures in my shop/garage. After 20 years got tired of climbing on a short step ladder to change out the lamps. Replaced them with 5 Harbor Freight 5000 lumen fixtures. Now I can actually see what I'm working on. And do not have to have all of them on at the same time. They have long pull chains so if I'm working in different areas I can just pull the chain. Two over the lathe, two where the grinder and roll around tool box and one over my work bench. Total cost was about $115 or so. Gave all the old lamps and fixtures to my BIL and his son. Frank

[mozeppa]

I have 12 LED 4' lights in my shop 48 bucks each ...they use very little juice.

they all run on one line .....did the math and on one 20 amp line i could run 58 of those lights....must be something to them.

[MrWolf]

I just looked and it must have been last month Costco had 4' LED shop lights for $18. Great product.

Might be $28 regular price.

I have a 30' x 32' garage I am just finishing up. I put 30 of them up. I wanted plenty of light. Love em.

[Gus Youmans]

Thanks for all your responses.

Gus Youmans

[smoked turkey]

I agree that LED bulbs are the way to go for more light at less energy cost. I prefer the bright white light as opposed to the "warm" white. Someone mentioned dimming for more control of the light. I will just say not all LED bulbs are able to be dimmed. So be sure they are dim-able prior to installation is that is what you prefer. I may be out of date on my last statement but I know in the early days of LEDs that was an issue.

[David2011]

BangerJim is dead on regarding the color of the lights. People seem to confuse harsh blue color with brighter. Most LED lights come in one or more of 3200° Kelvin, 4000°K, 5000°K or 6500°K. The 3200°K lights are the same color as quartz halogen lights like the common work lights and back yard floodlights. That or 4000°K which is a little "whiter" are my preferences. The 5000°K lights are very common and are marketed as daylight lights. That color temperature seems to be the most commonly available. The 6500°K lights will appear alien blue as your neighbors drive by your open garage. I really don't like the higher color temperatures. The numbers represent the color of light cast off of an iron bar at those temperatures. Open shade in bright daylight is also around 6500°K.

The Barrina lights on Amazon have a big following and the price is excellent. They don't offer many lights below 5000°K and have quite a few 6500°K lights if that's your preference. To get 4000°K lights there are a lot of choices other than Barrina but at a higher cost.

[.429&H110]

i have fought the good fight for years with tubes and ballasts. Was called to the front office, secretary said her light was leaking. Yup, ballast dripping tar on her desk. A very nasty tar, too. Tubes had a drop of mercury in them, so they were haz-mat: pay to get rid of them. Supermarket freezer doors have a tube in them, cost $86, for a tube that would work in a freezer. LEDs enjoy being in a freezer. Next time you buy ice cream check out the LED.
SIL put up two LED fixtures in his laundry room. You need sunglasses. WOW. Kinda blue!
Are the Barrinas dimmable?
Description does not say, probly not.
I like dimmable LEDs.

[Lead pot]

Heck, I even put a LED tape strip in my gun safe. :) cant see it but it fills the safe with light.

[fcvan]

Heck, I even put a LED tape strip in my gun safe. :) cant see it but it fills the safe with light.

Good idea.

[Mal Paso]

Those Costco Feit Shop lights draw 42 Watts, put out 4,000 Lumens, are 4,000K and have a 50,000 hour life expectancy.

Average 40 Watt Florescent puts out about 3200, starts brighter but dims over time.

[Handloader109]

harbor freight in my shop. Replaced 8ft two bulb fluorescents that one tube costs what a new fixture cost. And ballasts were failing. I ended up adding an outlet in ceiling where old fixture came through. Plugged two new fixtures in. Double the light, no dang flicker. In basement I’ve added 4ft troffers and they give off plenty of light.

[MT Gianni]

We built our house in 2017 with all LED lighting fixtures. The Ceiling fans and mechanical room have bulbs the rest are fixtures. Two over head lights from Costco run my 28x32 garage with another over my casting pot and tool bench. They work well whether it is -20 or 90 with no warm up time. No way would I replace bulbs in an existing fixture, get real LED fixtures.