Shop Lighting - try out these Eiko bulbs

[Kirk Simmons]

I am still getting my shop set up again in my new garage, and one of the issues I was facing was lighting. When I sold my house, the buyer specified that he wanted all of my garage / workshop lights to be included in the purchase. This was annoying, but not too big a deal as the traditional two-tube fluorescent lights I had weren't too expensive. Hey, if it sold the house then have at it.

That led to a problem in my new workshop though, a lack of lighting. I hadn't completely decided on what I wanted to do, as it would involve running conduit wiring to supply power to everything and so I wanted to get it done right the first time, and cut down on revisions.

Then I saw these bulbs, pictured below, while I was at Northern Tool. They're made by Eiko, fit in standard light sockets, pull 85 watts of power and put out 340 watts worth of light. They are also about 10 inches tall, so they won't work well in a basement but they do work nicely in my garage with 10 foot ceilings. Since I had eight standard light sockets already installed in my garage I decided to give them a try and bought a pair to experiment with.

Holy COW are these things bright! They are instant on, but take about 15 seconds to spin up to full brightness. Once they do they are INCREDIBLY bright, supplying very strong light to everything they can shine on.

If you need some good lighting and don't want to rewire your shop, give these a try.

- Kirk Simmons
- Eagan MN

[Jim Eller]

...........and they are $30 bucks a pop???

[Kirk Simmons]

I didn't say they were cheap. :o

I used a generic buy X $$$ get Y discount off on stuff at Northern Tool when I got them, so I didn't pay full price for the bulbs. Even so, at 30 bucks a pop they were still way cheaper than buying new fixtures, new bulbs, and running wire / conduit to hook everything up. They worked out pretty well for me.

If these make you cringe at the price, you should see some of the new $80 a shot LED lights they are making.

Note on NT coupons - if you go to the MN State Fair make sure to swing by their shop on site. When you buy something, the bag they give you to carry the loot has a bunch of coupons printed on it that are good for one year.

- Kirk Simmons
- Eagan, MN

[Mark Engel]

I was in Lowes today and saw a 65 watt CFL that puts out the same light as a 300 watt bulb. I think it was a Sylvania. Cost was $19.68.

[Philip Johnson]

I tried some bulbs of that style not that brand and they did not work when it got cold, had to go back to the old style bulbs.

[Yitah Wu]

I was buying 45 watt CFL's that cost $10 a pop!

Stooopid expensive - the 23 watt CFL's are always on sale somewhere - typically 4 for $5 or something like that. 23 watts is supposed to be equivalent to 100 watt incandescent, though I find it's brighter in practice.

Then I found these:

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-128-00I-Outlet-Socket-Adapter/dp/B000P9UXRG/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1258721388&sr=8-6 at a local hardware store.

HALF the price of the 45 watt CFL's and I actually get more light since the surface area is spread out. If I really wanted to I imagine I can get 3 and put 4 bulbs into a single socket (though it would start to look like I had shot and mounted a neon Buck)

4 bulbs in one socket would cost ~12.50 and give be 92 CFL watts, which is something like 400 incandescent watts.

Right now I have SEVEN CFL's in my garage shop - 4 come on with the switch which is more than I usually need. If I need more lighting then I hit a switch or two and the rest come on.

P.S. Yes, they don't work so well in cold - the warm up time is much longer in the winter. I swap a hot wire bulb out for every other CFL for the winter.

[Rob Robinson VT]

I was buying 45 watt CFL's that cost $10 a pop!

Stooopid expensive - the 23 watt CFL's are always on sale somewhere - typically 4 for $5 or something like that. 23 watts is supposed to be equivalent to 100 watt incandescent, though I find it's brighter in practice.

Then I found these:

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-128-00I-Outlet-Socket-Adapter/dp/B000P9UXRG/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1258721388&sr=8-6 at a local hardware store.
Great idea for those that live in warmer climes or have heated garages and workshops. Hadn't seen these in years and didn't know they still existed but a great way to get more light with inexpensive CFLs. Thanks for the tip.

btw, for my own 14x20 shop I bought a pair of 4-foot/4-tube Lithonia T8 fixtures and 5000K 32W daylight tubes at HD - total investment about $150 for really bright, natural light

[Dave Cav]

I was buying 45 watt CFL's that cost $10 a pop!

Stooopid expensive - the 23 watt CFL's are always on sale somewhere - typically 4 for $5 or something like that. 23 watts is supposed to be equivalent to 100 watt incandescent, though I find it's brighter in practice.

Then I found these:

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-128-00I-Outlet-Socket-Adapter/dp/B000P9UXRG/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1258721388&sr=8-6 at a local hardware store.

HALF the price of the 45 watt CFL's and I actually get more light since the surface area is spread out. If I really wanted to I imagine I can get 3 and put 4 bulbs into a single socket (though it would start to look like I had shot and mounted a neon Buck)


I have about 20 overhead 23 watt CFLs in my 24 x 48' shop. Five or six fixtures have the Y adapters, mostly over the assembly table and saws. Works great, very cost effective.

[Alan Schaffter]

I use the really big 105 Watt CFL (compact???) that yield the equivalent light of 500W incandescant. I got the ones with 5000 color temp and use them for photo floods to take pics in my shop. I used them to take all the pics in my articles in the latest AWW.