300 watt equivalent "corn" LED bulbs?

[James W Glenn]

Presently I have 4 simple single bulb light sockets on the ceiling of my 500 sqft shop. I recently came across these 300 watt equivalent "corn" LED bulbs

http://www.amazon.com/Feit-C4000-LED-Replacement-Non-Dimmable/dp/B00RKLXJOQ

Has any one tried this type of bulb replacement? I am assuming that 1600 lumen in a 500 sqft space will be plenty of light.

[Lee Schierer]

Their Lumens claim is a bit off. Sylvania 300 watt bulbs deliver more light. SYLVANIA 15737 - 300 Watt - PS30
Frost - 750 Life Hours - 5,860 Lumens - Medium Base - 120 Volt (https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/54906/IN-15737.html?utm_source=SmartFeedGoogleBase&utm_medium=Shopping&utm_term=IN-15737&utm_content=300+Watt+Incandescent+Light+Bulbs&utm_campaign=SmartFeedGoogleBaseShopping&gclid=CLWwgebHhMoCFYQfHwods6UJXw)

[James W Glenn]

I'm primarily interested in running LEDs. Though 1200 watts of incandescent lights might provide enough heat to get me through the winter.

[Greg R Bradley]

The LED manufacturers claims are targeted to the people that think buying lottery tickets makes sense. None of those people should have graduated elementary school.

[Rollie Meyers]

They void the UL or any other NRTL listing of any fixture they are used in.

[Ole Anderson]

I considered one of those when I saw it in the local ACE store. I was replacing a 32 watt (2100 lumen) CFL over my TS, but it was a bit of overkill and it hung down too far. I went with the HD Commercial Electric $40 shop LED. 3200 lumens, 4000 K, 84 CRI, 35 watts. Seems twice as bright, white but not blinding, I now have 4 in my shop.

[Morey St. Denis]

You did use the word "shop" as opposed to parking garage. I gather you may be intending to continue doing some woodworking in this soon-to-be well illuminated space... Consider that this particular lamps LED mixed wavelength output is centered around 5,000 Kelvin in color temperature. That's a very bright, but harsh green-blue light, without much appreciable balance of some longer wavelengths desirable to have wood actually look like wood or even a sandwich or steak to look the least bit appealing. Keep in mind that these high output allegedly "White" LEDs commonly emit only at very narrow wavelengths centered on blue in the range of 460nm. The emitter surface is coated with phosphors to absorb some of this all blue energy and re-emit longer wavelengths near yellow (that's why those "white" emitters appear "corn" yellow in color), so you're actually only getting blue and yellow light that can effectively fool the eye into believing it might be seeing in color... For quantifying this effect, we use the Color Rendering Index. I've not seen many LED lamps at 5,000K that can turn in a measured CRI much better than 75%. Throughout most of the EU permissible CRI in LED illuminated office settings is regulated at 80 as their bare minimum.

Now you may well be blessed with an insensitivity to the color balance of artificial illumination. For myself, I can't happily tolerate indoor LED color temperatures above 4,000K and 3,000K or below is even better. You'll almost never find 5,000K LED lighting in the produce, fresh foods or deli isles at the supermarket or a restaurant. Most have figured out that it can (even subconsciously) make the things we enjoy most somehow seem rather unappealing. For most indoor residential LED lamps marketed as "Warm" to better mimic the familiar output of incandescent bulbs, 2,700 Kelvin is standard. Suggest you may want to consider similar LED lamps at 4,000K or below, with a rated CRI of 80 or above... We would do well to leave those 5,000K & 5,600K high output LEDs for the nighttime outdoors, parking garages or the sterile automated vision assembly factory floor...

The other comparative figure that is useful in the lighting industry is often termed "Efficacy", it merely expresses the efficiency of converting the electrical Watts we pay for into useful units of illumination. Todays technology should reasonably deliver at least 105 Lumens per Watt at a CRI of 80 or above; 130 L/W is presently available, and 150 to 180 is likely coming soon!.. Hope this info may prove helpful in avoiding a potentially disappointing outcome in your workshop. At the very least, insist on trying out some 4,000K or 3,000K LED lighting in comparison against that 5,000K bulb. If you don't have 9' or better ceiling fixtures, or if you occasionally wear corrective or safety lenses, you'll likely want prismatic or frosted dispersion optics over those bulbs to minimize glare.

[James W Glenn]

Morey, thank you for the info, I will look for the sub 4000k bulbs.

[Curt Harms]

I bought a couple rolls of LED tapes rated at 3000K color. I'm quite happy with them; nice white slightly yellow color and not glare-y or institutional looking. They were sold as 'warm white'.

[Dan Hintz]

They void the UL or any other NRTL listing of any fixture they are used in.

UL doesn't work like that. The listing is for the fixture itself, but it does not specify what bulbs may be used in it. Using a poor bulb may be a bad idea, but it doesn't void the listing (not to mention it's a listing of the safety-worthiness of the fixture's manufacture, not a warrantee, so you can't "void" it).

[Morey St. Denis]

Jim, Regarding your earlier math: "assuming that 1600 lumen in a 500 sqft space will be plenty of light"...

That's actually marginal or below. Believe you'd be much happier with workbench illumination about an order of magnitude greater. 16,000 Lumens or something in the range of 15 to 20KL overhead with light colored ceilings & walls should serve well enough. Appears you may have dropped a digit... How are you making out in your search for more appropriate high output LED bulbs?

Morey

[Kent Adams]

Morey, thank you for the info, I will look for the sub 4000k bulbs.

James, I really like the 5000k in my shop. I'm running T8's, 12 of them. One of the things I like about my set up is that there literally is no shadows in my shop except directly underneath my equipment. If I move in any direction, there is no shadow. Everyone that has come to my shop loves the lighting, its the one thing I did perfect in my opinion when I constructed the shop.

[Lon Crosby]

Never ever buy color temperature based on a third party's belief. Everyone's perception of color is different and 9% of males have one form or another of color blindness. Color perception changes with age as does "brightness" needed for specific tasks. The only "natural" form of illumination is sunlight. Incandescent (i.e., heating an artificial filament with electricity is about as far from natural as one can get.

[Ed Gurganus]

I considered one of those when I saw it in the local ACE store. I was replacing a 32 watt (2100 lumen) CFL over my TS, but it was a bit of overkill and it hung down too far. I went with the HD Commercial Electric $40 shop LED. 3200 lumens, 4000 K, 84 CRI, 35 watts. Seems twice as bright, white but not blinding, I now have 4 in my shop.

I can vouch for the HD Commercial Electric LED fixtures. I just put up 4 of them last weekend in my 15x20 shop. They are quite bright. White, but not overly so. I couldn't be happier. Had four of T8 fluorescents in my last shop (roughly the same dimensions) and I find these LEDs to be far superior.

[Brian Hood]

Could not agree more with Lon. Culturally in the US we tend to prefer warm light while in Europe a whiter light is preferred and in Asia we have to specify much whiter (higher color temp) sources. As someone who has access to a great pile of LED gear and spends too much time looking at LED lighting I personally prefer 2700K at my dining table, 3,200K in my kitchen and 4,000K to 5,000K in my shop. I have two task lights (Uber Lights from Amazon) that are around 5,500K to take advantage of the improved ability to see detail at higher color temps.

IMHO,
1. The Lighting Facts label in the photo above is found on many LED products and tends to be very accurate.
2. As posted above, CRI is important, 80 is OK, 85 to 90 is great, 90+ is overkill.
3. In a shop I would use a higher color temp if you enjoy working under it.
4. The glare from the 'corn' lamp you asked about could be a problem because so much light from such a small lamp, better to spread the light over more area, like the fixture Ole suggests above.

Ole's fixture is a good, low cost solution and you can see it on the Home Depot website if your search it for 'LED shop light'. I prefer the Pixie Flat Light (also Home Depot) but it costs 4X as much.

[Paul Lawrence]

Check out these "new" flat LEDs from SuperBrightLEDs. (https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/led-panel-light-high-voltage/) Price is competitive. I don't like the big power supply "bump" on one end, but they were designed for suspended ceilings. I'm thinking that that power supply box can be reduced and put into the ceiling, but I don't want to buy one to find out! <GRIN>

They are similar to the ones that Brian Hood favors from pixi-lighting.com .

SOURCE: https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/led-panel-light-high-voltage/