Workshop Lighting Upgrades ... all LED
After much reading of LED pluses and years of less-than-stellar shop lighting, I took the plunge. My basement workshop with 8 ft rafter ceilings is ~18 ft x 20 ft. I had eight twin-bulb T8 fluorescent hanging light fixtures spaced across the ceiling plus twin-300 watt bulb halogen hanging light fixtures above my major workstations and two above my 7 ft long work bench for extra lighting at those work locations. The T8s were on a single switch all on/off at same time for uniform shop lighting. The halogens, because of their heat and high current draw, were on/off individually as needed when working at the workbench or workstations.
Here is what I opted for after online research:
a. General shop lighting:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I retrofitted my existing fluorescent light fixtures with these frosted double-end powered ballast bypass 5000K LED tubes. My fixtures are a combination of shunted and non-shunted tombstones so the double-end powered tubes were a plus. I cut out the ballast in each fixture then wire nutted the tombstone ends ... one end to to the line-in and the other end to the neutral wiring coming into the light fixtures. Installed the new LED tubes and voila, all lit up without a hiccup. Very pleased with the improved and more uniform lighting. Checked electrical before/after. Before: twin-fixture fluorescent fixture watts = 55, current = 0.72 amps. After with LED tubes installed: watts = 35, amps = 0.27.
b. Workstation lighting: https://www.amazon.com/ZHMA-Security...12-spons&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/ZHMA-Outdoor-...r=8-4-fkmrnull
I was leaning toward retrofitting my halogen light fixtures with 50 watt COB (Chip on Board) LEDs as shown on a number of you tube videos. But then came across the two above links for ready-made LED floodlights for 'a few dollars more'. Decided not to futz around with retrofitting and just buy them ready made for a modest cost. I installed the new COB LED light fixtures this weekend and am quite pleased. The manufacturer is marketing them as outdoor floodlights, but I saw a potential use as workshop workstation lights. Didn't know if it'd be too much intensity for 8 ft ceilings (versus large expanse outdoor lighting), but opted to get 'em and see. Result is good. I put one of the 100 watt LED fixtures above my lathe and another above my sharpening station in place of my old halogens ... very nice lighting suspended from my 8 ft high ceiling rafters. I hung the two 60 watt LED fixtures above my workbench for extra lighting there ... one above each end, again suspended from my 8 ft high ceiling rafters. The 44 inch long power wires with plugs are just long enough to reach my ceiling 110 volt AC power outlets. The in-line on/off switch is easily reached from a standing position so I can still turn the LED workstation lights on when needed or just use the overall new Hyperikon LED tube lighting for general shop work. Checked electrical before/after. Before: Halogen: watts = 600, current = 4.2 amps. After: LED: Watts = 100 for 100 watt LED; 50 for 60 watt LED (so a bit less wattage than the manufacture's rating 0f 60), Current: 0.8 amps for 100 watt fixture, 0.4 amps for 50 watt fixture.
So, thought I'd share my first-hand experience with others. There are many, many varieties of LED light tubes and LED light fixtures. These frosted double-end powered ballast bypass 500K light tubes had excellent online reviews and fit my retrofit needs for general shop LED light tubes and tolerable costs. As for the flood lights, the COB (chip on board) type of LED floodlights appear to be more recent LED technology as compared to spaced out LED chips (SMD). My online research shows that the difference between LED light COB and SMD is that COB LEDs have more diodes per unit of space and COB has better lumen-per-watt ratios and heat efficiency than SMD LED technology. So, I wanted COB LEDs for any floodlights that I either retrofitted or bought ready-made. The ~five online ZHMA LED floodlight reviews I found on Amazon were highly rated for the ZHMA manufacturer's 60- and 100-watt LED floodlights. I opted to get them with nice frame, glass lens, built-in heat sink, plug/wire, CRI = 80, 6500K daylight white, waterproof COB features for a tolerable cost. I am pleased with the outcomes.
Regards,
Tom
