LED Shop Lighting

[Steven Green]

Does anybody have a favored LED shop light?

[Bill Space]

I don't have a favorite LED shop light, but do have an observation.

There seems to be two types of LED tubes. One is translucent ( milky appearance) and the other is clear, where you can see the LEDs.

Initially I bought the milky type, and thought I wouldn't like the clear ones.

Turns out that I now have both, and like them equally well. The milky ones seem to disperse the light more, and the clear ones seem to focus the light downwards more (less light hits the ceiling when using shop lights without reflectors)

Actually, thinking about it, I think I like the clear ones just a tad more...

Bill

[Roger Feeley]

I redid my shop about a year ago and installed 20 of those 4' lights from Home Depot. I had about a 20% failure rate. That is, I had to return 4 of them for replacement in the first few months. After that initial period, they have been great. At 36 watts each, it meant that I could have all my lights on one circuit. It used to be 20x2 tubesx40w = 1600 watts. I used three circuits.

They are linkable but the link cable was too short for my needs at 12". I just cut the link cable and soldered in some wire so I could put them farther apart.

I think they came from Commercial Electric. I paid about $40 each. I see that they are down to $34.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commerci...-205331022-_-N

[Jim Becker]

My entire shop is lighted with Feit LED fixtures or Feit replacement "tubes" from Costco. It's like being on the surface of the sun now...

[Ben Rivel]

I kicked around the idea of converting the shop lighting to LED for a bit, but honestly when I really thought about it I just couldnt figure out how to justify it. Most of the bulb and fixture options out there are produced by no name brands and that concerned me regarding the longevity and quality of the product. Then there was the issue with color temperature, I like my work light at 5000K and not all LED solutions offer that. Some dont even state what color temp they are. And lastly there was the issue with the amount of lumens they put out. I bought a box of Phillips 5000K 2600 lumen T8 bulbs (LINK) and use them in 2x4' fixtures. Two of those is 5200 lumens per fixture and the only cost was the bulb replacement since the ballasts I had were already 32W T8 compatible. I dont think I have seen a 4' LED fixture or two 4' LED replacement bulbs that went up that high in lumens AND was 5000K color temp. So for me, for approximately $60 shipped I was able to light up my shop like the sun with a full spectrum bulb and at the color temp I wanted. I'd suggest considering that route unless you are dead set on saying you have the shop lit with LEDs or reeeeeeeally have to save that extra power.

[glenn bradley]

My entire shop is lighted with Feit LED fixtures or Feit replacement "tubes" from Costco. It's like being on the surface of the sun now...

I'm converting to these as my cheap T-8 fixtures die. It took about 10 years for the first $17 fixture to die but, 2 more went in the last few years. Only a dozen to go. By the time they all fail there will be a new technology but, the Feit LED shop lights have been fine and I will replace as needed.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I will replace my T-8's with LED replacements when they go bad and the box of replacement T-8 tubes goes bad too.

[Dave Cav]

My entire shop is lighted with Feit LED fixtures or Feit replacement "tubes" from Costco. It's like being on the surface of the sun now...

I have eight or ten of the Costco Feit fixtures in the shop and eight in the garage. Love them. I still have four (original) T-8 two tube fixtures left in the shop. As soon as the ends start getting dark they'll get replaced with LED tubes. LED shop lights are great.

[David Helm]

My entire shop is lighted with Feit LED fixtures or Feit replacement "tubes" from Costco. It's like being on the surface of the sun now...

Mine too. Completed buying them two years ago. I have seventeen of those four footers. It was nice when they started selling the ones that could be linked together. Have had zero failures; have a lot of light and did it for an average of $19.95 apiece. And the other bonus is NO buzzing.

[Jon Snider]

Jim and David.

Are these the ones you’ve used? Thx.

https://www.costco.com/Feit-4'-Linka...100410429.html

or maybe these? from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/4FT-Shop-Ligh...led+shop+light

[Jim Becker]

Jon, the Feit from Costco is what I have...they often go on sale for much lower than the $59 in the link. I plan on buying another "two pack" the next time they do go on sale to fill over my bandsaw as I noted earlier. I've been very, very happy with them as well as their predecessors. (I have three generations of them...as well as their "replacement tubes" in a few T12 fixtures I chose just to replace the lamps in)

[Jon Snider]

Jon, the Feit from Costco is what I have...they often go on sale for much lower than the $59 in the link. I plan on buying another "two pack" the next time they do go on sale to fill over my bandsaw as I noted earlier. I've been very, very happy with them as well as their predecessors. (I have three generations of them...as well as their "replacement tubes" in a few T12 fixtures I chose just to replace the lamps in)

Thx Jim. In my area all of the stores say they are an online item only.

[John Lifer]

A couple of points. First, I need to change out my 8ft lights in my shop. They are the major lighting and are both expensive tubes and not enough lighting. And I'll do leds with no ballast. But I have other experience with led fixtures that so far has been good. Basement has t8 4 bulb troffers. Slowly going to replace as I run out of tubes to replace. But in one area it was poorly lit and I added 3 led 2x4 troffers. 20 months ago, daily use of 6 to 10 hours and no issue. Bought a 2x2 for near stairs that was not lit and it puts it way more lumens than a 4 bulb t8 fluorescent.

Had laundry room fixture go out after 2 years last month. Was cussing that cheap led fixture till I opened it up and found a dual circline fixture. Ballast had died and bulbs were black, so near death too. Replaced with 3100lumen led fixture. At least double the light. And half the wattage.

Toss the fluorescents, the output goes down the first time you turn it on.... Leds, no loss over time.

[Curt Harms]

<snip>
Toss the fluorescents, the output goes down the first time you turn it on.... Leds, no loss over time.

Q: Why is the life of LEDs measured as lumen depreciation?

A: Unlike conventional light sources that reduce in output and eventually fail, LED products do not normally suddenly fail. Instead, the light output reduces over time.

The normal convention is to measure the life from when the output has reduced by 30%, i.e. when there is 70% light output remaining. This is often quoted as the L70 life and is measured in hours.

http://www.lighting.philips.com/main...n-depreciation

[Greg R Bradley]

Q: Why is the life of LEDs measured as lumen depreciation?

A: Unlike conventional light sources that reduce in output and eventually fail, LED products do not normally suddenly fail. Instead, the light output reduces over time.

The normal convention is to measure the life from when the output has reduced by 30%, i.e. when there is 70% light output remaining. This is often quoted as the L70 life and is measured in hours.

http://www.lighting.philips.com/main...n-depreciation

You are exactly correct and John is just continuing LED nonsense. Of course, cheap fluorescents are junk also.

Absolutely not difficult to use 50,000 hour T-8 bulb. We used 998 of them in one building 24x7 and replaced them every 5 years, which is 43,800 hours of use. We used light monitoring systems in clean room and QA so actually know what the light output was and they followed the manufacturers spec. Most FL manufacturers use life at 10% loss and the LED L70 is specified at 30% loss. LED L70 is using a method that is only a guess anyway so it is inherently flawed.

The Costco Feit units that I used for temporary use in one warehouse area have noticeable light loss after 2.5-3 year use of 65 hour/week use. Zero failures though.
Customer used 12 of HD's Commercial Electric LED 1x4 units in June, 2016. After just over 2 years of 45 hours work weeks, 3 are dead. HD used to have Pixies but switched to something cheaper:
HD_Junk1.jpg