LED Lighting Questions

[Kurt Swanson]

So I'm having my new shop built and the information on lighting possibilities is overwhelming. I'm considering using LED recessed lights and I could use some suggestions
as to what style others have used and why. My shop will 24' x 36' with 10' high ceilings. Thanks in advance for your ideas.

Kurt

[Wayne Lomman]

My shop in Adelaide had standard 8 x 36 watt fluorescent fittings but instead I have installed a single 100 watt LED high bay in the peak of the roof. I can't remember the brand (and it is 1600km away at the moment) but it is the best shop lighting I have ever had. It is a blue/white which suits my eyes the best. My daughter prefers the warm white for her work so choose the colour to suit yourself. Also, you get what you pay for - cheap ones will strobe to the point where the rotating tools appear stationary. These cheap ones are illegal in Australian workshops but I have seen a few guys with them in home shops. Cheers

[John K Jordan]

I suggest buying one of several types and rigging them somewhere where you can try them and compare the light.

I use some recessed LEDs but they don't spread much light. I have some long LED fixtures in another building and they were cheap and are bright. Will I have to replace these fixtures in 5 years?

For my new shop I settled on T5 fluorescent fixtures with 4' bulbs. Not cheap but the light is amazing - perfect for me in both color temperature and brightness. I think these have several compelling advantages for a shop.

JKJ

[Hoang N Nguyen]

I haven't tried these but they look promising. http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/pag...20&cat=1,44047

[Charles Taylor]

My shop, about 24x24x10', uses T8 fluorescent strips for general lighting and incandescents or CFLs for task lighting.

LEDs tend to have a narrow dispersion already (although it's improving), and I'd be concerned that recessed fixtures would worsen it.

[Thomas Bank]

I just toured a local elementary school project where they used LED lighting throughout. The comment was made that even three years ago they would have been unlikely to only use LED because of cost, but now there was no reason to use anything else.

One other comment was to look at how the fixture is put together and comes apart. They turned down a couple products because there was a lens that could only be removed with tools. If bugs got behind the lens or there was other dirt, the process to remove the lens was a maintenance issue. The ones that they went with were sealed, so no reason to have to open them up.

As others have said, I’d get at least one example of any that you’re considering and see what your actual thoughts are about it. I was recently talked into one of the daylight LED bulbs to replace an incandescent bulb and found that I really did not like the harsh, white light. It may have its uses and there may be people who prefer it, but I much prefer the same bulb in a “soft warm” temperature range.

[Ben Rivel]

I looked at several options too and ended up finally going with 4FT T8 dual light fixtures with Phillips 2700 Lumen 5000K bulbs. Ive been very happy so far and it was a lot cheaper and brighter than the LED fixtures I tried and read about, though it does use a bit more energy.

[Jim Becker]

I didn't go recessed in my shop and don't think I would...due to the constriction of lighting spread angle unless there's a very high ceiling. I used LED fixtures (and replacement "tubes" from Costco when I recently renovated the lighting in my shop. It's like being in bright sunlight it seems...

[Kurt Swanson]

My main reason for considering recessed lighting was to limit the chance of bumping into any hanging lighting fixture with longer boards, but with a 10' ceiling that probably isn't too likely. So maybe I should be looking into a "strip" style LED?

[Mike Chalmers]

I stumbled on these Phillips InstantFit LED bulbs at Home Depot (Canada) on sale for $8 each. Not only did I replace my existing T8 bulbs, I bought some new, cheap (under $20) T8 fixtures and added them in some dark spots in my shop. I really like the light cast by them, they are much brighter than the T8s, and the price was unbeatable.

[Dan Friedrichs]

I looked at several options too and ended up finally going with 4FT T8 dual light fixtures with Phillips 2700 Lumen 5000K bulbs.

This. Sit down and calculate fixture and bulb costs of fluorescent (T8 or T5) vs LED, and estimated energy costs/usage. When I recently did this for a 40'x40' shop that is only used a few hours/day, fluorescent was much less expensive. The math changes substantially if you pay a lot for electricity and/or use the space all day long.

[Chris Padilla]

LED is sexier and lower maintenance and lower electricity but the cost is still up there.

I used LED strip lighting for vanity lighting for the master bathroom. It was incredibly low profile: I fit the strip LED lights and lens/cover into a dado/groove within a piece of 3/4" plywood. You can't get much lower profile than that! However, the cost was high including a large fancy-ish transformer that allowed dimming but the wife is thrilled and after all, that's what matters.

That said, I have 3 8' T8 fixtures (4 4' bulbs per fixture) adorning my ceiling in the garage. The bulbs last quite a long time and are available in a decent variety of color temperatures and there is no buzzing and even in colder climates, they are pretty much instant-on. I got everything at Home Depot for a cost that I found quite reasonable.

Today I might look a bit more into the T5 but I don't know much about 'em.

[John K Jordan]

Today I might look a bit more into the T5 but I don't know much about 'em.

The T5 bulb is smaller diameter so the phosphor coating inside the bulb is closer to the plasma, the reason I read the light output per bulb is higher. I used the HO (High output) bulbs which are painful to look at. One friend jokes that he needs sunglasses when he comes into the shop. And this is with only 1/2 the bulbs lighted. I think they put out 4-5000 lumens per bulb at 5000K.

The thing I really like about the fixtures is this feature to easily light just 2 of the bulbs in each 4-bulb fixture until I want even more light in the shop for close work. The electronic ballasts have an option to wire in a separate switch that controls the second two bulbs. I connect a second switch to the control line in all the fixtures on the circuit to control these "extra" bulbs and mount that switch higher on the wall. If the extra switch is on, the main switch lights all the bulbs; if off, the main switches light only 1/2. This saves on electricity for most use but keeps the extra light in reserve.

The fixtures I bought were not cheap but I would buy them again in a heartbeat. Those in the middle of the shop are 4-ft "high bay" fixtures with the 4 bulbs side-by-side and have mirrored reflectors so very little of the light is wasted. These fixtures are suspended a few inches below the ceiling. Around the edges I mounted 8' long fixtures still with 4-bulbs with 2 side-by-side. The 8-ft fixtures are mounted directly on the ceiling. I rewired these to make them fit my needs. If you get some like this I'd be glad to describe what I did - it was simple.

I ended up with nine 4-bulb fixtures in my shop, at least one in each room and those in the main shop wired in separately switched zones. This lets me leave certain areas off when not in use. (My shop is 24x62 with several rooms. I also use CFLs and LED fixtures in certain areas plus task lighting. I like a lot of light. The lights have been in about three years now.

JKJ

[Mark Arnold]

I was putting in $30 bigbox dual T8 fluorescents and had two go bad within 6 months - trying to get the bigbox to take them back was impossible - go talk to the manufacturer they said. After two weeks of call and leaving messages with the maufacturer, I gave up. Then came across 4000 lumen LED for $35 at BJ's wholesale club. I think they are Lighting America brand (this is cheaper than the Rockler price for the same item) I've put in 6 - which are brighter than the T8s and after a year I'm very happy with them. Having them handing about 6-8 inches from the 10 foot ceiling has only been a problem when I'm not paying attention.
Mark

[Bill Jobe]

I replaced the 4 60w incandescent bulbs in the 16x20 living room with 15w leds and with them all on at night ( my grandkids like to turn them up) there is far too much light for confort. Also, I have been told that leds with an led dimmer actually save you money because when you dim them they flash on and off so fast you cannot detect it, while other bulbs the excess wattage is used up by heating the dimmer and no money is saved.
But leds get hot anyway. Go figure.