LED Shop lights

[charlessenf]

Hey Mike--This looks like a "devil is in the details" deal. 2000 lumens per fixture is dim lighting. When I replaced my shop fixtures, my electrician installed 5000 lumen/natural light fixtures. At any price these might not be significant upgrade. A lighting expert can explain the difference in actual use. Just because it's LED doesn't make it bright.

Hey 8000 Lumens is nothing to sniff at at $4.24.

I have purchased these from ReStores over time and they are easy to install - they plug in! No 'electrician' needed. As well, at this price you can gang 'em with a bit of Super Glue to amass all the Lumens you might desire.

Indeed, one might get creative and glue up some sort of abstract neo-modern light sculpture - maybe use some scrap bits of wood in the construction? A floor lamp, perhaps?

Now, if one of you close to King buys them out and starts selling four foot floor lamps trimmed in quarter sawn Red Oak and Poplar, I hope you'll call them the CHARLES lamp.

Or, I can imagine simply gluing 48 of them together to form a single 4 SF light panel producing - wait for it - 96,000 Lumens using less energy than a 150 watt incandescent bulb!

OK, frame it in Walnut to hide the wiring! Imagine that on a wall!

BYW - these are SHOP LIGHTS not Fluorescent tube replacements as described in a response above "4FT LED tube lights are designed to be compatible with existing fluorescent fixtures. They can be easily retrofitted into the fixture by bypassing or removing the ballast, ensuring a seamless transition to LED lighting"

 

[Trent]

Just setup a 2 garage shop in the fall with 4 ft LED units. In hindsight, while I tried to follow the formulas, I ended up with more light than needed. But I do have nice control and options. I have 2 switched circuits. 7 on on circuit and 5 on the other. Each placed based on expected use in areas. I have dimmers on each of these circuits. So I can basically get any level of lighting I want. Most days I just use one circuit (5 during the day, 7 at night). But for some tasks it is nice to have both circuits on. Half are 5000K, half are 4000K to get an average nice light. But actually, each set can be adjusted to the color and lumens. Bought them from an electrical supply place recommended by the electrician. But cost was high.

 

[charlessenf]

Since I've been in NC, my shop has been illuminated with 4' fluorescent 'shop lights,' then eight foot fluorescent fixtures and presently a mix of the eight footers and some LED lights.

THe one constant was the method of attachment to the lighting circuit(s) - duplex 'wall' outlets strategically installed in teh ceiling when I built the shop - never regretted that decision - anticipating changing fixtures over time w/o need to re-wire a thing.

 

[golfdad]

I have 6000K LED's in my shop. Do not look blue to me. LOoks more like an operting room at Wake Med !

 

[Wilsoncb]

The main concern for various light spectrums is color interpretation. Some colors will look different depending on the light source. For example some grays will appear correct in daylight but appear purple under fluorescent lights. The same thing can happen under various led lights depending upon their “K” rating. As long as you are aware of this and color match using various sources (sunlight, fluorescent, incandescent), 2000k vs 6000k should not be a problem.

 

[charlessenf]

The main concern for various light spectrums is color interpretation. Some colors will look different depending on the light source. For example some grays will appear correct in daylight but appear purple under fluorescent lights. The same thing can happen under various led lights depending upon their “K” rating. As long as you are aware of this and color match using various sources (sunlight, fluorescent, incandescent), 2000k vs 6000k should not be a problem.

Or, step outdoors in the daytime? Overcast days were always my preference for taking color photos - no harsh shadows or squinting bridesmaids.

 

[Chaz]

I am looking for recommendations as I am about to replace all (12) of my 4' fluorescents. I am going to replace the fixtures. I do not want to just replace the bulbs.

I went to home depot. I can't remember the model #, but it's a 2 x 4' fixture. It's bright

 

[charlessenf]

I went to home depot. I can't remember the model #, but it's a 2 x 4' fixture. It's bright

I am about to replace all (12) of my 4' fluorescents.
HOME DEPOT's a good option as you can try them out and return them on credit (card). Same with most Big Box Operations.

Since they are likely all manufactured overseas the specs on the boxes are but a guide, swapping one out with your existing fixture will allow you to compare brightness levels in situ rather than in the 'Lighting Aisles" of Lowes and Home Depot where determining how much illumination is radiating from any single fixture 'up there' is nigh on impossible.

I went googol'ing for a comparison between fluorescent and ED shop lights and found several folks had thought to do it before I thought of it. "For example, a 1500 lumen LED shop light can be thought of as being roughly equivalent to a 100 Watt incandescent bulb (1500 lumens divided by 15 lumens per watt) or a 30 Watt fluorescent lamp (1500 lumens divided by 50 lumens per watt)." everything-you-need-to-know-about-led-shop-lights

That's just the first of About 3,720,000 results (0.45 seconds) And, again, absent a lumen meter, you've only got the box's label to go on. Now, I'm so tight my . . . Oh, where's Johnny when you need him?

So I bought all my LED lamps at this ReStore or that and have never so much as seen an ad for a Lumen Meter. But I think they do a fine job replacing fluorescent fixtures - and I've a mix in the shop now 'cause I ain't changing out my eight footers while they're working and I've still got bulbs on that big box o'bulbs I got from Lowes.

Too bad ReStore won't let you take 'em home to try 'em out. Then again, their fixtures are so cheap that you could consider it a donation to their cause if it did not compare favourably with your old fluorescents.

If you've got Amazon Prime, you can try and return the stuff they sell. And, Home Depot Online delivers some stuff for free - why drive to Hickory when they'll drop it at my Lenoir Door for nothin'?

 

[Woodman2k]

I am looking for recommendations as I am about to replace all (12) of my 4' fluorescents. I am going to replace the fixtures. I do not want to just replace the bulbs.

Remove the ballast and then just replace the bulbs, I bought several cases of 4' led bulbs and did mine in short order for a very reasonable price.

 

[Martin Roper]

Remove the ballast and then just replace the bulbs, I bought several cases of 4' led bulbs and did mine in short order for a very reasonable price.

Isn't there some rewiring that needs to be done?

 

[charlessenf]

Isn't there some rewiring that needs to be done?

Well, you betcha! The electricity reaches the Fluorescent tubes by flowing through the ballast: The black and white wires go to your AC Source. The yellow wires go to the (left) end of each tube and the

Red and Blue wires go to the opposite ends of each tube respectively (A wiring diagram is usually on the ballast itself).

To be honest, I've never bothered to rewire a shop light to accept LED Tubes because the tubes were always more expensive than buying equivalent LED Shop Lamps (the ones mentioned earlier came out to $1.12 each) and simply plug in to any standard electrical outlet.

I recall seeing a version that did NOT require rewiring the fixture (or removing the ballast. But, in addition to the cost, it mean sacrificing any energy savings if one had to power a ballast and then convert its output down to what teh LEDS required. Or, maybe I misread the instructions on teh outside of the packaging. It happens - we often lose a lot in the translation from the Mandarin.

Now, Woodman did his ". . . in short order for a very reasonable price." But anyone who has ever climbed a ladder to replace one or two 4' fluorescent lamp tubes might say "one man's 'short order' is another's effin eternity" as all such things are as relative as is another's "very reasonable price."

Some folks on here are using table saws that can be halted with a (gingerly introduced*) hot dog or a pinky, make tiny floating mortise joints with a seven hundred dollar tool - inserting factory-made floating tenons while others are building stuff out of pallets with ancient generic 'skill' saws mounted upside down in a wood table and holding projects together with hide glue, prayers and drywall screws.

Oh, well, this saga continues . . .


* Anyone ever wonder what might happen to the dog were it thrust into the blade as fingers are when the sawyer loses balance or his hand slips and rushes at the blade at 32'/sec^2? Maybe I missed that commercial?

 

[Martin Roper]

Well, you betcha! The electricity reaches the Fluorescent tubes by flowing through the ballast: The black and white wires go to your AC Source. The yellow wires go to the (left) end of each tube and the Red and Blue wires go to the opposite ends of each tube respectively (A wiring diagram is usually on the ballast itself).

I have three dual 8' fixtures and one dual 4' fixture hard wired to wall switches via 14-gauge wire on a 15-amp circuit. I'd like to keep that arrangement and those fixtures. I've watched a few YT videos and it seems pretty straight forward. I just haven't built up the gumption to do it yet.

 

[charlessenf]

I have three dual 8' fixtures and one dual 4' fixture hard wired to wall switches via 14-gauge wire on a 15-amp circuit. I'd like to keep that arrangement and those fixtures. I've watched a few YT videos and it seems pretty straight forward. I just haven't built up the gumption to do it yet.

" hard wired to wall switches "

How many SPST Switches? Is there a switch for each fixture (four switches)? How are the fixtures wired? Does each have an individual electrical box mounted (in the ceiling, one presumes)? If so, is the fixture mounted atop the electrical box? And, how is each fixture mounted to the structure?

Are you saying you would like to leave the fixtures in place but remove the ballasts and replace the fluorescent tubes with LED Tubes?

If you remove the Ballasts, you will have access to the 120 VAC necessary to power whatever replacement you desire. Leaving, basically, an empty metal box four or eight feet long, four or so inches wide and about two inches or so deep. Each with 4 adapters designed to mount, hold and power long glass tubes filled with some sort of gas and powder. These with (if you cut the Ballast wires short as I suppose you would be instructed) several lengths of 22 gauge solid copper wire in red, white, yellow and blue to basically connect to an LED lamp that only needs to be connected to a Hot, Neutral and a Ground. Basically a fixture you could just plug into an ordinary Duplex Outlet.

So, consider removing the entire fixture. Wiring a duplex outlet into the electrical box serving the fixture you've removed and plugging the new LED fixture(s) into these switched duplex outlets. With an an adapter plugged into such an outlet, you would be able to plug six LED fixtures where the old one had been connected. And, as technology advances, next time just unplug the old and plug in the new.

Electricity is not rocket science. Basically there is an extension cord from your BREAKER BOX hidden in the walls of the building directly or indirectly to outlets and/or switches which are connected to fixtures and even other outlets - each termed a circuit.

As you might expect, I can't see your shop, your fixtures or your switches. So, if I've missed something, fill me in.

But jury rigging old fluorescents to used light emitting diodes when factory made alternatives sit on the same shelves a foot or so to the left . . . well, not an errand I'd send a friend on.

 

[jgt1942]

Isn't there some rewiring that needs to be done?

On mine, first I cut the wires going to the ballast, removed the ballast, and connected the white wire from the power source to one set of the tombstones on one end of the fixture. The black wire from the power source was connected to the tombstones on the other end of the fixture. Reinstalled the cover to hide the wires. Installed the new 6000k tubes. Did not install the translucent plastic cover. Turned on the fixture. It took about 15 min per fixture. Just make sure that you turn off the power before cutting any wires.

 

[charlessenf]

On mine, first I cut the wires going to the ballast, removed the ballast, and connected the white wire from the power source to one set of the tombstones on one end of the fixture. The black wire from the power source was connected to the tombstones on the other end of the fixture. Reinstalled the cover to hide the wires. Installed the new 6000k tubes. Did not install the translucent plastic cover. Turned on the fixture. It took about 15 min per fixture. Just make sure that you turn off the power before cutting any wires.

John:

Curious, how are these (assume 4') fixtures mounted?
How were/are they connected to the power source? Did they PLUG IN to an outlet? Or were/are they 'hard wired?'

 

[jgt1942]

John:

Curious, how are these (assume 4') fixtures mounted?
How were/are they connected to the power source? Did they PLUG IN to an outlet? Or were/are they 'hard wired?'

Yes, I have 4' fixtures. I was upgrading led ballast fixtures from 3200k low lumens to 6000k high lumens (7200/bulb). At each end of each fixture there are 4 tombstones (this is the part where you slide the pins of the tube into for power. Normally the tombstones are connected parallel to each other and are connected to one lead of the Power source. The other end of the fixtures also have 4 tombstones parallel connected to each other and connected to the 2nd power source. It doesn't matter which end has the black wire and the other has the white wire. My fixtures were already installed in my ceiling. I will be adding two new fixtures in one area and will connect to an existing fixture, e.g. black wire to black wire and white wire to white wire. If you don't have existing fixtures that you can connect to then it will be necessary to run a wire to some power source and install a switch between the power source and the light fixture.

If you are upgrading existing fixtures, e.g. you are just replacing the bulbs, make sure you get the correct bulbs. Different types of bulbs/cubes have different pin configurations.

If you live near Oak Island, NC I can give you a hand. PM me if you want to discuss on the phone.

All of my lights are hardwired.

I also tied my ceiling fans into my lights, therefore they will only come on if the lights are turned on. I installed remote controls for each fan. Therefore the fans only turn on if the light is connected to is on and I've turned the fan on with the battery remote. When I turn off the lights, all fans that are turned on will also be turned on.

None of my ceiling lights are plugged into an outlet, all are hardwired.

 

[jgt1942]

I'm attaching a PDF titled "Lighting Journey JGT.pdf" that may be helpful to others. I may be missing some details. If this is the case, please let me know and I will update the document.