# New lighting



## woodchux (Jul 6, 2014)

In the new year my plans are to install new/more lighting in my garage/shop (back wall of a 2 1/2 car structure) - perhaps track lighting to adjust the light where needed, but am concerned with dust/dirt gathering in the light tracks. Presently there is only a 4 foot fluorescent double tube light fixture above the work bench. What type of lighting do you have in your shop, and is it satisfactory? Thanx for the info. Be safe.


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## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

I have 6 - 4 foot florescent twin tube fixtures...they work well...


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## BaldEagle2012 (Jan 25, 2012)

I have 4-4lite fixtures on the make side of my shop, and 3-4 lite, and 2 - 2 lite fixtures on the cutting and messy side.


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## peridigm (Dec 29, 2014)

My shop has 3x 8' 2 tube shop lights. I just ordered some 8' LED 5000k tubes today. One of the issues I noticed with fluorescent tubes in cold weather is the humming and they take a while to warm up to brightness. Unfortunately I have about 4 boxes of these tubes. I have 12 fixtures in the other part of my garage at the moment. It would cost me about $1100 to convert them all to LED. That's going to have to wait. I can buy a new tool or several for that much.


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## peridigm (Dec 29, 2014)

I installed my 8' LED tubes today. What a difference they make. I didn't realize how bad my lighting was. I had 3x 2 bulb t12 fixtures. I added a 4th and spaced them 4' apart starting about 6' from themed end wall. Wired them all up and continued working on my cabinet drawers to celebrate the brightness I now have. And no more humming.


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## sharbin (Feb 21, 2013)

peridigm said:


> I installed my 8' LED tubes today. What a difference they make. I didn't realize how bad my lighting was. I had 3x 2 bulb t12 fixtures. I added a 4th and spaced them 4' apart starting about 6' from themed end wall. Wired them all up and continued working on my cabinet drawers to celebrate the brightness I now have. And no more humming.



Where did you purchase 8' LEDs? I haven't seen them at the big box stores. Only 4 footers. Did you retrofit the fluorescent fixtures?


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## peridigm (Dec 29, 2014)

I ordered from Amazon. The brand was Hyperikon. 8' LED require power at both ends unlike 4' so there really isn't anything required except removing the ballast and wiring them up like any other light. Hot in, neutral out. They're not cheap but the difference is worth it to me.


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## rinn69 (Feb 12, 2016)

Went to the local box store and invested in some LED shop lights....4000K (close to natural daylight) and about 3000 lumens. Love them and will replace (and relocate) the old fluorescent tube style ones as they go bad....or until that annoying hum drives me nuts.


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## GuitarPhotographer (Jun 26, 2015)

I replaced all my 4ft shop light fluorescent tubes with Hyperikon LED tubes from Amazon. Easy to install and the ballast-compatible tubes are down to $15 each. Better light, less power used, longer life.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

I have very little general shop (12' x 16') lighting. The light on the walls, ceiling and floor don't contribute to what I am doing. I have replaced all incandescents with 8W (50W eq) LED lights to be able to see what I am doing with both carvings and with power tools. Never go back. Otherwise, I have whopping 45W LED lights for good vision.


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## sanchez (Feb 18, 2010)

My shop is in the basement. I have all LED bulbs. 3000k look really nice, not yellow like incandescent and not so blue like the 5000k. They are in recessed fixtures.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

One other advantage of LED lighting that CFL and Incandes. can't do at all well = I bought LED lights which are quite focused.
Of course, that gives me very bright light for wood carving. The LED lights give me really hard/sharp shadows.
When rounding off a curved surface, that begins as an overlapping mesh of little flat spots. The LED let me see the ridges that need to be cut down.


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

The fluorescent Shop lights are the most economical way to light a shop. 
Just keep hanging them until you feel you're well lighted.


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## GuitarPhotographer (Jun 26, 2015)

Toolman50 said:


> The fluorescent Shop lights are the most economical way to light a shop.
> Just keep hanging them until you feel you're well lighted.


Least expensive in terms of capital expenditure. Second place for energy cost, and last place environmentally.

Oh, and they don't work worth s*ht when the shop is cold.

Each two-tube 48" shop light with old-style ballast uses ~100W. The same fixture with 48" 18 watt LED tubes uses less than half the power and produces more lumens. From tubes that don't need replacement anywhere near as often.


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## TMA Woodworks (Apr 23, 2010)

GuitarPhotographer said:


> Least expensive in terms of capital expenditure. Second place for energy cost, and last place environmentally.
> 
> Oh, and they don't work worth s*ht when the shop is cold.
> 
> Each two-tube 48" shop light with old-style ballast uses ~100W. The same fixture with 48" 18 watt LED tubes uses less than half the power and produces more lumens. From tubes that don't need replacement anywhere near as often.


Okay I need to step in. I work for an electrical wholesale supply. One of the duties has been lighting design. Are LED more efficient? Yes they are. Is is better than fluorescent? Not always. You have to look at the whole job and what you are trying to achieve. In a hobby shop energy usage is not a top consideration. Even if you go in to your shop every night and all day on the weekend you only putting in 30 hours. The energy saving would take years for payback. The other major concern is maintenance. They will give you a 5 year warranty and tell you it will last for 50,000 hours but it is a safe bet that one fixture will fail in 3 years. With the way LED is changing, you will not find that fixture again as it has been discontinued. Now lets get into quality. We go up against the big box stores. My work carried a LED from Sylvania. It was discontinued for a more advanced model. We saw that discontinued model found it way to the big box as a discounted price. Sylvania was getting rid of the obsolete product with no way of getting new product for defectives. The other thing is diode quality. The manufacturer will claim to have a certain color temp (kelvin) when in fact it will range within one fixture from 2700-5000.
As far a as energy usage, a better 2 tube fluorescent will use about 55 watts and will start at 20 below 0. I run fluorescent in my shop. Nebraska winters are brutal but my lights have always works. Sorry to jump on the soapbox. I am not anti LED but I don't think they are the answer for everything.


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## GuitarPhotographer (Jun 26, 2015)

All I can say is that; 1) all *my* fluorescent fixtures are pre 1970, so all use magnetic ballast, and they do not work properly when the shop is below 40F. and 2) the lifetime of a typical fluorescent tube in *my* shop is less than a year, so I'm always changing a tube, and 3) *here* in So. Oregon it costs $1 per foot of tube to properly dispose of fluorescent tubes at the recycling center.

Those 3 factors alone make the conversion to LEDs worthwhile in my case. I did not replace fixtures, I simply rewired them and removed the ballast.

YMMV


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

GuitarPhotographer said:


> All I can say is that; 1) all *my* fluorescent fixtures are pre 1970, so all use magnetic ballast, and they do not work properly when the shop is below 40F. and 2) the lifetime of a typical fluorescent tube in *my* shop is less than a year, so I'm always changing a tube, and 3) *here* in So. Oregon it costs $1 per foot of tube to properly dispose of fluorescent tubes at the recycling center.
> 
> Those 3 factors alone make the conversion to LEDs worthwhile in my case. I did not replace fixtures, I simply rewired them and removed the ballast.
> 
> YMMV


If your lights are pre-'70's, I think you've got your money's worth. They're over 45 years old! 
Disposal fees vary in different parts of the country. It's no charge for my area. 
The fluorescent lights now sold at the Big Boxes are now different than the old ones. They proclaim they are more efficient. 
Regarding the life of the old tubes, my shop lights last so long, they get very dirty with a layer of dust and need a good cleaning every few years. I certainly don't replace the tubes every year.


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## TMA Woodworks (Apr 23, 2010)

A couple of fun facts. Did you know that that people are exposed to far greater amounts of mercury by eating tuna fish than if a fluorescent tube breaks in front of them. LED diodes are not toxic free. They contain high levels of lead and nickel. 

Like is said before, I am not anti LED. I have some in my home. I am very much in favor of energy savings but this needs to be tempered with common sense. Not like outlawing the 60 watt light bulb. How many have bought the 59 watt (this is the mandated replacement for the 75 watt) to replace their burned out 60 watt light bulb. 

I do need to make a retraction though. While at work today I looked up specs on different ballasts. I had stated that the ballast that drives the new 4' 28 watt tube starts and 20 below. I was wrong. This starting temp is on the 32 watt ballast. The 28 watt needs heat to start. It needs to be 60 degrees. The wattage usage on the the 32 watt ballast for 2 tubes in 59 watts.


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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

Two car garage, dedicated shop, 8' ceiling, and we have installed seven 4-lamp T-8 fixtures, so 28 tubes. I have another 4-lamp fixture still in the box and it will go up when I have time. I have arranged the lights in three zones so I can control where the light is for shadows, highlights, etc. when I do finishing and photography, or if I'm only going to work in a specific area and don't need all the lights. The entire setup cost about $300 at Lowe's. The lighting is superb!


This photo was taken well before the shop was setup -


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## Dan3103 (Mar 24, 2015)

GuitarPhotographer said:


> 3) *here* in So. Oregon it costs $1 per foot of tube to properly dispose of fluorescent tubes at the recycling center.
> 
> YMMV


You just have to wait for the free hazmat recycle day to come around... I had a few tubes that I took to that for free (along with some other stuff that had accumulated.) It comes here about every other year, not sure about your side of the mountain...


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