Mug Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 I like good lighting in my work space. I have been looking at overhead shop lighting for awhile and thought I would pass on this little tidbit because of the past post on studio lighting. My shop is often cold in the winter and I use lights that come on at low temperatures. In the past I lit my old shop with High output T12's. They are expensive outdoor florescent bulbs mostly for use in internally illuminated outdoor signage. The ballasts for these bulbs are also expensive, but they last a long time. The newest version of florescent tubes would be the T8 flicker free and are better in many ways. The ballast are also expensive and last a long time 20,000 Hrs. Led florescent replacement bulbs need about double the tubes to make the same light in lumens. The T8 and T12 florescent lumens are about 3,000 for ever 4'. My point 60w led non-dimmable household bulbs seem to be the most cost effective LED's currently available approximately $2.50 each 8.5 watts and roughly 800 lumens per bulb. I found it interesting that I could buy 15 60W bulbs that use approximately the same energy with equal lumen output for $37.50 less than half the cost of the ballast and 16' of bulbs for T8 or T12 and way less than the LED t8 replacements with the same lifespan. I have so far put in half of these and the light output is great it may seem ridiculous to put in a bazillion bulbs, but it is looking to be well worth the time. I'm sure the bulbs will get better and cheaper. I might only use half of the sockets in the future. Exciting love my lights Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What? Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 I bought 6 led shop lights from Costxx plug in play type $30 a piece for 2 car garage studio. It almost frightened me the first couple days turning on the light switch. I'm very happy with these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFaul Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 Well I'm rather fanatical about lighting in the studio. This is one area where I'll spend money. I like the studio so bright that all shadows are filled. The lighting system I designed was all LED based to reduce the number of AMPs we were pulling. Building codes restricts AMPs per square footage in commercial districts here... Your government at work, ridiculous... But, I digress. So we used LED 2' x 2' flat panels mounted in custom wood trays. Two panels per tray. They look like sky lights. You can select different frequencies of light. I chose a daylight (blue white) for this time of year. This frequency of light highness attention, and wards of seasonal effectiveness disorder. These put out a nice defuse light all over the studio. I then took black plumbers pipe and converted it into track lighting. and suspended it from the ceiling. I loaded this up with LED floods with daylight white light. We used these to wash the hand building, slab roller, extruder, another specialty stations. I also used these in the kiln room and glaze area. The next layer was traditional high intensity track lighting over the windows casting down on the wheel stations. These spots light up the pots and throwing areas. This light is softer and more yellow-warmer. It was the preference of the wheel throwers at the time and blends with the whiter light and softens it. The first time we turned on the lights folks asked for sun tan lotion :-) LED Panels: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-panel-light-high-voltage/50w-led-panel-light-fixture-2ft-x-2ft/3181/ LED Floods: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-spot-flood/par30-led-bulb-40-watt/1700/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glazenerd Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 Mike: You are using the number one rated commercial LED lighting system. Often times your local power company will run specials, offer discounts on your bill, or allow you to send in invoices to be deducted from your power bill. The 2 x 2 LED panels are most usually on that short list. We have had several gas stations, convenience stores, and mom and pop shops replace their lighting with these. The lights were basically free after rebates from the power company. Check your local power company website- not uncommon to see these offered. Our power company just finished another rebate program: send in your invoices for up to 24 LED standard light bulb replacements- they sent 50% of cost back. Worth looking into- Feds are involved with this as well. Nerd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 I changed out all my t-8 bulbs (4 footers) some were two bulb some 3 bulb some 4 bulb -to led florescent style tubes with T-8 ends. They are plastic tubes (no glass to break) and cost 11$ per bulb on E-bay in quantities delivered free. They are super bright and run on fumes. They do not use a ballast-so you just cut your ballast out (leave in in no worries)of the wiring loop. They run on 120V so you move a few wire nuts and replace the bulbs. I must have over 2 dozen going now. I can post more info if their is interest .No fixtures to put up as my whole shop and outer kiln area and dry space had tons of t-8s . I gave away most of my t8 bulbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mug Posted January 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 My wife and kids laugh at me and my excitement with the new light bulbs, but I have spent time in dimly lit shops and it is a complete production Killer. I don't like shadows in my shop and when I'm gauging the color of an object it has to be as accurate as possible. It's a pet peeve right there with the way the TP is facing in the bathroom. In my situation my roof is a little over 11' high and I care very little about how it looks it just needs to work well. I don't need dimmable Leds that cost more per bulb. Having a few feet over the standard roof eliminates any lighting hot spots. Having the leds upside down reduces the life of the bulb a little, but I can live with it. Having the bulb upside down and overhead is actually utilizing the best light pattern for this style of bulb. These bulbs don't light towards the base well making them suck for table lamps. Curlicue bulbs work better for table lamps. I first looked at the $11 T8 replacements when they were posted here a few months ago and came really close to getting them. These would be perfect for a high or lower ceiling, but I would have to get T8 fixtures at the very least replace my old 8' T12's with multiple T8 sockets. What I found was that the lumens per watt of the non-dimmable 60w $2.50 bulb are virtually equal to light output and energy use any of the of the t-8 led bulbs or the led panels at a significantly lower price. The 60w bulbs are lacking severely in the looks department. The 50W Led light panel 5000 lumens 50 watts cost $100.00 and looks super clean and nice when installed. The 60W led runs 8.5 watts per bulb and would take 6.25 lamps to make 5000 lumens at a total of 53 watts for a cost of $15.63 The 4' T8 replacement takes approximately 2 bulbs per 4' to light as well as the original t-8 at about 3000 lumens. The replacement may appear nearly as bright due to the directional nature of the bulb, but there not. The upside down Led Edison based bulbs seem to appear brighter for the same reason. Cost about $22.00 uses 36 watts for 3000 lumens The 60W led would take 3.75 bulbs to get 3000 lumens at 32watts at a cost of $9.38 Even if my figures are off a little, dollar for dollar the $2.50 60w bulb in all its ugliness to me is a great buy. I thought this might save someone like me a few bucks if they were more concerned with function over looks. I love living in a time where lighting has improved as much as it has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mugmkr Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 Mark, if you have the product name and a link to the eBay store you mentioned I would appreciate it! Thanks, Owen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 I buy the clear ones-as they have the most output. They work without a light cover(diffuser) or with no matter. I tried the other types and these clear are the best.They come extremely well packed. product name=G13 4FT 24W 6500K CLEAR STRIPED MILKY 48" T8 Replacement LED Tube Lights Bulbs http://www.ebay.com/itm/G13-4FT-24W-6500K-CLEAR-STRIPED-MILKY-48-T8-Replacement-LED-Tube-Lights-Bulbs-/291158945965?var=&hash=item43ca6cf0ad:m:mJa-vOy6c77NFdI1wBEVwmw I originally heard about these from a magazine called home power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFaul Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 Mike: You are using the number one rated commercial LED lighting system. Often times your local power company will run specials, offer discounts on your bill, or allow you to send in invoices to be deducted from your power bill. The 2 x 2 LED panels are most usually on that short list. We have had several gas stations, convenience stores, and mom and pop shops replace their lighting with these. The lights were basically free after rebates from the power company. Check your local power company website- not uncommon to see these offered. Our power company just finished another rebate program: send in your invoices for up to 24 LED standard light bulb replacements- they sent 50% of cost back. Worth looking into- Feds are involved with this as well. Nerd Thanks for this tip... We'll check it out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFaul Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 I thought I would post a couple of photos with lights on and off... Hope I did this right... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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