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What LED fixtures to go with for my small shop ?

Tryhard

Aluminum
Joined
Oct 26, 2019
Hello,

My shop is 24x24 and currently and barely lit by (4) 8' fluorescent double fixtures.
Would like to remove those and flood the whole shop with bright LED light, but as cost effective as possible.
Are there any recommended fixtures on the cheap end that a guy could get at lowes, home depot, walmart, amazon or ebay ?

Looking forward to seeing replies from people that have recently done it. Pictures and/or links too hopefully!

Thanks!
 
Your shop sounds similar in size to mine, perhaps a bit larger. I had six, four foot, two tube fluorescent fixtures and real poor light plus constant problems with the tubes and ballasts. The fixtures are the $19.99, CHEAP shop lights found in every home supply place.

I purchased some Sunco brand LED bulbs on the internet. They were not as cheap as what was available locally but I do not regret the cost. I paid around $9 per tube. I REMOVED all the ballasts and rewired the cheap fixtures for the LED bulbs and the results were spectacular.

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The light is excellent. There are no dark corners: everything is well lit.

These bulbs have been installed for around two years now and I have had zero problems. Even those cheap, shop style fixtures are working perfectly. No dim bulbs. No intermittent lights. NO PROBLEMS WHAT-SO-EVER. I am delighted.

PS: I also have a lot of four foot fluorescent fixtures in my house. I replaced around 50+ tubes with 39 LEDs and the light is BETTER everywhere that I did that. All of those fixtures were around 30 to 40 years old. Absolutely zero problems in the house also. I highly recommend these bulbs - Sunco brand.

My point is, it is not the fixtures, it is the LED BULBS that count. And if you use older fixtures with ballasts, I very strongly recommend REMOVING those ballasts. You get more light (higher efficiency) and remove a potential source of problems.

You say you have four, eight foot, two bulb fixtures. You can probably just get LED bulbs for them. Remove the ballasts, rewire the fixtures for the new bulbs and put then in. Enjoy. And get some sun glasses for use in your newly lit shop.

If you want to use the four foot (48") bulbs, I would suggest replacing each of your four eight foot fixtures with two four foot ones, perhaps separated by a few feet to spread the light around better. And do not worry about the fixtures. It is the bulbs all the way. My house and shop is proof that even the cheapest and/or oldest fixtures are 100% OK.
 
Looking forward to seeing replies from people that have recently done it. Pictures and/or links too hopefully!

I just renovated an outbuilding as a small work space for jobs I'd prefer to do at home vs. at work. It's approx. 250 ft^2 and I installed six of these LED fixtures. I chose this specific model after a long search for the following reasons:

  • One of the slimmest I could find so I maximize usable ceiling height
  • Color temp isn't too cold but still white enough to see colors well
  • Diffuser on the light means less glare on reflective surfaces
So far I'm happy with them, though six of these in such a small space does feel like standing on the surface of the sun, which I think is actually a positive.
 
Your shop sounds similar in size to mine, perhaps a bit larger. I had six, four foot, two tube fluorescent fixtures and real poor light plus constant problems with the tubes and ballasts. The fixtures are the $19.99, CHEAP shop lights found in every home supply place.

I purchased some Sunco brand LED bulbs on the internet. They were not as cheap as what was available locally but I do not regret the cost. I paid around $9 per tube. I REMOVED all the ballasts and rewired the cheap fixtures for the LED bulbs and the results were spectacular.

attachment.php


attachment.php


The light is excellent. There are no dark corners: everything is well lit.

These bulbs have been installed for around two years now and I have had zero problems. Even those cheap, shop style fixtures are working perfectly. No dim bulbs. No intermittent lights. NO PROBLEMS WHAT-SO-EVER. I am delighted.

PS: I also have a lot of four foot fluorescent fixtures in my house. I replaced around 50+ tubes with 39 LEDs and the light is BETTER everywhere that I did that. All of those fixtures were around 30 to 40 years old. Absolutely zero problems in the house also. I highly recommend these bulbs - Sunco brand.

My point is, it is not the fixtures, it is the LED BULBS that count. And if you use older fixtures with ballasts, I very strongly recommend REMOVING those ballasts. You get more light (higher efficiency) and remove a potential source of problems.

You say you have four, eight foot, two bulb fixtures. You can probably just get LED bulbs for them. Remove the ballasts, rewire the fixtures for the new bulbs and put then in. Enjoy. And get some sun glasses for use in your newly lit shop.

If you want to use the four foot (48") bulbs, I would suggest replacing each of your four eight foot fixtures with two four foot ones, perhaps separated by a few feet to spread the light around better. And do not worry about the fixtures. It is the bulbs all the way. My house and shop is proof that even the cheapest and/or oldest fixtures are 100% OK.

Yes. Your shop is nicely lit! Jealous of your lighting AND YOUR EPOXY FLOOR!

Thank you for the reply!
 
....though six of these in such a small space does feel like standing on the surface of the sun.

Im kinda liking those fixtures. Mine are some leftover non matching industrial junk that I'd really rather just remove altogether vs try to reuse. Plus the spacing is all wonky and uneven.
What is your spacing from the walls and between eachother?
 
A bit off topic, perhaps, but I can't resist telling this story:

Our small factory electronics test lab, where I worked, had two dual lamp four foot fluorescent fixtures. They produced WAY too little light.

So we soon got maintenance to replace them with two eight foot dual lamp fixtures.

The first time we turned them on, the increase in brightness was astonishing! Like bright sunlight.

Then, a minute later, we smelled the smoke.

120 volt fixtures connected to 208 volts are really bright -- for a while. :)
 
My shop is similar size, I ripped out all the 4’ fluorescent fixtures and EMT that I spent lots of time installing 20 years ago and put in twelve 40 watt double light strip LEDs
Very bright, I love it
I went with these. There are better quality than I expected, but really thin sheet metal fixture. I cheesed out and just plugged the fixtures into each other . You can have a max of 4 , my set up has three on each string, plugged into switched outlet on the ceiling.
Made in China, but have a 7 year warranty (assuming the seller is still around)
The few reports on line of fixtures dead in the box were taken care of by the seller ASAP.
Mine all arrived with no fixture damage and the boxes were all good, they stepped up their packing based on feedback from a few years ago

All my lights worked with no quality control issues.

I’d buy more if I needed, I may put a couple on chains over the benches. I screwed them right to the joists.

Sunco Lighting 6 Pack LED Utility Shop Light, 4 FT, Linkable Integrated Fixture, 40W=260W, 5000K Daylight, 4100 LM, Frosted Lens, Surface/Suspension Mount, Pull Chain, Garage - ETL, Energy Star - - Amazon.com


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
I've converted the old T12 fluorescent fixtures to T8 LED bulbs in my shop, garage and basement and I'm very pleased with the results!

! used this T12 to T8 conversion kit, which has quality tombstones:

8' 4-Lamp Strip Retrofit Kit - Non-Shunted Sockets - T8 LED Tube Ready - Bracket / Socket Retrofit Kits - LED Strip Fixture Retrofit - LED Retrofit Department | PROLIGHTING

And these T8 5000K frosted LED bulbs:

18W VersaT8 LED Tube - Low Priced Ballast Compatible or Bypass Tubes – Green Light Depot

This thread on Garage Journal provides excellent shop lighting information:

The Best Light Fixture Ever! - The Garage Journal Board

Mike
 
Epoxy floor? I wish it were. It's just gray floor paint from Lowe's or Home Depot. I applied it a few years ago, after an acid wash but it is peeling off in some heavy use spots, like where my stool sits in front of a work bench. I need to touch it up sometime soon.

I choose the plain gray color to make it easier to find small parts that I will evidentially drop.



Yes. Your shop is nicely lit! Jealous of your lighting AND YOUR EPOXY FLOOR!

Thank you for the reply!
 
Simply remove the ballast, rewire (using the ballast wire) 120 volts to one end and neutral to the other end, then insert a 120 volt 8' single pin LED replacement tube and turn it on. The color temp can be 5000K for most shops.

I have 9 2 tube fixtures in a 28' X 40' space. I have measured 3 times as much light after change out.
 
1 week ago, ocean state job lots. 4' lg, 2 "tube", all install hardware included. nice long cord and have opposite end cap plug in for daisy chaining. 42w, 4200 lumen, 5000k, 50000 hr life expectancy. ask me in 6 years if the life expectancy worked out. $14.99
 
This will probably work for the 8' fixtures with single pins on each end of the bulbs.

BUT, while I was rewiring the 4' fixtures in my house and shop I had an electrician do about half of the fixtures after I had done the other half. These fixtures used the F tubes with two pins on each end. The bulbs that I purchased were wired in the way described, with one end hot and the other end neutral. BUT, he was wiring them in a different manner, with both hot and neutral on one end and nothing on the other.

Apparently the makers of the four foot LEDs with two pins on each end have chosen two different ways to wire them. You need to check as to how your bulbs need to be wired.



Simply remove the ballast, rewire (using the ballast wire) 120 volts to one end and neutral to the other end, then insert a 120 volt 8' single pin LED replacement tube and turn it on. The color temp can be 5000K for most shops.

I have 9 2 tube fixtures in a 28' X 40' space. I have measured 3 times as much light after change out.
 








 
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