I was at a customer's shop the other day after they had just finished an addition and all of the new lighting was LED. In the shop area they had high bay LED lighting and in the areas with lower ceilings were what looked like a standard fluorescent fixture but had LED's instead. I couldn't believe how bright everything was. I immediately went and got some prices, which I thought were pretty reasonable. Has anybody here switched over? Anything you wish you had done different?
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Anyone switch to LED office/shop lights
- Thread starter sagesign
- Start date
Some LED light bulbs I have cause major static interference with FM radio. The FM signal is fine, then I turn on the light and no station, just super loud static / white noise.
We purchased a shop that had four of those circular Mercury/Halide bay lights and had hated them from every perspective since we took over a year and a half ago. The ugly light they threw, the high energy consumption, where they got mounted and that constant loud hum was horrible. The half of the shop these lights cover is roughly 1,250 square feet with 18' ceilings.
The choices were to retrofit the fixtures with LED bulbs and disconnect the ballasts. The bulbs alone were $275.00 EACH for our size. So that would have been almost $1,200 in bulbs alone. The existing ones weren't placed in the space very well either, so we would have also had to move them to get better coverage.
We looked into other options that would serve our needs better, but not cost so much.
We put in four 4', 4 lamp T5 fixtures with reflectors and the difference is eye opening to say the least. These things instantly eliminated the aesthetic and light quality negatives, cost a quarter of the price of the four LED bulbs only and will use about 20% of the juice the Halides ate up.
Tickled pink on all fronts about our choice.
The choices were to retrofit the fixtures with LED bulbs and disconnect the ballasts. The bulbs alone were $275.00 EACH for our size. So that would have been almost $1,200 in bulbs alone. The existing ones weren't placed in the space very well either, so we would have also had to move them to get better coverage.
We looked into other options that would serve our needs better, but not cost so much.
We put in four 4', 4 lamp T5 fixtures with reflectors and the difference is eye opening to say the least. These things instantly eliminated the aesthetic and light quality negatives, cost a quarter of the price of the four LED bulbs only and will use about 20% of the juice the Halides ate up.
Tickled pink on all fronts about our choice.
Bly
New Member
We moved into a new place six months ago.
It had the nasty humming mercury vapour downlights which I hate.
We replaced them with LED highbays and put long ones in the office and print room which look like fluros.
Fabulous bright light, they show reasonably accurate colour, are quiet and turn on instantly.
They use way less power than the old style lighting too.
They were expensive but should pay for themselves over the years.
It had the nasty humming mercury vapour downlights which I hate.
We replaced them with LED highbays and put long ones in the office and print room which look like fluros.
Fabulous bright light, they show reasonably accurate colour, are quiet and turn on instantly.
They use way less power than the old style lighting too.
They were expensive but should pay for themselves over the years.
TheSnowman
New Member
We had an electrician friend come to us about a rebate that was going on last year. We had the old 8' fluorescent tubes in our garage work area, and we updated them to the 4', 4 lamp T5 fixtures with reflectors and it was totally free. Even the labor.
I'm not sure how it worked but he did several around town and the quality of those lights is amazing. Even when the shop is below freezing in the winter they come on instantly and bright.
I'm not sure how it worked but he did several around town and the quality of those lights is amazing. Even when the shop is below freezing in the winter they come on instantly and bright.
chester215
Just call me Chester.
I tried some of these:
They work well so far.
No rewiring needed.
Only for T-8 Fixtures. (the thinner dia. bulbs)
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-4-ft-T8-17-Watt-Cool-White-Linear-LED-Light-Bulb-10-Pack-456590/206402867
They work well so far.
No rewiring needed.
Only for T-8 Fixtures. (the thinner dia. bulbs)
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-4-ft-T8-17-Watt-Cool-White-Linear-LED-Light-Bulb-10-Pack-456590/206402867
ChrisMartin
New Member
We just switched to LED lighting for the office and shop. It wasn't that expensive. I would say that it has been a big improvement. We went with the cool white instead of the warm color. It is a bit weird at first, but I am used to it now and actually really prefer it.
Gene@mpls
New Member
What exactly did you use, please.
ChrisMartin
New Member
We bought about 60 LED cool white bulbs which were 7w equivalents. We got them from Aliexpress.com. They were around .80 cents a bulb and shipped free. They are working out very very well. I really feel cool white is the way to go...but that is just my preference now.
SightLine
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When we first moved to this property a few years ago I converted 40 8 foot T12 fixtures to T5HO and could not be happier with that endeavor. After the utility company rebate I ended up at about $15 per fixture to convert them, bulbs included. Have not had to replace a single bulb yet on them.
For the rest of the building there is a combination of troffer and surface mount 4 foot T12 fixtures, about 80 bulbs in total.... I'm also looking into the LED tubes. I have not really looked much in depth yet though and will likely test with just a couple of fixtures before I pull the plug on a big pile of them. One thing I have decided on is I will be going with the more difficult ones versus the plug and pray ones. I just don't like the idea of having to continue to rely on (and power) the existing florescent ballasts so I'm going to go with a version of the tubes that requires removing the ballasts from the circuit (you could actually leave them installed in the fixtures and just electrically bypass them depending on what sort of retrofit you are looking into). There really seems to be 3 types.
The plug and play ones where the tube contains the LED driver electronics and requires that the existing florescent ballast remain in use. This would of course be the simplest and fastest option since its just like changing the bulb. One would also think this might be the most expensive option since it requires special electronics in the LED driver to convert the florescent ballast voltage to the voltage the LED tube needs.
The next option are also tubes with the LED drivers built in as part of each tube but this type expects standard 120v AC at the fixtures sockets (pin tombstones). Quite a bit more work to install these since you must disconnect the old florescent ballast and wire the incoming 120v directly to one bulb socket end per bulb. I'd assume slightly less expensive since 120v LED driver circuitry is so heaving mass produced that the costs for the components has to be a bit cheaper. Plus on this is you are no longer powering the florescent ballast (nor relying on it to keep working indefinitely).
The third option separates the LED driver circuitry from the tubes. This works much like your existing florescent fixture except instead of a florescent ballast, you replace that ballast with the LED driver. The actual tubes are just the LED's only with no extra circuitry inside of the tubes. This allows for a more reliable and robust LED driver section which will be installed under the middle cover right where the existing ballast was and is also protected from the heat of the LEDs (high power LED's DO produce quite a bit of heat and any good LED design will have a substantial heatsink directly on the back of the actual LED's) and replaceable as its own separate part if needed. This would also seemingly make the actual tubes much less expensive since no drivers are integrated into them. However the initial cost might be higher since you will need to get a more advanced LED driver that handles multiple tubes. The install would probably be slightly easier than the prior option though since you might not have to deal with the actual socket wiring at all simply swapping wire for wire from the old ballast to the new driver then install the new tubes.
This is a good read that shows the different options...
http://cltc.ucdavis.edu/sites/defau...Retrofit_Options_Linear_Fluorescent_FINAL.pdf
If I do any it will be the separate driver install. I just like the idea the best myself.
For the rest of the building there is a combination of troffer and surface mount 4 foot T12 fixtures, about 80 bulbs in total.... I'm also looking into the LED tubes. I have not really looked much in depth yet though and will likely test with just a couple of fixtures before I pull the plug on a big pile of them. One thing I have decided on is I will be going with the more difficult ones versus the plug and pray ones. I just don't like the idea of having to continue to rely on (and power) the existing florescent ballasts so I'm going to go with a version of the tubes that requires removing the ballasts from the circuit (you could actually leave them installed in the fixtures and just electrically bypass them depending on what sort of retrofit you are looking into). There really seems to be 3 types.
The plug and play ones where the tube contains the LED driver electronics and requires that the existing florescent ballast remain in use. This would of course be the simplest and fastest option since its just like changing the bulb. One would also think this might be the most expensive option since it requires special electronics in the LED driver to convert the florescent ballast voltage to the voltage the LED tube needs.
The next option are also tubes with the LED drivers built in as part of each tube but this type expects standard 120v AC at the fixtures sockets (pin tombstones). Quite a bit more work to install these since you must disconnect the old florescent ballast and wire the incoming 120v directly to one bulb socket end per bulb. I'd assume slightly less expensive since 120v LED driver circuitry is so heaving mass produced that the costs for the components has to be a bit cheaper. Plus on this is you are no longer powering the florescent ballast (nor relying on it to keep working indefinitely).
The third option separates the LED driver circuitry from the tubes. This works much like your existing florescent fixture except instead of a florescent ballast, you replace that ballast with the LED driver. The actual tubes are just the LED's only with no extra circuitry inside of the tubes. This allows for a more reliable and robust LED driver section which will be installed under the middle cover right where the existing ballast was and is also protected from the heat of the LEDs (high power LED's DO produce quite a bit of heat and any good LED design will have a substantial heatsink directly on the back of the actual LED's) and replaceable as its own separate part if needed. This would also seemingly make the actual tubes much less expensive since no drivers are integrated into them. However the initial cost might be higher since you will need to get a more advanced LED driver that handles multiple tubes. The install would probably be slightly easier than the prior option though since you might not have to deal with the actual socket wiring at all simply swapping wire for wire from the old ballast to the new driver then install the new tubes.
This is a good read that shows the different options...
http://cltc.ucdavis.edu/sites/defau...Retrofit_Options_Linear_Fluorescent_FINAL.pdf
If I do any it will be the separate driver install. I just like the idea the best myself.
Typestries
New Member
This is something we have been working on for a while, testing various Led solutions even a custom built fixture. We just received 6 of the big a$$ led fixtures to hang and test. At 16k lumens each, they put out a lot of light. Yes, they are expensive.
We've tested -
shop built 10' LED sticks on square tube with ribbon flex LED and led CL modules. $65-$175 each and roughly 4000-6000 lumens. Long term heat management and diffusion/reflection are an issue and concern we have.
replacement LED tubes. Was not impressed with the aliexpress ones we got. They put out less light than out daylight fluorescent tubes.
8' LED fixtures from cooper lighting. Pretty sure they are a lithonia fixture. Lots of driver issues. Had to take lenses out to get good light output. Not impressed for price point.
so, we shall see how these expensive a$$ lights work out. I've got 60 days to trial before I pay. (that's their pitch, lol)
We all need to focus on lumens, not watts. Of course watts matter because that determines the operating costs. But as far as brightness goes, look at lumens. And as LED's should last much longer, total cost of ownership becomes a significant determining factor in choosing the best option.
I'll report back on the Big A$$ solution soon.
We've tested -
shop built 10' LED sticks on square tube with ribbon flex LED and led CL modules. $65-$175 each and roughly 4000-6000 lumens. Long term heat management and diffusion/reflection are an issue and concern we have.
replacement LED tubes. Was not impressed with the aliexpress ones we got. They put out less light than out daylight fluorescent tubes.
8' LED fixtures from cooper lighting. Pretty sure they are a lithonia fixture. Lots of driver issues. Had to take lenses out to get good light output. Not impressed for price point.
so, we shall see how these expensive a$$ lights work out. I've got 60 days to trial before I pay. (that's their pitch, lol)
We all need to focus on lumens, not watts. Of course watts matter because that determines the operating costs. But as far as brightness goes, look at lumens. And as LED's should last much longer, total cost of ownership becomes a significant determining factor in choosing the best option.
I'll report back on the Big A$$ solution soon.