LED Garage Lights

[ultrarunner]

So in my case probably should stay away from the 5000K "brighter" light and use 4000K "warm white". For hanging fluorescent replacement lights in a garage...some over work bench and other for ceiling lighting...anyone use the 3000K range which appears to be close to incandescent color?? Is the 4000 K better to "work under"??

Thanks...chart very helpful...TMR

The Hospital is 95% sp 3500 T8 and 5% spx 3000 T8

 

[newbury]

The whole ballast question was the reason I opted for whole new units vs swapping bulbs. Especially since the price was the same. Costco $29 for LEDs in fixture and $29 Replacement bulbs only (no mention of whether you need to mess with the ballasts but don't think so).

Replacing with bulbs only make more sense if it's going to be a pain to remove the old fixture. I've two "troffer" units built into a suspended ceiling.

I've replaced a number of 8' T12 fixtures that were just plugged in with the Costco/HD 4' LED fixtures.

 

[dragoneggs]

Replacing with bulbs only make more sense if it's going to be a pain to remove the old fixture. I've two "troffer" units built into a suspended ceiling.

I've replaced a number of 8' T12 fixtures that were just plugged in with the Costco/HD 4' LED fixtures.

Well the other improvement was I flush mounted the LED's and took down the chain hanging fluorescent ones. Could have remounted the old fixtures but the LED fixtures are 'lower' profile as well. I am finding a couple new homes for my fluorescents though. A small garden shed and a couple to go in the greenhouse maybe adding 'grow' light bulbs. Need to do a little research on the extent of benefits of those. I suppose another topic.

 

[dragoneggs]

And to add to James reply---The older style magnetic ballast (and to a lesser extent the newer ballast) use electricity any time the circuit is closed (on). Even if the bulbs are burned out OR completely removed. I would recommend using the style that does not require the old power consuming ballast.

The whole ballast question was the reason I opted for whole new units vs swapping bulbs. Especially since the price was the same. Costco $29 for LEDs in fixture and $29 Replacement bulbs only (no mention of whether you need to mess with the ballasts but don't think so).

 

[Ford850]

I'm wondering if these new LED fixtures are labeled if they do not have a ballast, so someone doesn't swap out the LED bulb for a fluorescent. Or maybe they do have ballasts too, and come with bulbs made for them.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Most Led fixtures use flat led strip. The costco led shop light has tubes, but no pins and socket on the end. No ballasts.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

My entire office building was retrofited with led strips, not led tubes. They removed the guts of the old fixture, installed one new led strip that replaced 2 or 3 old tubes.

 

[oldpilgrim]

I just finished replacing 14 40w florescents with 10 20w integrated tube LEDS in my cold barn.

More light, better light, and instant on when cold. 200w total vs 560w.

It was well worth the $100 for me. Very happy !

 

[newbury]

I'm wondering if these new LED fixtures are labeled if they do not have a ballast, so someone doesn't swap out the LED bulb for a fluorescent. Or maybe they do have ballasts too, and come with bulbs made for them.

The place I bought my swap in tubes did not offer WARNING stickers but they do now.

 

[90cummins]

I started a thread about my Led shop lights and discovered this one so I'm copying it here to add to the info.
I've been replacing the CFL's in my home with LED's since summer and it's now time to upgrade my shop lights.
My shop is 40x60 with 12x12 doors and is poorly lighted.
The main lighting consists of (6) 8ft (2x60w) T12 fixtures approximately 10 off the floor.
Around my lift I have four 8ft fixtures with three T8 32w 6500k (Daylight) lamps each.
The T8's are new and provide quality light and are not going to be changed out yet.
The main is lighting is not performing and one the reasons is that they are turned on & off frequently and are started cold because the shop is heated only when I use it.
I replaced the T12's with 48w 6500k 6000 lumen LED's.
The LED's are direct wired for 120v so I just disconnected the ballast and rewired them leaving the ballast in place.
The improvement was huge! The new lights are much brighter and allow me see detail much better.
The previously dark corners of the shop are now nicely illuminated.
I have a Killawatt meter so I measured the power consumption of the oil & new lights which I found very interesting.

The old F96T12 60w lamp data; VA 143 W92 A1.16 PF.65 X's 12 lights = 13.92A
Total power consumed = 1.716kw x 8hr = 13.72kw per day.

New LED 48w 6500K 6000Lumen; VA 96 W92 A.79 PF.96 X's 12 lights = 9.48A
Total power consumed = 1.152kw x 8hr = 9.216kw per day.

Yesterday I bought two Phillips 4 direct fit T8 5000k LED's at Home Depot for $10 and installed them for comparison against 2 F32T8 Daylight lamps.
These LEDs are direct fit and use the original ballast for power and are surprisingly less efficient than the T8's.
F32 T8 LAMPS VA 82 W63 A.68 PF.76 x12 LIGHTS = 8.16A
LED VA 96 W93 A.79 PF.95 X12 LIGHTS = 9.48A
Researching my lights it appears (to me) that UL listed lights are direct replacements for the CFL tube lights and use the existing ballast.
My lights are not UL listed and require removal of the ballast before installation. I chose non UL listed because I wanted to minimize electrical consumption.
If my assumption's are wrong please correct me.
I hope you find this as informative as I did.
90cummins