4' LED "shop" lights for ~ $32 at Costco

[txdon]

Are the February coupon books available at the store?

 

[newbury]

Well I bought 2 of the costco lights. According to my measurement with the light meter on my PDA they put out about the same lumens at 4' as the ones I bought from HD. However they don't have a switch and are not designed to be "daisy chained.

Plus they have 2 "tubes", which look like worst dust collectors than the 1 "lens" on the HD.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Well I bought 2 of the costco lights. According to my measurement with the light meter on my PDA they put out about the same lumens at 4' as the ones I bought from HD. However they don't have a switch and are not designed to be "daisy chained.

Plus they have 2 "tubes", which look like worst dust collectors than the 1 "lens" on the HD.

Any idea how the LED brightness compares to a standard twin tube 4' fluorescent fixture?

Last time I rigged lights in the garage, I mounted an inexpensive plastic remodeler electrical box on the end of each fixture, put a dual plug outlet in it with the appropriate cover, and wired the power lead to the outlet. I also installed a pull string on/off switch in each fixture in series with the outlet. I used two conductor lamp cord with a male plug on each end to run power to the fixtures, effectively daisy chaining them together. The first one is plugged into one of those radio controlled switches so I can turn the whole mess on/off from two wall mounted remotes on opposite sides of the room. Not anywhere near code, but nothing's burned down yet.

Do you think the LED lights could be modified in a similar fashion?

 

[newbury]

Any idea how the LED brightness compares to a standard twin tube 4' fluorescent fixture?

Last time I rigged lights in the garage, I mounted an inexpensive plastic remodeler electrical box on the end of each fixture, put a dual plug outlet in it with the appropriate cover, and wired the power lead to the outlet. I also installed a pull string on/off switch in each fixture in series with the outlet. I used two conductor lamp cord with a male plug on each end to run power to the fixtures, effectively daisy chaining them together. The first one is plugged into one of those radio controlled switches so I can turn the whole mess on/off from two wall mounted remotes on opposite sides of the room. Not anywhere near code, but nothing's burned down yet.

Do you think the LED lights could be modified in a similar fashion?

I have a "Lux" app on my PDA. I held it 4' from about the center of a 2 bulb (4' at 32 watt@) T8 light fixture with white reflector and it read about 1200 lux, 4 foot from about the center of the Home Depot LED light (w/ reflector) and it read about 950 lux today.

The Costco lights come with a fairly heavy duty, about 5' long power cord w/ 3 prong plug, I'm not going to open one up to rewire it.

 

[Mendonsy]

I just replaced a 2 lamp 4' T12 fixture (one of four) with one of the $39 Home Depot 4' LEDs. The LED appears to put out a lot more light that the two T12 bulbs but I don't have any way to make an exact measurement.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Thanks for taking those measurements, newbury. Your meter says that the LED puts out only 2/3 the light as the T8, but can you see the difference?

Not familiar with the T8 vs T12 bulbs. Which one is the old style one that's about 1 1/4" in diameter? Any difference in output between the two to account for Mendonsy's results?

 

[txdon]

The Costco sign says their LED light puts out 3,700 lumens, is that correct?
Feit Electric 4Ft LED Shop Light

 

[newbury]

I just replaced a 2 lamp 4' T12 fixture (one of four) with one of the $39 Ho)me Depot 4' LEDs. The LED appears to put out a lot more light that the two T12 bulbs but I don't have any way to make an exact measurement.

Do you have an android smart phone? Look in google play store for lumen or light meter.
I think the AVERAGE T8 bulb puts out about 10 to 20% more than a T12 of the same size.

Thanks for taking those measurements, newbury. Your meter says that the LED puts out only 2/3 the light as the T8, but can you see the difference?

Not familiar with the T8 vs T12 bulbs. Which one is the old style one that's about 1 1/4" in diameter? Any difference in output between the two to account for Mendonsy's results?

Actually the T8 looks only a little brighter. T12's the old style. Also flourescent "age", so they may start out with 2,000 lumens per bulb but then have a "mean" 1600 lumens per bulb (for example look here 1000bulbs.com).

And my measurements were only REALLY quick and dirty.

 

[dragoneggs]

Resurrecting an old thread here to report on the Costco 4ft LED lights and the new replacements bulbs. First, the Feit brand twin bulb with fixtures have been great after 2 years use. Brighter than the fluorescents they replaced and instant on as advertised. No heat loss is impressive (efficiency).



I was prompted to reply to this old thread because today I bought a pair of replacement LED bulbs that you can put in your old fluorescent fixtures. Price was $14.99 on the rack, looked at my receipt and it was $17.99 with $5 instant rebate... even better. I was excited to install these in my lone flourescent fixture and was quickly disappointed. Not even close to the brightness. Already boxed up and going back. Unusual for a Costco product.

I do highly recommend the Feit's if they are available. Best price I have seen them is $19.99. Buy them!

 

[Sodo]

Do they work directly on 120vAC? If they do, I'd give them a hot shot and see if they are brighter. The fluorescent ballasts waste a lot of power, and can fail too. You don't get the cost-savings of LED, or reliability, when using the ballasts. If those lights will run directly on 120VAC and are brighter, maybe simply bypassing your ballasts is worthwhile.