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Led lights in the new garage


knobless

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My neighbor (a builder handyman) stopped by my shop recently and saw that I had some led's and some older fluorescents.

I told him that I was converting as the old ones wore out or failed.

His comment was that doing it that way was costing me more than I realize in electric bills and should step up and just replace them all and NOW.

I pointed over to the corner where several new led fixtures were in waiting. Silly me.

Edited by JACK M (see edit history)
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5 hours ago, JACK M said:

My neighbor (a builder handyman) stopped by my shop recently and saw that I had some led's and some older fluorescents.

I told him that I was converting as the old ones wore out or failed.

His comment was that doing it that way was costing me more than I realize in electric bills and should step up and just replace them all and NOW.

I pointed over to the corner where several new led fixtures were in waiting. Silly me.

Yea my plan is to replace the ones on my storage end as they fail but since I don't use them much compared to the shop end I think I'm good waiting. I do like the lower profile of the LED fixtures though so I may speed up the conversion. I will have the same problem I have with flood lights I have replaced all my outside floods and all but 8 (low use) of the 20 inside ceiling floods. What does one do with good used incandescent lamps or used fluorescent fixtures?

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21 hours ago, Laughing Coyote said:

Is there a Habitat for Humanity store in your area?  They may take them.

Good idea, I have donated a lot of things to them over the years and bought a few things.

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Like Zeke, I replaced all my 4 footers @ $15,00 a tube.  The longer ones will remain florescent for now.  Yes the LED's are brighter

but I don't really think I need it that bright.

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On 7/22/2021 at 1:51 PM, alsancle said:

There is not a twist in LED replacement bulb.

????? I've put in maybe a hundred so far. All full voltage style, so I just remove the ballasts and label so a future person does not install fluorescent lamps again.

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On 7/18/2021 at 11:12 AM, Mark I said:

Changed both my garage and shop to LED in 2018/19. Garage is unheated and I live in MN. No issues with them at all so far. Replaced 5 four foot, four tube fluorescent fixtures. Good riddance to them.

I see the biggest change you did was NOT installing LED fixtures, but in placing the fixtures for proper lighting! If you had that many strip lights of fluorescent lamps to begin with the light would have been way more even.

 

I see way too many people place lights where they are blocked by the garage door when it is open. Just hang them along the open door, not above them. One can also place them about 5 feet off the floor to illuminate under a car on a lift, but I do not like that bright light in my eyes. But it does light up under there good!

On 7/19/2021 at 11:34 AM, SC38DLS said:

I keep one 4’ LED as a trouble light.

I bought one specially made to hang under a hood. Wonderful! The version of this that was sold 6 or so years ago:

https://atdtools.com/80357

 

I bought a corded one, so I am NOT replacing the battery about now.... Love corded tools. Never buy batteries.😁

 

 

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You can get 4 foot full voltage replacement lamps up to 2200 Lumens each!  In quantity they are as low as ~$5 each.

 

I put 2200 Lumen lamps in our kitchen, had to take them out! I put 1800 Lumen bubs in, still brighter than the T8 lamps I removed, but look great!

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7 hours ago, Frank DuVal said:

????? I've put in maybe a hundred so far. All full voltage style, so I just remove the ballasts and label so a future person does not install fluorescent lamps again.


I didn’t know that. Could you post a link?

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I added a few LED shop lights to my basement workshop area as the old fluoresent bulbs die off during the past year..So I'm slowling converting to the superior brite lighting of the Leds.

I have none in the garage yet..and just have to bite the bullet and buy them all at once..about 10 fixtures at minimum.

I'm gonna have a couple of "floaters" to have for movable low level lighting when working under cars and for painting..

My entire life with vintage cars inside, I absolutely never had enough light.

I love LED lighting when atmospheres like in a warm living space isn't required .Theu are brite for automobile lighting but NOT for vintage headlamps with refectors..They appear brite at the lamps but do not throw and project the light forward very well for some reason.I guess due to no ability of filament focusing.?

 

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4 hours ago, Flivverking said:

I added a few LED shop lights to my basement workshop area as the old fluoresent bulbs die off during the past year..So I'm slowling converting to the superior brite lighting of the Leds.

I have none in the garage yet..and just have to bite the bullet and buy them all at once..about 10 fixtures at minimum.

I'm gonna have a couple of "floaters" to have for movable low level lighting when working under cars and for painting..

My entire life with vintage cars inside, I absolutely never had enough light.

I love LED lighting when atmospheres like in a warm living space isn't required .Theu are brite for automobile lighting but NOT for vintage headlamps with refectors..They appear brite at the lamps but do not throw and project the light forward very well for some reason.I guess due to no ability of filament focusing.?

 

 

Like fluorescents, LED bulbs come in a variety of color temperatures.  Commonly either 2700°K (roughly the same as traditional incandescent), 3000°K (roughly the same as halogen incandescent), 4100°K (close to daylight), or 5000°K (daylight).  For task oriented spaces such as garages, workshops, kitchens, offices, and reading lamps, choose daylight temps.  For living spaces such as bedrooms and family rooms, warmer temps are more comfortable.  I used to buy 2700°K for such spaces because 3000°K wasn't as available as it is now.  But for me, 2700°K is too warm.  So now I use 3000°K when possible.

 

As far as substituting LED bulbs in auto lighting, it depends on the situation.  There is a fundamental difference between how a LED emits light (e.g., in a planar fashion) and how an incandescent filament does (e.g., much more omni-directionally - though it does depend on things like orientation of the filament).  With separate bulb and reflector, the LED(s) may not be at the correct focal point of the reflector, and can emit light in unexpected directions.  So it is really hit or miss as to how a given LED replacement will work in any given fixture.

 

If one has traditional sealed beam headlights (e.g., 6024, 6054, etc) - which incorporate the entire optical assembly in one unit, it is easy to find effective LED replacements.

Edited by wws944 (see edit history)
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9 hours ago, alsancle said:

I didn’t know that. Could you post a link?

Type "4 foot LED replacement lamp" into Google.

 

Here is one result:

 

https://www.1000bulbs.com/fil/categories/5000k-led-t8-tubes-direct-wire

 

And another:

 

https://www.earthled.com/collections/t8-t12-led-fluorescent-replacement-tube-lights-that-bypass-ballast-rewire

 

I like to buy the full voltage (aka ballast bypass) version, as usually the ballasts are bad, or close to it, so removing those is a good idea. 

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15 hours ago, Michael J. Barnes said:

Flickering only seems to have been mentioned as a problem once. But in my kitchen where I have screwed in LED replacement bulbs, some are chronic flickerers. I guess I need to replace them but they are not old. Problem is definitely not temperature related.

One reason for flickering is a mixture of incandescent and LED lamps on the same circuit.

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36 minutes ago, TexRiv_63 said:

One reason for flickering is a mixture of incandescent and LED lamps on the same circuit.

Hmm, this is the cure for flickering and not dimming properly when putting LEDs on a dimmer circuit. Put in one incandescent lamp to load the dimmer.

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I replaced my old and outdated lights(old outdoor gas station island 8' HO light) in my shop with 2 LED high bay lights, 21,000 lumens each.  Plenty bright enough and takes up a lot less area.  They are even dimmable.  I will be removing some of the LED 4 footers when I get time.

 

Hykolity LED High Bay Light 150W 1-10V Dimmable 5000K 21,000lm UFO LED High Bay Light Fixture 5' Cable with US Plug [250W/400W MH/HPS Equiv.] 100-277V, Commercial Warehouse Area Light for Wet Locations.

PXL_20210915_190153715.jpg

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PXL_20210915_190132845.jpg

Edited by dalef62 (see edit history)
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Been awhile since I have seen one of those old one post lifts.

Back in the 70s when I had a service station I had two of them. I had a buddy that serviced the things so mine always worked properly.

Four posters are the only way for me these days.

Oh yea, leds as well.

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On 9/15/2021 at 10:11 AM, Frank DuVal said:

Hmm, this is the cure for flickering and not dimming properly when putting LEDs on a dimmer circuit. Put in one incandescent lamp to load the dimmer.

 

Yes - These days Title 24 in California requires dimmers on most circuits with incandescent lights.  (Max output is 95% of straight through.  So the dimwits wise politicians in Sacramento can claim a 5% power savings.)  I had to do that workaround with the light fixture over my dining room table due to the dimmer.  It now has 5 LED and one halogen MR-20/GU-10s in it.  There was dimmer in another location that I replaced with an on/off switch.

Edited by wws944 (see edit history)
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1 hour ago, Michael J. Barnes said:

I like the idea of a couple of bay lights rather than a batch of four-foot strips. Especially if each one needs to be plugged in individually. Or do the 4 footers have an outlet so you can plug one to the next?

Had the electrician leave me a few plugs on the ceiling, worked out well the plugs are up high and he tied the boxes into the light switch,one switch operates all my 8 foot lights, you can also connect 8 foot sections together ( up to 3 or 4 sections with one switch,,,nice

 

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I wired a ceiling receptacle for every location of my 4 foot lights, since they mostly come with cords now. Back in the old days I would have just left junction boxes to run the MC  cable out to the hanging lamps. Plugging them in is so much easier now. 

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