Shop lights

Lamont in NC · Jan 6, 2019

Anyone recommend any LED shop lights? I purchased one of these https://www.harborfreight.com/4-ft-led-hanging-shop-light-64410.html to test the other day and it seems quite nice. But I was still hoping to find them cheaper as I'd like to buy 10 or 20 of them. The ones I see on ebay are either more expensive or not as bright. The HF one claims 5,000 lumens and it has a nice warm color.

Quite a few of my current 4 foot T12 shop lights from the late 90's seem to be getting dimmer. I've tried new bulbs but they don't help. My eyes seem to requiring more light too. It's time I do something.

johnofnewhaven · Jan 6, 2019

I don't know if you have a Rural King in your area but I have bought several from there. I wait till they go on sale which is about twice a year.

44 massey · Jan 6, 2019

My 8ft fluorescent shop lights are going bad too!!! Been looking at led replacement bulbs that fit in my current fixtures, just eliminate the ballasts!! Can get them thru EBay or Amazon!! Has anyone had any luck with them??

Dick L · Jan 6, 2019

I bought six of the 5000 lumens 4 footers several months back a Menards. I like them. I bought 4 at Sams Club a year ago or longer and they are fine. I bought 4 at Rural King about the same time and one of them died. The old 4 footer ones I put up 40 years ago have been going bad and have been replacing them with the LED 4 footers. I think all that I bought was in the 34 dollar range.

Lamont in NC · Jan 6, 2019

I tried to find them on ebay for the 4 foot fixtures but they don't seem to be any cheaper than the hole fixtures and the info on them seems so sketchy I have no idea if they are actually any good or not.

Tracy Brown · Jan 6, 2019

You can convert your T12 light to LED very easily. Remove ballast and straight wire led bulbs in the same fixture. Just get the correct bulbs. Some will require hot and neutral on same end of light, some will require hot to one end and neutral to the other end. Around here(North MS), 4 ft led bulbs are around $8-10 each and 8 ft are around twice that.

K Effective · Jan 6, 2019

check Rural King for LED high bay lights- 22000 lumens for $75

Dave Sherburne, NY · Jan 6, 2019

Just convert the Florescent fixtures you already have to LED. Two Saturdays ago, myself and two other guys converted every 4ft florescent fixture in the church to LED. Took 3.5 hours and $1000 worth of LED tubes. The best part was the local electric company had a rebate program going, and they paid for all the tubes. Tough part is getting rid of all the ballasts and the old tubes.
The feed for each fixture came in right in the middle of the fixture. Ballast was removed from one end of each light along with the tangle of wires and the yellow wires from the other end was hooked directly to the incoming black and white. Look on you tube for how to videos and pick the shortest one. Some of those guys are trying to make it look like a big deal when it's not.

OldFarmTractor · Jan 6, 2019

I replaced my shop's 4' bulbs with some LEDs I bought online for about $5.50 each, free shipping.

Very easy to wire... Just Google them.

fixerupper · Jan 6, 2019

(quoted from post at 18:43:51 01/06/19) My 8ft fluorescent shop lights are going bad too!!! Been looking at led replacement bulbs that fit in my current fixtures, just eliminate the ballasts!! Can get them thru EBay or Amazon!! Has anyone had any luck with them??

Yes I have had good luck with the 8’ replacements. I forget where on the net I got them, as usual. They make more than a night and day difference. I put them in the woodworking shop. I have to wear a cap with a bill to keep the bright light from reflecting on the dust on my glasses. I first experimented with 8’ replacements from Menards that uses the existing ballast. They work OK too but were spendy and that troublesome ballast is still there.

Goneranchin · Jan 7, 2019

Bought 25 4? led intergrated shop lights from home depo for 20.00 each. They are 4000 kelvin which is the light spectrum. They are very bright put them in my shop it?s about 1200 sq ft. They are great cheap to run quite a bit more efficient lights my shop like nothing else. Changed out the old fluorescent t12. It was cheaper than replacing all the bulbs fixtures I bought came with bulbs. I will do my barn next then do my tractor barn.

bradley martin · Jan 7, 2019

If you are finding that you seem to require more light, or rooms seem darker than they used to be, you should book a visit to a qualified optometrist to have your eyes checked. I was having the same issue a year ago and turned out that I had a cataract. Totally surprised me. Following surgery, I couldn't believe how much brighter the world was! They come on slowly and most people don't realize it. I was one of them! I had gone 20 plus years without an eye exam, but now know that was not smart on my part. That's not to say that you don't require a lighting upgrade in your shop. ( lol).

VADAVE · Jan 7, 2019

I have had really good luck with the LED lights. I find that one LED will provide the same light as two fluorescents. Costco, Walmart, Sam's club have the LED lights for about $35, complete with pigtail. To make it sweeter they last about twice as long.

Geo-TH,In · Jan 7, 2019

RK LED's 4 ft 5000k. Anything less than 5000k will be yellow.

I saw a Menards ad, 300w equivalent LED that screws into a regular light fixture, $25. I haven't checked into it.

barnyardorange · Jan 7, 2019

I have been getting mine from a site called green light depot. Been very pleased with their led 4 ft shop lights.

showcrop · Jan 7, 2019

2X what Dave Sherburne, NY said. I have been changing my church over. You want to go the ballast bypass route, so you buy only bulbs at around $16 each, and the appropriate "Retrofit Wiring Harness" for your fixtures. The harnesses include new tombstones for the bulbs to go into. Everyone so far has been happy with two LED bulbs per four bulb fluorescent fixture. You buy according to the brightness rating that you want. I recommend getting enough for one first so that you know that it will be what you want. Once you do one you will see that it is really easy. I just take the wires, ballasts and tubes to the transfer station for recycling.

Determined · Jan 7, 2019

(quoted from post at 20:27:07 01/06/19) Anyone recommend any LED shop lights? I purchased one of these https://www.harborfreight.com/4-ft-led-hanging-shop-light-64410.html to test the other day and it seems quite nice. But I was still hoping to find them cheaper as I'd like to buy 10 or 20 of them. The ones I see on ebay are either more expensive or not as bright. The HF one claims 5,000 lumens and it has a nice warm color.

Quite a few of my current 4 foot T12 shop lights from the late 90's seem to be getting dimmer. I've tried new bulbs but they don't help. My eyes seem to requiring more light too. It's time I do something.

LED tube style are expensive.

Here is what I did in the shop.

60 watt LED bulbs on sale $1 each
Light sockets $1.50 each
Box $ 2.00 each
Wire and misc connectors I had on hand.
Total cost $4.50 each

$4.50 x 18 = $81.00

2 strings of 9 60 watt lights each = wow I can actually see what I am doing.

With them only using 11 watts each I can run all 18 of them for about 2.5 cents an hour.

Compare that to the cost of 1 LED fixture.

INCase · Jan 7, 2019

I converted my 4ft shop light to LED tubes but had to put in a quick start balast as they wouldn't work otherwise.
they are Sylvania versatube.

I've had rather BAD luck with cheap off brand LED and compact florescent bulbs. have had very few if any last as long as a old style incandescent bulb and some only last a month or so. they are so off brand there is no company to look up to complain or get a replacement or refund.

have a older GE compact florescent or 2 that have been going a long time. so for me i'll stick with the name brands and try to get them on sale. around the house i'm not one to take out a good working incandescent bulb and put in a CFB or LED. i have moved some around and put them in lights that the kids and wife tend to leave on ALL the time.

Lamont in NC · Jan 7, 2019

I've never had an LED to burn out yet but I've had similar experiences with CFL bulbs. They didn't last nearly as long as they claimed and their long startup made them mostly useless. I ended up only using CFLs on lamps that were left on a lot.

I got 3 or 4 LED's when they had come down to $5 or so each at Walmart. I continued to and I'm still using up the old CFLs in the lights they are in. And I have yet to give up on incandescent in the kitchen as even the 2700 kelvin LEDs are quite noticeably whiter than incandescent and make my cabinets and floor look funny to me.

But as of the end of 2018, 60 and 100 watt equivalent LEDs are now available 2 for a dollar at Dollar Tree! They are finally dirt cheap! I found they are perfect for those drop cord lights and clip lights in the shop and I've replaced all those bulbs. I'm still trying to find a warmer color LED (warmer than 2700K) to do the whole house.

It seems time now to do something with the 4' T12s and I want it done correctly, dirt cheap, I don't want to have to spend any time doing it and I don't want to regret my decision on the future.

And of course I realize that's completely unrealistic.

Lamont in NC · Jan 7, 2019

Thanks for all the responses. I don't have a Menards or Rural King here but I could order them online.

I think I'm going to stay away from the LED tubes that go in existing fixtures as I just have the cheap hanging shop fixtures and it seems worth a bit more to get rid of them and their guts outright. I'm leery of the cheap fixtures and lights being sold so it's good to hear what people have found to work good.

As one person suggested wire the shop with old school single bulb fixtures and put 100w equiv screw in LEDs. I had thought of this but I think it'll be quicker to replace hanging 4' fixtures with the same. Plus I think the distribution of light will be evener--I think. That said I've been looking to add lighting to a couple 18x20 out-buildings that currently only have one bulb (just so I can see to walk in at night). I've been thinking of buying a string light (this one https://www.harborfreight.com/24-ft-12-bulb-outdoor-string-lights-63483.html ) and replacing the included bulbs with 100w equiv LED bulbs and stringing it up down the center of the roof. 100w equiv LED bulbs can be bought 2 for a dollar at Dollar Tree now. That'd be a lot of lumen but I just wonder how well distributed (thus usable) the light will be--then again I doubt I'll be doing much actual work in there anyway so perhaps I should forget it all together.

dr sportster · Jan 7, 2019

I found some on line for 5.99 each with bad reviews .I ended up with 6.95 lamps with good reviews -- no ballast in circuit.

tim s · Jan 7, 2019

I just put 10 6 bulb units in my shop,,Wow am I impressed with them..I got them at a local electric shop,$130 each with bulbs

KLPinNC · Jan 7, 2019

Tried screw in led bulb, not enough light. Bought 4 foot led lights from Walmart. 17 to 20 dollars, really like them. Power bill went down plus more light.

RusselAZ · Jan 7, 2019

I just bought my first one of these. I have a 6000 square foot shop with lots of T-5 4 tubes in it. Got it put up Sunday in a spot I needed more light. It is wonderful and uses little electricity.
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