LED garage lights

[IMBVSUR?]

Not to put you on the spot Grub, however I am going to do it anyway, please make a recommendation for a complete fixture replacement for my dual 48" T12s. What brands are good? Of the good ones, which are better. I am not interested in retro tubes etc. I would just change the whole thing out. As a side note, I have had nothing but problems with the LED's they sell for my ceiling fans, porch light, bathroom lights etc. I did check for loose electrical connections etc. Doesn't seem to matter. The bulbs don't last any longer than the old stuff. I went back to good old 60 watt incandescent bulbs for as long as I can get them. I know LED's are suppose to use less and save money, however not if I am paying more for the bulbs and have to change them out just as often.

 

[Phil Reed]

I've had the same experience with LED's here in the house. Some lasted only a couple of months. I like the brilliance but at $15 something a bulb...not good!!
I'm watching too for my shop.

 

[jdk971]

i switch the bulbs in my house with fluorescent bulbs that are brighter and whiter. i got the bulbs from topbulb.com. they are not cheap.
call them and they will give you information. believe it or not, but the rooms are cooler in the summer time from less heat. jim

 

[rstreet]

This is gonna be a lot tougher than I thought!

yep agreement here
Robert

 

[61BUBBLE348]

Hi Jeff,

No issues, except where I am located, but irrespective the principles are the same. you will want a more Commercial product as provided by specialist Electrical Wholesalers and Lighting Companies such as Lithonia, I am sure there are many many others, but this type of company cannot afford to sell sub standard product, we make similar stuff but are to far away.

This is just an example, not sure on cost etc, but at least you have an idea of what specifications you should be looking for.

http://www.acuitybrandslighting.com/library/ll/documents/specsheets/stl4.pdf

I trust this helps

 

[IMBVSUR?]

Thanks Grub. The Lithonia STL4's are about $300 each with free shipping. That is without really shopping around. If they will last the 50 - 60K hours, use less electricity, and light really well, I would go for it even though they are a little pricey. I do think I might buy one to try out first, then if they work, I would do it.

 

[skipxt4]

I can't really, talk about LED shop lights, but I have replaced a few of my Crappy Lights of Americhina fixtures with Lithonia fixtures. They have lasted twice as long. Every L of A I have ever owned, gave up it's Ballast, in two-three years.

 

[yellow wagon]

I have Lithonia T8 fixtures in my garage/shop. 6 4-bulb, 4ft fixtures. Lights up the garage really well. Want to add a few more over my work bench area but still great

 

[Mark Steele]

One year ago I bought 4 ft. long LED light strips from Sam's club. They are very nice extruded aluminum housing. Very nice and bright. Plug into 110.
Went to buy a couple more but they were out of stock. I bet they are on their web site. Really cheap. They look really great in my car barn.

 

[bobs409]

WOW! I think I found some good ones. The UPS guy just dropped off these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012ENR1IE/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They are super bright! I'll install them tomorrow but I can already tell that just one will easily replace a 4' shop light I have with (2) 40 watt bulbs. A couple of these will replace one of my 8' juice suckers too! Each one comes with a plug w/switch, a jumper wire to put 2 or more together or a third wire so you can hard wire it. You can use them as singles or you can connect as many as you like together. (as many as your breaker will handle)

They are 22 watts for each and have a 5 year warranty. At $12.24 per light, I can't see how you could go wrong. I will be getting many more of these!

I'll see if I can get some comparison photo's tomorrow.

 

[Mearl]

I've been replacing florescents in my garage with LED's from Menards, they're 4800 lumens and use something like -2ma. They also have a cord and plug in, so I just took where the hard wires were and installed outlets. They are instant on, brighter than the old 4 bulb T8's and make electricity instead of using it! I now have 6 of them and plan to keep on buying them once in a while. When I get enough of them, I'll let you guys know and you can look this way when I turn them on, I'm thinking I'll be satisfied when all of you can see them light up, especially Steve and Gav.

 

[Phil Reed]

Hey Mearl.......get them installed and be ready on the 21st and when we have the BIG eclipse ......we can see where you are!!!!!!!

 

[scott hall]

Mearl how tall are your ceilings. Mine are 15'. Have looked at those lights but was afraid they wouldn't light that far down with any brightness.

 

[bobs409]

I'm impressed! I did some comparison today and took photo's. Iwill be placing another order!

Picture #1 shows my 4' shop light that has (2) 40 watt bulbs.

Picture #2 shows (1) 4' LED light in place of the above. Looks very similar and you drop from 80 watts to 22 watts!

Picture #3 is how the LED looks, looking up at it. It's very bright and hurts your eyes similar to looking at the regular shop light.

Picture #4, 5 & 6 show (1) of my 8' 220 watt power suckers lit up. Now compare to these:

Picture #7, 8 & 9 are (2) LED lights in place of the above. The LED's are 5K in the light range so they have a cool bluish look where the others are more yellowy? I would get used to this in no time. So to compare wattages, pictures 4, 5 & 6 are using 220 watts and pictures 7, 8 & 9 are using 44 watts!

My power company isn't gonna like this!

A few more comparisons to think about:

I could light up (10) LED fixtures for the same wattage that (1) of my 8' lights use! If I lit up all (7) of the 8' shop lights I have, it would be sucking 1,540 watts! Now if I swapped (2) LED lights in place of each of the 8' lights, I could fire up all (14) LED lights and only using 308 watts. That's less than running just (2) of my 8' lights! (that would be 440 watts)

 

[bobs409]

Just ordered 16 more lights! If I end up with too many, I have another garage and the enclosed carport where they can be used as well as a workshop upstairs.

So who wants to buy 7 or 8 Lithonia T12 8' H.O. power moochers? Bulbs included. Will help load them.

 

[Iowa 409 Guy]

Better stock up on sunglasses Bob.

 

[bobs409]

Better stock up on sunglasses Bob.

Funny you should say that, I was thinking that too. I finished putting all 4 up and WOW! It's seriously bright! Looked at the power meter with those 4 on, stereo, under cabinet leds and a floor fan running and it was only turning very slow. (that's my favorite part!) Saving on the electric bill was only part of what I was after. I found that with the big shop lights, I would only ever light 1 or 2 as needed so 1/2 to 3/4 of the garage was always dark. With these, I think I'll have a light party!

 

[Phil Reed]

You are just putting in one bulb in each fixture???
Steve, Gav and Robert.....this looks awesome!!!! What say you???

 

[bobs409]

You are just putting in one bulb in each fixture???
Steve, Gav and Robert.....this looks awesome!!!! What say you???

That's all they are, one bulb. They are 46.5 inches long and very thin, maybe 1 inch wide. Hardly take up any room and light weight.

 

[bobs409]

BTW, these are a complete fixture, not just a bulb. They do have replacement bulbs you can put into your old shop lights but this is cheaper and easier.