Another Shop Lighting Thread

[strum456]

I've seen a number of shop lighting threads on here, but I have yet to see anyone recommend good old fashion light sockets with LED bulbs.





Some quick math:

One 60 watt equivalent LED bulb draws 8 watts and produces 800 Lumens.

The cost for a 60 watt bulb, a box, and a light socket will run around $5

All of this comes out to 160 Lumens per dollar


Comparison:

Commercial Electric 4 ft. Bright/Cool White Integrated LED Linkable Shop Light Fixture-5413161 - The Home Depot


3200 Lumens
Draws 36 watts
Costs $40
Produces 80 Lumens per dollar


Can some one show me any lighting solution that is more cost effective than sockets and LED bulbs? Also take note that the LED bulbs use less power!

 

[elbowroom]

Agreed.

We did the same calculations on a pole shed with 16' ceiling. Wired in standard light sockets and installed 4000 lumen, 38W corn cob LED lights (~$35/ea). At that price, you can install more of them for bright, even shop light.

Something else...as technology improves, there will undoubtedly be better LED lamps and/or adapters in the future and it will be as simple as screwing in a new bulb rather than replacing an entire fixture.

There are some real nice LED lighting solutions out there, but not convinced it is worth it for the price.

 

[frugalangler]

I've seen a number of shop lighting threads on here, but I have yet to see anyone recommend good old fashion light sockets with LED bulbs.

View attachment 541647

View attachment 541650

Some quick math:

One 60 watt equivalent LED bulb draws 8 watts and produces 800 Lumens.

The cost for a 60 watt bulb, a box, and a light socket will run around $5

All of this comes out to 160 Lumens per dollar


Comparison:

Commercial Electric 4 ft. Bright/Cool White Integrated LED Linkable Shop Light Fixture-5413161 - The Home Depot


3200 Lumens
Draws 36 watts
Costs $40
Produces 80 Lumens per dollar


Can some one show me any lighting solution that is more cost effective than sockets and LED bulbs? Also take note that the LED bulbs use less power!

I recently bought 4800 Lumen fixtures at Menards on sale w/ rebate for about $24, don't remember wattage.
So:
4800 Lumens
Draws ?? watts
Costs $24
Produces 200 Lumens per dollar

Granted, they weren't labeled 'Commercial' but for my purpose and I'd suspect most here, just fine. Given a 5' plug cord, a 2Xduplex central to 4 fixtures would give a LOT of light density w/ much less electrical rough wiring involved.

Food for thought, ymmv

 

[strum456]

That sounds like a great deal!

 

[bcp]

The benefit of a hanging fixture with a cord is placing them where needed, and moving them if needed.

Bruce

 

[RNeumann]

I've seen a number of shop lighting threads on here, but I have yet to see anyone recommend good old fashion light sockets with LED bulbs.

View attachment 541647

View attachment 541650

Some quick math:

One 60 watt equivalent LED bulb draws 8 watts and produces 800 Lumens.

The cost for a 60 watt bulb, a box, and a light socket will run around $5

All of this comes out to 160 Lumens per dollar


Comparison:

Commercial Electric 4 ft. Bright/Cool White Integrated LED Linkable Shop Light Fixture-5413161 - The Home Depot


3200 Lumens
Draws 36 watts
Costs $40
Produces 80 Lumens per dollar


Can some one show me any lighting solution that is more cost effective than sockets and LED bulbs? Also take note that the LED bulbs use less power!

These are less than $0.01 per lumen (if my math is right)-
https://www.greenledzone.com/17-663...0v-dimming-ip65-dlc-and-ul-listed-400w-equal/

My shop has 6 of them and my office has 4. If I was to do the keyless route in the shop it would take about 125 fixtures- that’s 125 boxes and 125 splices....ouch!

Yes the little LED fluorescent fixture types are a rip off. But when dealing with high bay/shop lighting it becomes worth it.

 

[bunyip]

I posted this somewhere else on here but beware of LED from China, we had two or three with exploding electrolytic caps (underrated voltage) and one caught fire, we bought locally and had no problems since, still made in China but better specs.
These were an Ebay purchase that caused the problems.
Having said that we have our house done out with LED and they are really good but be sure to get the right colour temperature for your needs, most come in daylight or cool, daylight is typically about 5500°K, cool would be up to 1000° lower.

 

[Stimw]

I bought 5000 lumen/42 watt 4' fixtures from Rural King for $24.99. (they ship also)
They come with 5' cord, pull chain and female socket so you can daisy chain them!
I have 6 0f them in my 40' X 60' building and have plenty of light!
I should get out there at night and organize! When I moved a year and a half ago I just kept moving and unloading.

 

[bunyip]

Looks like my shed and SWMBO is always telling me to tidy it up (although I know where everything is, the male filing system).

 

[newbury]

I like to take a "5 way splitter: and put in 4 or 5 LED bulbs.

I've got a lot of single socket porcelain ceiling fixtures scattered throughout my buildings. All installed before my time. In most of these areas I would like a LOT more light.

Looking on the web it seems all of them are probably rated "660W" but probably came with a sticker or annotation to put no more than 100W (or less) in them. But they are located so I can't see the base easily. They are ceiling fixtures.

I've bought a couple of "splitters" on Amazon, single male socket bases with multiple female sockets (3 and 5), both had 1 sticker on them advising using 60 Watts Max. Further perusal on Amazon indicates that is a per female socket thing. Thus on the 5 female socket fixture it seems rated for 300 Watts (5x60) of bulb.

So I put 4 "100 Watt LED Equivalent" bulbs (actual consumption 13.5 watts @) in the 5-way fixture and screwed it in. As I figured, it looked like the sun compared to the old single 60 watt incandescent I had there previously. Rated at 5,200 lumen for the 4 LED total compared to 800 lumens. But wattage consumption is less.

Which got me to wondering how many watts (using LEDs) is it safe to pump through one of the porcelain fixtures? I've also seen 1 male/7 female fixtures which would let me throw almost 10,000 lumen from one socket.

But I get complaints "its TOO bright". So then I back off a bulb or two.

A few years ago I had a major addition put on one of my houses. The Architect recommended Led lights, and I needed 30 or 40, going for over $100 EACH. I insisted on standard medium bases being installed, originally w/ A19 incandescent bulbs. I was almost shouted down because of the "environmental waste". The bases now have inexpensive LED bulbs installed. I saved a thousand or two on fixtures, threw out maybe $50 of bulbs.

I tried a Corn Light Bulb 35W (300W Equivalent), 3500Lm, but it was $25. And if it goes I have to replace the whole thing. So right now for my "screw ins" I favor a $10 splitter and 60 or 100 Watt LED's.

 

[plowhog]

I have another garage lighting thread right now in the Projects section. I'm leaning toward 270,000 total lumens in 3,600 sq ft. 8 fixtures at 30,000 lumens per fixture. Several posters say I don't have enough light.

The socket and bulb method, at 800 lumens each, would require 337 fixtures.

 

[Wakey]

That looks really good and bright. I'm leaning towards these RK lights for my 23x30 barn. The ceiling is only 9 feet so I wonder if I could get by with 4? Perhaps a row of 3 along the rear wall with the workbenches and 2 for the front with a switch for both banks.

I gotta ask about the light blue trash can. I had one just like it and the only reason I think they have the locking lid is because that thing would tip over if a bird flew by LOL

I bought 5000 lumen/42 watt 4' fixtures from Rural King for $24.99. (they ship also)
They come with 5' cord, pull chain and female socket so you can daisy chain them!
I have 6 0f them in my 40' X 60' building and have plenty of light!
I should get out there at night and organize! When I moved a year and a half ago I just kept moving and unloading.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I like this bulb/fixture:
Amazon.com: StonePoint LED Lighting Utility Light GGL-5 Energy Efficient Bright Daylight Bulb with Shroud Fits Standard Edison Base 4K and 44 Lumens - for Shop Light, Garage Light, Workshop: Home & Kitchen

55 Watts, 4400 lumens, goes in a standard socket.

I've also been happy just using BR40 LED bulbs in regular sockets.

If the fixtures aren't already installed it's worth going with dedicated fixtures so you can get more light with fewer of them. The wiring and fittings ends up costing as much as the fixtures.

 

[JRobyn]

I put "regular" (A30?) LED bulbs in my garage door openers. I figured that the vibration would quickly destroy them. Still perfect after several years now!

 

[orangeandgreen]

I have 8 of the Rural King 4500 lumen fixtures in my 30 by 50 shed with a 12' ceiling.

 

[ray66v]

I built my shop pre-LED.

I have been very happy with the plain old porcelain socket, and giant CFL's. TCP CFL SpringLamp 3W Equivalent, Soft White (27K) Spiral Light Bulb - Compact Fluorescent Bulbs - Amazon.com

I hate CFL's. But, these are hard to beat for the cost. At $30 a light, you get 300 watts of light, while only using 68 watts.

Eventually, when the right LED light comes along, I will consider switching. But, the corn cob style bulbs which would naturally replace these, have too much glare for me.

 

[lostcreekranch]

I like this bulb/fixture:
Amazon.com: StonePoint LED Lighting Utility Light GGL-5 Energy Efficient Bright Daylight Bulb with Shroud Fits Standard Edison Base 4K and 44 Lumens - for Shop Light, Garage Light, Workshop: Home & Kitchen

55 Watts, 4400 lumens, goes in a standard socket.

I've also been happy just using BR40 LED bulbs in regular sockets.

If the fixtures aren't already installed it's worth going with dedicated fixtures so you can get more light with fewer of them. The wiring and fittings ends up costing as much as the fixtures.

Here’s similar, from Northern Tool, for less $$.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200679033_200679033

 

[strum456]

Here痴 similar, from Northern Tool, for less $$.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200679033_200679033

Thanks for sharing. Those look pretty nice. Products like this will always be available to screw into a standard light socket. These would be easy to move from one socket to another if lighting demands change due.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Thanks for sharing. Those look pretty nice. Products like this will always be available to screw into a standard light socket. These would be easy to move from one socket to another if lighting demands change due.

I think I recall NT putting them on sale for $24.99 occasionally.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I think I recall NT putting them on sale for $24.99 occasionally.

LED lights still seem to be at the point in their development where every time you look they've gotten cheaper.