LED shop lights

[ultrarunner]

At work I have resisted switching and have an entire Hospital T-8...

No complaints... maybe 2 or 3 ballasts per month and all installed in December of 1995.

When they did the imaging center all the T-8 fixtures in that area were scrapped... brought home a dozen for the under garage work space...

PS... some Sylvania T-8 original to 1995 are still working... they are locked on in stairwells... so 25 years which is an anomaly but true.

 

[grsthegreat]

Florescent fixtures last longer if left on. The ballast start and stop wear on life. My t12 8foot ho fixtures in barn are 25 years old. Same lamps. Same ballast. I only changed out my shop because led lamps were free. I would not hove done it if i had to purchase lamps.

 

[ultrarunner]

The utility offered incentives to go LED in commercial buildings... I declined.

The 4% that are not T-8 are compact flourescent... so far not a bad ballast and also no complaints.

All replacement T-8 bulbs are GE... At one time it almost cost more to dispose than buy...

Cost in quantity was down to 1.44 for each 3500k T-8

 

[grsthegreat]

The utility offered incentives to go LED in commercial buildings... I declined.

The 4% that are not T-8 are compact flourescent... so far not a bad ballast and also no complaints.

All replacement T-8 bulbs are GE... At one time it almost cost more to dispose than buy...

Cost in quantity was down to 1.44 for each 3500k T-8

the commercial buildings i retrofitted were given full reimbursement for cost of lamp if owner paid labor. I switched out a heck of a lit of lamps.

 

[5030]

Bottom line (with me at least) is LED's blow for service life. Lumen output per watt is better but not a game changer for me. I use the 5K Kelvin T8's btw.

I tried the LED's and was initially impressed until they started pooping out.

 

[dragoneggs]

Bottom line (with me at least) is LED's blow for service life. Lumen output per watt is better but not a game changer for me. I use the 5K Kelvin T8's btw.

I tried the LED's and was initially impressed until they started pooping out.

I have a total of 34 4ft LED bulbs if I'm counting right... and haven't had one failure yet.

 

[newbury]

<snip>
The very first thing I think about when I see an LED light is how much RF energy does it radiate? The second thing is how much light does it put out for how much energy consumed (efficiency) . <snip>

Efficiency can be overcome by bottom line cost. I've several double tube T12 fixtures the ballasts still work in. While the ballasts work I replace the lights, but when they fail I'm replacing them w/ 4' LED fixtures. The last batch of fixtures were about $50 for 8.

I installed a number of LED shop lights about a year and a half ago and 2 have already expired. Not overly happy about that. The expired ones will be replaced with my old standby T8 fixtures. At least the tubes are replaceable. The LED's aren't. One thin about the LED fixtures, when the expire, they just go out. When a T8 gets some run time, they expire slowly.

I'm not impressed at all

I have a total of 34 4ft LED bulbs if I'm counting right... and haven't had one failure yet.

I've similar results, out of the many fixtures I've installed prior to 2020 there were only a few DOA and none have failed since. Out of the 32 Amazon Commercial's I got this year I had 1 DOA. And at about $7@ that's not bad in my opinion.

 

[grsthegreat]

A t12 ballast can suck up lots of energy, thats why i always go with ballast free retrofits when i swap out commercial lighting while retaining the fixture. Just price out an electronic replacement for the older style t12 fixtures. I doubt the entire fixture cost that much when new. Its insane.

Then again, im now retired from electrical contracting, so ill never have to replace another ballast anyways.....ever again.

 

[Oldpath05]

LED's dont last long....... Whats up with that I thought they was the cats meow or whatever cat you have..........

 

[k0ua]

I sure wouldn't base any installation on the old technology of Fluorescent tubes and ballasts. One of these days those things will be very difficult to find if you can find them at all. The handwriting is on the wall. Its LEDS. As far as longevity, Yes I had one fail too. Just a standard bulb became intermittent (shock sensitive) after in service about 2 years. But that was years ago, and was one of my early adoptions. I have dozens of the things in service now with no failures. Buy quality stuff and unless you are unlucky, I believe they will last for years, I already have several that have been in service for years. And the savings will more than pay for any that something inside the power supply pukes.

I am pleased with LED's overall, they have all come down in price, the cost savings are real, The reliability has been good. The ballast free retrofits on using your old fluorescent fixtures is quick and easy, and they put out a lot of light. The good ones don't seem to put out RFI, so what is not to like?

 

[k0ua]

LED's dont last long....... Whats up with that I thought they was the cats meow or whatever cat you have..........

In simple terms they are...

 

[5030]

I have a total of 34 4ft LED bulbs if I'm counting right... and haven't had one failure yet.

I have at least that many myself, well, fewer now that5some are going dead.

 

[dragoneggs]

I have at least that many myself, well, fewer now that5some are going dead.

That's discouraging. Mine are all Costco (Fein) brand I think.

 

[KennyG]

Like almost any new technology, LED lights have undergone an improvement as they became more common. I had a few early failures with cheap lights but the more recent ones have been excellent. I wouldn't consider going back to T8s. As far as the current quality, I supervised replacement of 92 4 foot fixtures in our church 3 years ago with Osram lights. They came with a 10 year warranty. One fixture failed within a month or so. The rest have been fine. these are in our day care facility. Most are on approximately 15 hours per day, 5 days a week. They are brighter than the original lights and resulted in a large reduction in electric costs. With the utility rebates, cost recovery was a little over a year.

 

[5030]

The build quality of SMD's (LED arrays) varies greatly depending on who builds them across the pond. Don't much care what the brand is because the brand don't denote who actually produced the SMD's.

I do, like to purchase CREE SMD's if possible but the LED shop lights I purchased did not specify what company built them. Obviously they are not CREE.

All my farm tractors as well as my vehicles employ SMD's wherever compatible and they are all CREE SMD's. You get (in service life and RF noise abatement) what you pay for. CREE is more expensive but the quality is also higher. I have not had one CREE SMD fail yet. No so with the shop lights.

The other issue with LED shop lights is, you cannot replace a failed strip, you replace the entire light fixture whereas with T8's, you can relamp.

 

[Oldpath05]

The build quality of SMD's (LED arrays) varies greatly depending on who builds them across the pond. Don't much care what the brand is because the brand don't denote who actually produced the SMD's.

I do, like to purchase CREE SMD's if possible but the LED shop lights I purchased did not specify what company built them. Obviously they are not CREE.

All my farm tractors as well as my vehicles employ SMD's wherever compatible and they are all CREE SMD's. You get (in service life and RF noise abatement) what you pay for. CREE is more expensive but the quality is also higher. I have not had one CREE SMD fail yet. No so with the shop lights.

The other issue with LED shop lights is, you cannot replace a failed strip, you replace the entire light fixture whereas with T8's, you can relamp.

Which T8's are you referring to florescent tubes or LED tubes?

 

[k0ua]

The build quality of SMD's (LED arrays) varies greatly depending on who builds them across the pond. Don't much care what the brand is because the brand don't denote who actually produced the SMD's.

I do, like to purchase CREE SMD's if possible but the LED shop lights I purchased did not specify what company built them. Obviously they are not CREE.

All my farm tractors as well as my vehicles employ SMD's wherever compatible and they are all CREE SMD's. You get (in service life and RF noise abatement) what you pay for. CREE is more expensive but the quality is also higher. I have not had one CREE SMD fail yet. No so with the shop lights.

The other issue with LED shop lights is, you cannot replace a failed strip, you replace the entire light fixture whereas with T8's, you can relamp.

I have been using these with great success. I have never had to replace any of course. The ones in the garage have been in about 3 years I think. They are used a lot. I used the existing t12 fixtures and just chopped out the ballast. These are direct connect to the 120 volts single ended. Of course if they do need replacement, they will only take seconds to replace into the existing fixtures

Hyperikon 4 Foot LED Tube, T8 T1 T12 4 Watt Replacement (18W), Single End Ballast Bypass, Clear Lens, UL, DLC, Crystal White, 4 Pack - - Amazon.com

 

[k0ua]

Here are some in the 4000 deg Kelvin color temp.

Hyperikon 4 Foot LED Tube, T8 T1 T12 4 Watt Replacement (18W), Single End Ballast Bypass, Clear Lens, UL, DLC, Daylight White, 4 Pack - - Amazon.com

 

[k0ua]

here is another little part to the puzzle.. The ballasts themselves consume power as well as the bulbs. The magnetic ballast will consume from 8 to 10 watts in a 2 lamp fixture itself. The electronic ones somewhat less, but these operate at 40 khz, and can produce a lot of RFI. If re-lamping with LED tubes, you should buy the kind that requires you to disconnect the ballast otherwise your savings will not be as great. Chop out that nasty ballast to save energy, save having to replace it every few years and to save RFI.

 

[5030]

I have been using these with great success. I have never had to replace any of course. The ones in the garage have been in about 3 years I think. They are used a lot. I used the existing t12 fixtures and just chopped out the ballast. These are direct connect to the 120 volts single ended. Of course if they do need replacement, they will only take seconds to replace into the existing fixtures

Hyperikon 4 Foot LED Tube, T8 T1 T12 4 Watt Replacement (18W), Single End Ballast Bypass, Clear Lens, UL, DLC, Crystal White, 4 Pack - - Amazon.com

As a rule, I prefer not to patronize Amazon for anything because of who owns it and... If the seller don't say what SMD's are used, you can bet they aren't CREE. Interestingly, even Harbor Freight's 'Roadshock' series of lights and bar lights are all CREE SMD's and HF states that in their ad blurbs. I think the trade name 'Roadshock' sounds kind of stupid but I didn't dream it up.

Electricity use, LED versus fluorescent in my shop is inconsequential. My machine tools and welders pull a heck of a lot more power and are usually running every day.