LED Shop Lights That Last??

[Blue Ox]

I rewired all our 8ft fixtures in the shop and office for ballast-less LED tubes from Home Depot about three years ago. When we were still operating full-time they were on 40+ hrs a week and they're still working great. Not the cheapest, but at the time I wasn't seeing any decent 8 ft replacements that I was confident of. Plus HD stuff was readily available and offered the color temperatures I wanted. 6000 K is great in the shop, but it's horrible in the office. Plus it was nice to retrofit my fixtures and not have to re-do everything. Very pleased with both color temps, and my electric bill.

The 4ft fixtures I also did ballast bypass, but sourced them from SuperbrightLED. We did a couple of test fixtures at least five years ago and they've been bulletproof as well. Much cheaper than HD and very good lighting as well.

 

[Toad455]

ive had 4ft t8 one sided power tubes (about 50-60 in total numerically) in use for years now, none have failed. Id rather have cool lighting thats lower in CRI than warm icandescent lighting.

Do you know what brand they are?

 

[ChuckN]

Years ago, I changed the two fixtures I had in the garage over to LED. It was seemingly in its infancy and I had to remove the ballast, etc. They’ve held up for about a decade without a blink.

Not wanting to add a whole bunch of low hanging fixtures to improve my lighting, I picked up some cheap two-packs of ceiling mount LED strips and added them where I want them. They had to be mounted as flat against the drywall as possible since the garage door rolls up and clearance was an issue. This isn’t likely what would work for a larger more professional shop, but for us guys that make do with our small residential two-car garages, it’s a pretty efficient way of improving lighting. One more light bar will go on the ceiling right before the garage door in front of my truck.

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[Toad455]

My favorite cartels are the ones who deal us everyday products
The mexican ones get way too much credit
Also the cartels goals being maintained implicitly means the cartel is still functioning.

Lol.

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so I just realized that I actually got 2 different daylights lol, 5k and 6k. but i didnt notice much since i just realized. I got them in 2019. they did go up in price, very reasonably so. I have them outside in my shed, so ungodly hot in summer and cold in winter.
The ones downstairs in house, some have been running 24/7 since i put them in 2019 heres evidence of how they light in my shed

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be careful with single ended power, if i put a glass tube in my fixtures while powered it will explode in my face

So little caution, notice, or just NEVER reverting is necessary

That's a good point. I need to make some caution stickers to make sure nobody ever puts a glass tube back in since the ballast are removed, thanks.

 

[Toad455]

I’ve bought four sets of 8 4’ fixtures from the Barrina brand, T5 equivalent. First set I ordered in Feb 2019. Have them in the basement Woodshop at home, in the garage at home, at the shop. Have not had any issues with any of them yet. Home garage sees the highest temperature/humidity swings and no problems.

Also have a variety of ones from farm stores and Costco, and Menards. Whatever the cheapest I can find generally. They have also been fine thus far.

Barrina is what my 8 ft's are, which are failing at two years. I'm starting to think the heat is a big factor since in my shop in the summer it gets real hot and 10 ft up it the hottest where they are mounted.

 

[87scotty]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DX11FFS/

Put these in my 8ftx4 bulb fixtures that came out of Mitsubishi in he transition to rivian pulled the ballasts and good to go I'm running 6 total fixtures so 24 bulbs. Great company when I first got them one bulb was half out, messaged the company they sent me a free 12pack. (Bulbs) for a good review. Haven't had one burn out in 6+ years theyve been in, mostly always warm hot in shop as it's heated by wood boiler but not cooled.

 

[87scotty]

Dec 19

 

[87scotty]

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[Toad455]

That looks great! Thanks for the info.

 

[Blue Ox]

That's a good point. I need to make some caution stickers to make sure nobody ever puts a glass tube back in since the ballast are removed, thanks.

That's a good point. I marked my fixtures at the socket as 120VAC. Hopefully the next unfortunate will understand that.

BTW, when I did my retrofits we compared ballast bypass with ballast compatible and florescent and the difference was significant. The lamps are a relatively minor cost compared to the inductive load from the ballasts. My recollection was the straight LEDs used about 1/4 the power of florescents and the compatibles were near 75% usage.

Definitely ditch the ballasts.

 

[AuroraGirl]

That's a good point. I need to make some caution stickers to make sure nobody ever puts a glass tube back in since the ballast are removed, thanks.

if you go to double ended power, which requires more wiring, you can safely put a glass tube in (nothing will happen)

 

[AuroraGirl]

That's a good point. I marked my fixtures at the socket as 120VAC. Hopefully the next unfortunate will understand that.

BTW, when I did my retrofits we compared ballast bypass with ballast compatible and florescent and the difference was significant. The lamps are a relatively minor cost compared to the inductive load from the ballasts. My recollection was the straight LEDs used about 1/4 the power of florescents and the compatibles were near 75% usage.

Definitely ditch the ballasts.

In my case, almost every ballast was straight up bad or was so poorly running they didnt make much light. all were the old magnetic ballasts, older than me probably by twice my age lol. I didnt take any of them down out of the fixtures , didnt bother. I just snipped the wires and Wago'ed to the tombstones on the one end
Some fixtures, mostly modern ones with electronic ballasts, might need to be wired differently, they seem to do it slightly different

 

[AuroraGirl]

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this whole video isnt about lighting, but some of you watch taryl, he goes over good reasons to convert to straight power if you can. retrofit or compatible with ballast tubes are good if you have a lot of good ballasts, then over time as they fail or the ballast fail, convert. My old workplace was full of fluorescent and thehy stupidly did the compatibles first... and i was like.... you just plan to replace ballasts for the rest of your career? they said yes..
Dumb. lol.

keep an eye out for old 4 and 8ft fixtures, they go at auction for dollars all the time. i have some extra ones in the back of my shed i need to get put up some place, im thinking garage or creating horixontal runs on my shed ceiling so i have more coverage when wokring on things where a vehicle may sit.

dont get 3ft fixtures, common in household and office situations. bulbs are harder to find