Shop Lighting

[sphurley]

My plasma table is at home in my workshop. When I built the shop ten years ago, lighting was one place I wanted to do right.
I installed 15 double tube eight foot fluorescent fixtures. This has worked well but not great. They hum, they don't like cold/flicker.
So with the new LED replacements hitting the market I made the move to test some. I bought a four pack of Hyperikon 5000k frosted LED lights.
They claim 52% energy savings and better light output. Being an engineer my whole life, I questioned their numbers.
I did a before and after test with a photography light meter and a Amprobe clamp-on meter.
They beat their own numbers with a 56% energy savings and 10+% more light output, no noise and no flickering.
So now I have replaced all 30 lamps and I'm a much happier camper.
You will need to remove the ballast and rewire the fixture but it's no big deal.

Thought I would share this with anyone.
Steve

[abmetal]

The guy that does my powdercoating did the same thing and when I walked in his shop one day I was amazed at how bright it was. It seemed as bright as being outside on a sunny day.

Allen

[lockeyone]

I did the same to my shop couple of years ago and couldn't be more pleased. I first purchased some test bulbs, a pair of clear, pair of ribbed first. Too distracting as the LEDs were too noticeable in my peripheral vision, also too white (6000). I went with the 5000 frosted and still brighter than the florescent. I went from 8ft to all 4ft. I only did this as the ballasts were starting to fail and the cost of replacing them was too high and just made the leap to LED. No regrets. Worked so well I converted my office. I do notice my electric bill is down quite a bit but then I have been upgrading furnace, lights, water heater too.

[WyoGreen]

I updated my shop to LED tubes last year when the ballasts started failing. The fixtures were not that old, but were equipped with made in China electronic ballasts. There are 2 types of replacement tubes. One type you remove the ballasts, which is what I did, and one type you just change out the tubes. The latter type are more expensive, but less labor intensive.

The lighting is much improved so I am happy I did it. Replacing all 24 tubes was not cheap, but comparable in cost to replacing the ballasts.

Steve

[mdwalker]

I have been considering doing this. If you go the route with the lights where you remove the ballast do you just splice the input wire and the output wires from the ballast together or do you have to install something else in place of ballast?

[sphurley]

With my single pin lamps, you run the Hot to one end for both lamps and the neutral to the other end for both lamps.
For the four foot lamps in our garage with dual pins on each end, you run hot to one pin and neutral to the other pin on the SAME end and nothing to the other end.

[mdwalker]

OK, Thank you

[Stout]

When I built my shop I installed six metal halide lowbay lights. What a pain. They have to warm up to operating temp before they really work. They shut off at randon. Don't know why. One of them turns pink every now and then. And mud dobbers are constantly building nests in them.

My buddy put in these kick ass LED lights in his shop. I'll probably change to that style.

[sphurley]

I changed out the metal halides at work three years ago for much the same reasons. Here is where we got them: http://www.e-conolight.com/

[WyoGreen]

On the wiring the 2 pin fluorescent tube replacements. The instructions I received with my tubes showed two different ways to wire them, depending on the tubes. One way was the hot at one end and neutral on the other, and the other way was the hot and neutral at one end. My tubes ended up being the former. So the wiring depends on the tubes, and if you wire them wrong, then the breaker trips when you throw the switch.

Steve