What Lighting Do You Use?

[SeventyFix]

What kind of lighting do you use in your shop?

I have 2 4-tube fluorescent fixtures in a 3-car garage.

I'm thinking of replacing those 2 fixtures with 6 LED fixtures for better light.

Advice is appreciated from anyone who has already researched and tackled this issue.

The shop improvement project marches on.

[woodbutcher]

I have a smaller shop, 12'x20' give or take, and 8' ceilings, so I dont need a heck of a lot of lighting. I use four 2' long LED bars from HD. 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-2-8-ft-34-Watt-White-Integrated-LED-Shop-Light-SHLP-36IN-40K-80CRI-DNA-M12/301158095

Price on the website is more than Ive seem them priced at, they were on clearance a month or so ago, $12 each or so. They put off a ton of light and dont seem to use any power at all. Im sold on LED lights.

 

[treeslayer]

I had 2 8’ flouresent 2 bulbs each, switched to 4 4’ LED, 5000 lumen each, my futures so bright I gotta wear shades

[treeslayer]

Forgot to mention, single car garage

[drzaius]

I just changed out all the fluorescents in my house (not the shop) with 14W LED tubes & my subjective impression is that there is substantially more light. I wish I'd thought to take some readings before the changeover. But I think that even with 6 LED fixtures may not really be sufficient. I have a 2 car garage with 32 fluorescent tubes & it is not too bright by any stretch. I've also got a couple of 4400LM LED strips above the workbench & sharpening station. That's roughly equivalent to 72,000LM of LED lighting.

Another thing to consider is the color rendering index (CRI). The sun and incandescent is 100, so the closer to that, the better. Where that makes a difference is in comparing & matching the color of wood & paint. Most inexpensive LED lighting (anything you get in retail stores) is around a claimed 80, but that's wildly optimistic in many cases. High CRI lighting is expensive. I can get a quality brand name 4' LED strip from the electrical distributor for around $50 (this is Canada). The same fixture with a CRI of 90+ will be double that. My fluorescents are 96 CRI, but most people are happy with 80 for shop work. Don't go below 80 though or you get some pretty weird looking light.

Color temperature is another issue. I like 3500K in my house. It's warm, but still quite a bit 'whiter' than halogens. But in the shop I prefer 5000K, which is white without looking blueish. When I open the garage door on a nice day, the color of light coming in is just about he same as the light from the fluorescents.

Sorry for the loooooong post, but that gives you something to think about.

[JohnG]

I have a  2-car garage (20x20) shop with (5) 4' 2 tube fluorescent fixtures. All run ~5000k "daylight" tubes. I also have a couple clamp lights for task lighting- One stays over the lathe and another moves around as needed.

I'd like to have more light. The garage is unfinished so it always seems darker.

[Chip Sawdust]

Drzaius has a good post, and I did a little similar research for lighting my shop. I had very little light in my shop, which is basically one end of a two car garage. I have four 40W LED fixtures, four feet long, and a bulb on one end where much of my work isn't done. My router table is on that end, and when I use it I have a swing lamp, LED, with a magnifier glass that I positon over whatever work I'm doing. I also use that on my bandsaw when needed. 

[curlyoak]

my shop is 24 x 24. I had 4- 2bulb 4' fixtures. Changed them all to 4 bulb fixtures. Much better. I intend to  build a collapsable  light stand for clamp on LED's to use when finishing. what specs on the LED's? Thanks.

[Coop]

I have a 75 w. light bulb in my shop. It helps make my joints look tighter and my finishes look better. 

[Chestnut]

I have some cheap LED things. I have 8 4500 lumen fixtures in my shop.

After using the American Greenlight High CRI lights for the herb garden I'm going to switch over to those. I like them because they are thin. I can screw them to the exposed joists and I'll only loose an inch of height to the ceiling.

[Mark J]

@drzaius can you give me a little enlightenment on how/if CRI and color temp are related? 

It seems to me that color rendering would be entirely a function of the "color" of the white light. 

I am guessing that that the difference in CRI between two sources of the same color temp comes down to whether the source has a broader spectrum or is more monochromatic.  But I just made that up.  Is there a real answer?

[Chestnut]

52 minutes ago, Mark J said:

@drzaius can you give me a little enlightenment on how/if CRI and color temp are related? 

It seems to me that color rendering would be entirely a function of the "color" of the white light. 

I am guessing that that the difference in CRI between two sources of the same color temp comes down to whether the source has a broader spectrum or is more monochromatic.  But I just made that up.  Is there a real answer?

CRI is the measure of how evenly all colors from Infra red to Ultraviolet are represented A high CRI indicates that there aren't any large gaps.

Color temperature is the peak color that is emitted or the end result when all the different colors are mixed together. It's measured in Kelvin because the color is the temperature a black body radiation source would have to be at to emit that color of light.

http://www.americangreenlights.com/color-temperature--color-accuracy-and-color-rendering-index.html

Here is an image that shows the spectrum for lights of different temperatures.

[Coyote Jim]

Thanks for the info and the recommendation on American Green Light.

Looks like they are having a pretty decent sale right now so I picked up a couple. Have a look:

https://shop.americangreenlights.com/store-home

[drzaius]

1 hour ago, Mark J said:

@drzaius can you give me a little enlightenment on how/if CRI and color temp are related? 

It seems to me that color rendering would be entirely a function of the "color" of the white light. 

I am guessing that that the difference in CRI between two sources of the same color temp comes down to whether the source has a broader spectrum or is more monochromatic.  But I just made that up.  Is there a real answer?

What @Chestnut said. I will add a more basic (but long winded) explanation.

Color temperature is just what color the light looks like. For interior illumination that ranges from about 2700K (old school incandescent) to 5000K, which is a very pure looking white. There is some 6500K sold, but is is very stark & somewhat blue looking. I really think the only time anyone would choose that is because they just don't know any better. The old vintage look bare filament decorative lamps may be down around 2000K, which looks quite yellow. They are more of a niche thing & the light is of very poor quality. Manufacturers are starting to offer those in 2700K - 3000K which makes them much more usefull.

You can have high CRI with sources of different temperatures. What happens with a low CRI source is that there will be some wavelengths that will be lacking (dips) or others that are too high (spikes), but the overall visual impression is that of white light. The problem is that when you are looking to objects of slightly different color under a low CRI source, they may look the same. Or you may look at a sample & think it's an ugly color, but it's just that the source is not giving you all the color information that is there.

I remember getting a batch of compact fluorescent lamps & putting them in my kitchen. They were 3500K, which is what I like, but they gave things a very slight, weird greenish cast, even though the light did not look at all green. It was a subtle effect, but one that bugged me so much that I had to get rid of them.

The time I am really concerned with high CRI is when I'm choosing finish or paint samples, and especially if I'm trying to match an existing piece. It makes a real difference there.

If you're looking for seriously good LEDs, some of the gold standard brands are Cree, Philips & Lumiled. There may be others, but these guys have been putting out top quality stuff since the dawn of LED lighting. Of course they also put out budget stuff, but their top stuff is top stuff.

[JohnG]

3 hours ago, Chestnut said:

I have some cheap LED things. I have 8 4500 lumen fixtures in my shop.

After using the American Greenlight High CRI lights for the herb garden I'm going to switch over to those. I like them because they are thin. I can screw them to the exposed joists and I'll only loose an inch of height to the ceiling.

You think the SL-4L are worth the cost over the Economy Shop lights (92-95cri vs 80cri)?

[Chestnut]

3 minutes ago, JohnG said:

You think the SL-4L are worth the cost over the Economy Shop lights (92-95cri vs 80cri)?

Cliffs notes version, Find some cheap High CRI LEDs and give them a shot in a small area that you can light with 1 bulb. I can't tell you if they are worth it for an entire shop.

They make high CRI bulbs that screw in to regular sockets but you have to search specifically for them and they are more expensive. This may be towards the top of the more cruel thing to teach a person to notice. After you experience good light bad light starts to bother you. Some times ignorance is bliss.

These are the lights i use and they are awful. I think an 80 CRI might be generous.

When i had the high CRI lights set up it was bright but i noticed that the bright light wasn't harsh on my eyes. That's point 1. Point 2 is if you try and take a picture or compare color the light color is so awful that you just can't do it. Despite having more than enough light to take quality pictures in my shop i use the flash to take project pictures because the light quality is that awful.

These pictures compare strait off the camera sensor with the same changes to each how much 80 CRI vs well shoot i don't know what a flash bulb is in CRI probably 100.....

Ignore the slightly blurry aspect that's just due to slower shutter speed. Pay closer attention to the green cast and the muted walnut color.

 

[drzaius]

8 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

Cliffs notes version, Find some cheap High CRI LEDs and give them a shot in a small area that you can light with 1 bulb. I can't tell you if they are worth it for an entire shop.

They make high CRI bulbs that screw in to regular sockets but you have to search specifically for them and they are more expensive. This may be towards the top of the more cruel thing to teach a person to notice. After you experience good light bad light starts to bother you. Some times ignorance is bliss.

These are the lights i use and they are awful. I think an 80 CRI might be generous.

When i had the high CRI lights set up it was bright but i noticed that the bright light wasn't harsh on my eyes. That's point 1. Point 2 is if you try and take a picture or compare color the light color is so awful that you just can't do it. Despite having more than enough light to take quality pictures in my shop i use the flash to take project pictures because the light quality is that awful.

These pictures compare strait off the camera sensor with the same changes to each how much 80 CRI vs well shoot i don't know what a flash bulb is in CRI probably 100.....

Ignore the slightly blurry aspect that's just due to slower shutter speed. Pay closer attention to the green cast and the muted walnut color.

 

Hey nut, that's a great comparison. Thanks for posting. A picture IS worth a thousand words.

[Mark J]

What an illuminating discussion!  Thank you all.

[drzaius]

As a wise woman once never said "the pun is the highest form of humor"

[Bombarde16]

On 2/14/2019 at 4:43 PM, SeventyFix said:

What kind of lighting do you use in your shop?

My basement came with a quartet of 2-tube fluorescent fixtures. The cheapest kind the previous owners could get. I kept the fixtures, tossed the ballasts and rewired them to take these LED tubes.

They're on Amazon under the name Hyperikon and go for around $10-12 a tube depending on how many you buy. A buddy and I had just installed about 150 of these at work and we were very pleased with them.

Eight of these tubes did fine for general lighting in the basement. Now I'm at the point of wanting task lights over specific tools. My table saw, for example, has an inexpensive 24" LED fixture (designed for bedroom closets, I think) directly overhead.

[Gary Beasley]

Thats what I used, changes almost all the flouros in my house out for these dumping the ballasts like you did. Way more light for half the power.

[TheAverageCraftsman]

Two car garage, a little under 500 square feet.  I have five 8' 4 bulb LEDs on side of the shop.  Each bulb is 2k lumens at 5k temp.  In a quarter of the shop I have four 4' 2 bulb LED fixtures that put out around 1500 lumens each.  I am replacing those soon with 4 more 8 footers like on the other side of the shop.  

Here's my shop: