Changed over from 8' Florescent lighting to LED's

[Dave H]

I finally got tired of changing ballasts in my 8' florescent's so, I changed over to 8' LED fixtures WOW! what a difference I got the 8200 Lumen's daylight bulbs I had no idea how crappy my lighting was, you could preform surgery in my shop now. Now I'm wondering why I've waited so long to make the switch, the very first light I hooked up made my entire shop brighter now all 6 fixtures are in and now what a transformation. I wanted to retrofit my old fixtures with LED's what a PITA that was I ended up taking all the parts and pieces back and after the electrical supply house quoted me a price of $1000 for new fixtures I said no thanks and went to the HD and got them for half the price I should have just gone there to begin with but I really don't like HD or Lowe's but I guess it's just a necessary evil, has anyone else changed over to the LED's and found them vastly superior to the florescent's?

[JohnG]

I have put a couple LED fixtures in the shop as the fluorescent fixtures go bad. I’d do them all but it’s a rental so I don’t want to throw money at it. 

We’ve been switching some of our warehouses over to LED and it is a huge improvement. Especially where there were metal halides before. Some of the retrofit kits are really quick and easy, but I think it depends on your existing fixtures. 

[..Kev]

My new shop has all LEDs to include my smaller task/video lighting.  I agree that my shop is now much better lit than any shop I've had but, going with the slightly darker walls (plywood) actually made my shop look darker on video.  That's why I added all the smaller task/video lights..

[Bankstick]

Harbor Freight had LED lights on sale- 2 in the shop, 2 in the basement, 1 in the office (now i don't need the desk lamp). Remembered- Saw them in a HF flyer- $18.99, Nov. 29th through Dec. 1st. Cheaper than what I paid. Save 20% with a coupon. Sometimes around holidays, they have a 25% coupon. BTW, has a five star review. Edit- plug in with decent length cord.

[Coop]

I’ve heard that you can add led tubes to an existing fluorescent fixture, with or without the ballast. Are some led tubes better than others? 

[Jfitz]

I added LED to my shop a few years back and it was like night and day.  Pun?  Perhaps.  But it was.  I have a few more fixtures I plan on adding 'as needed' but have not yet had the need.  Maybe above the lathe if I ever start using it more.

6 hours ago, higtron said:

has anyone else changed over to the LED's and found them vastly superior to the florescent's?

Much.  One thing I did notice when taking down the fluorescent lights though...there was a lot of dust on them.  I would recommend that no matter what type your lighting is, clean the tubes every now and then.

[B1rdhunter]

I put 24 4 foot leds in my shop, doesn't matter how bright or dark it is outside it's suntan bright inside.

[Coop]

Darn nice looking shop bud! What are the dimensions? 

[B1rdhunter]

Not big enough. 24'x28'    should have made it my garage and used the 36'x28' garage for the shop.

[Tom King]

In our dog room, we had four 4x4' T8 troffer lights built into the ceiling.  A few years ago, before they started selling the LED tubes that didn't need ballasts, I ordered new tubes, tombstones, and ballasts.  The old t8's had all stopped working.

Once I replaced the parts in one troffer, I turned it on to see if I had hooked everything up correctly.  There was so much light from that one fixture, that Pam said it was no need to even convert the others.   It's been operating trouble free, all day every day, for several years, and we have a Lot of replacement parts.