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I saw the light! I saw the Light!

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JPSmit

JPSmit

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Over the past few months, I have been replacing lights in the garage.

1. I bought two battery powered LED lights - one a flashlight with a small trouble light, on a longer light designed (with hooks) to attach to the hood to work on the engine. also battery powered.

2. I bought LED lights to replace the humming nasty fluorescent lights that were there. (I have installed three of four)

3. a $10 LED trouble light - (like the one in the pic)

I struggle to think of any one thing that has so improved the working conditions in the garage. Brighter handier and no worries of knocking things and blowing a bulb or the light twisting out of the way or the heat of a quartz work light. I can't recommend LEDs strongly enough.

work light.jpg
 
I hung two 4ft. LED lights in my shop last year. You’re right, what a difference!
 
JPSmit said:
Over the past few months, I have been replacing lights in the garage.

1. I bought two battery powered LED lights - one a flashlight with a small trouble light, on a longer light designed (with hooks) to attach to the hood to work on the engine. also battery powered.

2. I bought LED lights to replace the humming nasty fluorescent lights that were there. (I have installed three of four)

3. a $10 LED trouble light - (like the one in the pic)

I struggle to think of any one thing that has so improved the working conditions in the garage. Brighter handier and no worries of knocking things and blowing a bulb or the light twisting out of the way or the heat of a quartz work light. I can't recommend LEDs strongly enough.

View attachment 67216
Click to expand...


My new Kia has LED headlights. They are great from my perspective while driving, but people keep flashing their lights at me thinking I have brights on when I don't. But boy do they light up the road
 
JPSmit said:
I struggle to think of any one thing that has so improved the working conditions in the garage. Brighter handier and no worries of knocking things and blowing a bulb or the light twisting out of the way or the heat of a quartz work light. I can't recommend LEDs strongly enough.
Click to expand...

Agree on all counts!!! LEDs are amazing! (Plus current battery technology means rechargeable lights actually work when you need them!)
 
Ditto. Replaced the four fluorescent 4' bulbs in the garage with LED's and four in the kitchen. Major improvement on both counts. Using dimmable LED replacements in all the house fixtures as well. Brilliant (pardon th' pun)!
 
I had thought about LEDs,but I have double 8' flourescents X 22, that are 11' up on ceiling. Don't think I want to be on scaffold to change out. Besides, so much stuff to move around to do the job. They heat garge up nicely in winter if I leave them on with a heater.
 
Agreed on the benefits of an LED shop light conversion. However, I keep a few incandescence around to help sort color coding such a wiring.
 
The LED trouble lights are great but I find they lack something in the way they project their light. Do not seem to light up the darlk corners under the car as well as the old Quartz Halogen ones do.

I am replacing my shop lights for either LED tubes in the T8 fixtures or LED 4' fixtures.

David
 
JPSmit said:
Over the past few months, I have been replacing lights in the garage.

1. I bought two battery powered LED lights - one a flashlight with a small trouble light, on a longer light designed (with hooks) to attach to the hood to work on the engine. also battery powered.

2. I bought LED lights to replace the humming nasty fluorescent lights that were there. (I have installed three of four)

3. a $10 LED trouble light - (like the one in the pic)

I struggle to think of any one thing that has so improved the working conditions in the garage. Brighter handier and no worries of knocking things and blowing a bulb or the light twisting out of the way or the heat of a quartz work light. I can't recommend LEDs strongly enough.

View attachment 67216
Click to expand...
Last year I decided it was time to dump my fluorescent shop lights.
Bought a Six Pack for about $30.
Since then I've had to replace three of the pull-chain switches and one small section on one went dead.
Not perfect but it is an improvement.
 
I had 5 double T8 4 foot fluorescent tube fixtures that I had used when I had my paint booth set up and found it strangly satisfying to gut them and pull out the ballasts or some little transformers and simply rewire them for LED tubes. Now they are light weight, put out better light and are all on one circuit and much lower current draw. My shop is a 40 foot clear span with 10 foot rolling door sections and the light switch was never convenient to get to. I put in a remote wireless, fob operated switch and hang the fob on the inside of the center door where I always enter. Awesome change if I go out at night, no more stumbling around and brilliant light. Now I just have to drive 40 miles round trip to where I can properly dispose of 10 mercury laden tube lights.
 
I put LEDs in the TFs instrument panel and for the first time, I can see the instruments at night! Now if I can find a replacement for the 7" sealed beam headlights. PJ
 
Moss Motors
 
Just picked up 4 new LEDs today - 6 inch square - may try them in the walk in closet first (walk in currently has a nasty noisy 4' florescent - but is under the eaves so a sloped ceiling) the new lights are flush fit - so as long as it doesn't end up looking like an East German interrogation room I should be able to use them.
 
JPSmit said:
Just picked up 4 new LEDs today - 6 inch square - may try them in the walk in closet first (walk in currently has a nasty noisy 4' florescent - but is under the eaves so a sloped ceiling) the new lights are flush fit - so as long as it doesn't end up looking like an East German interrogation room I should be able to use them.
Click to expand...
That's where we found it's better to go with dimmable LEDs. The 4' fixtures aren't dimmable (as far as I know) but they're in kitchen and garage as maximum room lighting, so no issue. But for other fixtures like over kitchen sink & work area, bar, dining room table overhead, bedroom, bath, etc. they can be lowered in intensity. I've used Heath-Zenith RF controllers with dimmer switches and remote fobs with good results.

If you're going to change the walk-in lighting fixture anyway, why not go to something that will take dimmable LEDs and a dimmer switch? Use the gulag lights for entryways and walkways.
 
DrEntropy said:
That's where we found it's better to go with dimmable LEDs. The 4' fixtures aren't dimmable (as far as I know) but they're in kitchen and garage as maximum room lighting, so no issue. But for other fixtures like over kitchen sink & work area, bar, dining room table overhead, bedroom, bath, etc. they can be lowered in intensity. I've used Heath-Zenith RF controllers with dimmer switches and remote fobs with good results.

If you're going to change the walk-in lighting fixture anyway, why not go to something that will take dimmable LEDs and a dimmer switch? Use the gulag lights for entryways and walkways.
Click to expand...
I agree - though in this space we will always need maximum light - the challenge I have with LEDs is that they aren't always clear as to the colour temperature - especially when you purchase from <cough> discount places (or the usual two horrible online sources) - which I did in this case because if worst comes to worst the shop will be fine and they were super cheap! I bought a dozen LED potlight replacement bulbs a year or so ago to replace the kitchen ones - not only weren't they bright enough but oh the colour! Fortunately they were cheap and my Brother in law teaches electrical shop so he was happy to take them.

1623498167717.png


In other news it occurs to me that the lights I hate are invariably the cheap ones - do you suppose you get what you pay for? Nah.... :nonono: Of to Amazon :D
 
Color temperature is definitely important. I always look for it on the ad or box.

I thought about LEDs for the Healey headlights, but bright LEDs won't fit in the Flamethrower housings. I want the driving lights to be at least as bright as the headlights, so I had to order motorsport halogen bulbs from the UK.
 
update - not loving it (not bright enough or white enough) but we will let Mrs JP decide
 
For years one bathroom had a 60's dropped ceiling lighted by a 4 foot florescent fixture. The ballast finally died and I decided to convert the fixture to LED and bought 2 5000K replacement tubes. It turned out that one tube put out more and better light than the 2 4 watt old tubes so I stayed with just one. Then last year we finally remodeled that bathroom and removed the dropped ceiling. That meant the old shop light had to go. I replaced it with 2 very low profile and inexpensive round LED units. The small one over the shower is rated at 1100 lumens and the main larger one is 1300. Now I don't really have a feel for lumens as opposed to watts yet so I was afraid they would not be enough. Now we just use the smaller one most of the time. I almost forgot to say, both units are adjustable from 2700K to 6400K. I set both at 5000K.
 
Speaking of LEDs, I recently changed the reverse lights in my Telluride from standard bulbs to LED bulbs! Hallelujah! I can see in my rear camera now when I'm backing out of the driveway at night!
 
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