Anyone else going to LED'S for garage lights ?

[ACUDANUT]

 I am tired of the slow warm up and buzz sound of traditional Florescent bulbs that always need replacing.
These LED lights that I now have, are super bright. I will never go back. Plus the only use 1/4 of the power. $$$

[Birdflu]

No brainer! Did my entire shop and place of work with ballast 'bypass' LED's. Very happy with the color and light! 

[ACUDANUT]

How much did yours cost ? I think I got a great deal at 40 Each. (used)

[tan top]

been thinking about doing this too 

[birdsandbees]

After buying and sending back over $500 worth of various LED bulbs for the wife's new kitchen light before finally getting a set of 8 that I could live with.. that weren't either too dark, too bright, took your vision away if you even thought about glimpsing at them etc I'm terrified to even think about changing the dozen x 2 bulb x 8 foot fixtures in my shop. I love their light off the galvanized ceiling and not taking a chance on f'ng that up.

[kent]

I have the type of fixture that can handle T-8 or LEDs. For now I just have T-8s and lots of them that I got from work when they replaced there's with LEDs. Should really buy a few to see the difference. They are quite a bit brighter.

[chargerbr549]

I have a total of thirty-six T8 fluorescent bulbs I installed about 6 years ago and haven't had to replace one yet and you can taylor the color of the light to a certain extent. I had thought about the LED's but depending on how they are built some of them have a light pattern very similar to a bunch of tiny spotlights instead of a floodlight type of pattern which I tend to prefer. But I also have about twice as many bulbs in my garage compared to what alot of people would have, you darn near need sunglasses. LOL

[Birdflu]

How much did yours cost ? I think I got a great deal at 40 Each. (used)

Here's the ones I bought. They've been in service about a year and a half and other than having two of them damaged in shipping, no failures yet! I went with 5000K with frosted lenses. They seem to be the whitest. 4000K is slightly yellow and 6000K slightly blue/purple. The clear lenses are blinding to look at if you're ever on a creeper looking up! The best part about these bulbs is that they slip right into the old fixtures. You just cut the wires going to the ballast and wire them direct.

https://greenlightdepot.com/collections/8ft-led-tubes/products/8ft-40w-led-linear-tube-fa8-socket-dlc?variant=13214986731563

[green69rt]

I have 12 fixtures with 4 bulbs each in my garage.  Originals were T8.  As they fail, I've been replacing with LEDs.  They use about 1/2 the power but the light is different.  Much whiter and when I look at my car from different angles it looks like different shades.  Like being inside vs outside.  I would guess it's what you get use to.  Biggest driver for me was power savings and that annoying buzzing from the ballasts.  It did require rewiring each fixture but not a big deal if you can do simple wiring.

[RallyeMike]

Thanks for all the comments on this. I'm moving soon and the shop & garage have the old flourescents. This conversion will be high on the to do-list!

[alfaitalia]

I thought about going this route and still might....although I do find the LED lights we have around the house a bit harsh on the eyes. I have 6 foot flouro tubes in my garage....never replaced one in 15 years....and I don't know how long they were there before I moved in!....and no buzzing.....just got lucky I guess....think I will go LED when they start to flicker though.... if they don't outlast me!

[Troy]

I'd have to really research the light as most LEDs blind me. There's been research that the glare from LED streetlights is really bad for your night vision and causes accidents. I have some in my kitchen but won't put them in any other rooms. Maybe I'll try some in the garage near where I weld (that would be nice!) before going all in.

Troy

[green69rt]

I'd have to really research the light as most LEDs blind me. There's been research that the glare from LED streetlights is really bad for your night vision and causes accidents. I have some in my kitchen but won't put them in any other rooms. Maybe I'll try some in the garage near where I weld (that would be nice!) before going all in.

Troy

I didn't like the first LEDs and would only use them inside a fixture that had a lens cover that would soften the light.  Now I see that they have finally come out with LEDs that are rated "soft white" etc.  I have some in one of our ceiling fixtures that are pretty nice.  I think they are called traditional or something like that. They almost look like an incandescent filament in color and in fact the LED element looks very much like a incandescent filament instead of those little LED squares. Much easier on the eyes.

[Mike DC]

                 
I actually like the cool-temp 'daylight' bulbs in my shop lights.

I also use them at home.  I try to run them during the day and then use dimmer more yellow lights at night.  Trying to remind my body what the daylight is doing.

[stripedelete]

I have the type of fixture that can handle T-8 or LEDs. For now I just have T-8s and lots of them that I got from work when they replaced there's with LEDs. Should really buy a few to see the difference. They are quite a bit brighter.

Same here.   I bought an LED and several different T-8s.

What's interesting is I can tell difference between the T-8s and the LED during the day.   But at night, I can't tell the difference between the brightest T-8s and the LED.  The difference in price is $15, so I'm sticking with T-8s.

[NHCharger]

I've been thinking about converting the florescents in my shop to LED, good timing on the thread.

[johnnycharger]

I changed out all of my bulbs with leds from amazon. About $2 ea. I added 2 sets of led tube lights from walmart $20 each. Much brighter in the garage now.

[kent]

Did you find any difference in the amazon lights compared to the Walmart ones?

[johnnycharger]

Thw walmart is a set of tubes the Amazon ones are incadecent style replacements.

[ACUDANUT]

I changed out all of my bulbs with leds from amazon. About $2 ea. I added 2 sets of led tube lights from walmart $20 each. Much brighter in the garage now.

So, you still have those Ballast resistors (boxes) ?  I thought those ate up electricity too 

[green69rt]

I changed out all of my bulbs with leds from amazon. About $2 ea. I added 2 sets of led tube lights from walmart $20 each. Much brighter in the garage now.

So, you still have those Ballast resistors (boxes) ?  I thought those ate up electricity too  

I rewired my fixtures to get rid of the ballasts.  The bulbs, that I got, came with a replacement socket at the power end.  Not a big deal.  That gets rid of the "buzz" and some power loss.

[6PakBee]

I am in the process of remodeling the shop and as part of that have converted a number of four tube florescents to LED's.  This is what that looks like.

[ACUDANUT]

Instant very bright lights. 

[c00nhunterjoe]

I have 3 bulb, t5 ho fluresants in my home and shop garage. Super bright and No problem into single digits. Electric company just threw a killer deal at us for a nearly free upgrade to all led at work, will be swapped in the next month. Will let you know if there is any difference.

[ACUDANUT]

I am surprised the electric company did that. More usage equals more money for them. Anyway, keep us posted 

[c00nhunterjoe]

I am surprised the electric company did that. More usage equals more money for them. Anyway, keep us posted 

Our grids here in md are overloaded. About 10 yewrs ago they did the same thing with our t12 units.

[krops cars]

I will when mine are ready to be replaced.

[Fitz73Chrgr]

I installed some a couple of years ago.  Game changer.