Converted my garage to an LED system, let there be light.

[lloyd3]

I'm guilty of being a cheapskate for far too-long. Having lived in the same place for 30-years, never improving my work area or bench for all that time. Other than the two little nekkid bulbs in a center of each bay, I had a set of fluorescent tubes hanging from a chain (that a friend had salvaged from a construction site and given to me) over the main part of my bench with a clip-on, single bulb unit (also given to me) barely illuminating the rest of it. Weak beer at best. Fast forward to last week. I was tasked by my bride to clear the detritus from my bench so my son and I could both work on respective projects out there.



The beautiful thing here is....these lights are relatively cheap (~$30/each), modular, and truly plug & play. No electrician needed and they don't overwhelm my anemic wiring out there. It still looks like a white trash system, admittedly, but until I can scratch up some money to properly rewire that space, this should serve nicely.



I even went ahead and added an 8-foot string to each bay. Instead of the dark and dirty space that it's been for the last 30-years, you could wax a car out there now and see every swirl.

[426HemiChick]

Hi lloyd3,                 09 August 2021

Welcome to the 21st Century. Those lights should brighten your days.

Best Always

426 Hemi Chicks

[RallyeMike]

 

No more flicker, buzz, or bulb replacement and more light for less energy. One of the best improvements for $ and time that ever did.

[67440chrg]

It looks nice and bright now. Good job. I used some conversion kits and made several of my old florescent lights to LED. It helped a lot. It was easy they came with ballasts and bulbs.

[blakemon]

Without a doubt, LED is the way to go!

[Mike DC]

Yep.  IMO garage lighting is money well-spent even if it was florescent bulbs.  Let alone with LEDs. 
               

[LaOtto70Charger]

Nice lights! Those 4 ft LEDs that hook to each other are really nice.  Our garage had a bunch of fluorescent light fixtures that went bad. Switched them all out for those for under $100. Even got one that I use as a treble light under the car.  Need to add some magnets for under hood work.

[Todd Wilson]

I did that in most of my garage and its great! I have noticed as I have got older my vision is getting worse and I need more light. LED is the way to go!


Todd

[RiverRaider]

It wouldn't hurt to call your electric utility to see if there are any rebates are out there.  I went with T8 LED ballast bypass in my existing 4' T12 fixtures
just removed the ballast and rewired.  Most lamps did have rebates except the ones I chose.   (High Lumen Ballast Bypass T8 Bulb High Lumen Ballast Bypass T8 Bulb Model Number: GT-T8-H4B-5000 from Menards)  They are brighter than the ones with rebates available and less than $10 each.  If the utility asks say you are replacing t12 not t8 fixtures.

[AKcharger]

I have Florecent bulbs in my garage, what do I have to do just plug in LED bulbs?

[lloyd3]

There evidently are conversion kits for existing systems (I'd look online for how those work). You could also just trot down to your local big box hardware and ask them how to do it.

[Aero426]

There evidently are conversion kits for existing systems (I'd look online for how those work). You could also just trot down to your local big box hardware and ask them how to do it.

There is a simple procedure to disconnect and bypass the existing ballast.  Then you just install the LED bulbs.    My bulbs came with an instruction sheet, but there are many You Tube videos on the subject.

[cdr]

My garage with a nice insulated ceiling now and walls and 17 4 foot dual LED lights four on each Roll up door, Heat & A/C

[cdr]

2

[cdr]

3

[RiverRaider]

There are two major types of replacement LED bulbs for 4 foot fluorescent fixtures.  The first is a direct swap with the fluorescent bulb nothing else required.  The drawback of this type is you are still powering up a ballast to run the LED and older or many T12 ballasts will not run a LED bulb.  If you want to get them in quick and easy this is a route to go.  Another drawback is that the ballasts do fail and your lights still go out.  The other type is what I used, a ballast bypass bulb where you remove the ballast.   I have done close to 50 fixtures so far, most of mine were non-shunted style sockets and the ones that were not I replaced the sockets with non-shunted so all the fixtures were wired the same.  On the back of the socket there is a cover held in by a staple. You need to carefully remove the cover and then lift the tabs that secure the wires to release them, then replace the cover and wire as directed by the diagram.  You need solid wire if you need replacements.  If the sockets are old and brittle they may break.  I had to replace ten or so but they are cheap.  On all be the old 50's style ballasts I was able to use the existing wire from the ballast to wire them. Most were two bulb but if you have three or four bulb you will have extra wire.  Each bulb has a wiring diagram included.  If you repaint your fixtures other than white the lighting will take on the color.  My wife painted her fixtures with metallic pink and the lights have a pinkish glow to them.

[lloyd3]

CDR: Great shop! Mine is neither heated nor air conditioned.

[cdr]

CDR: Great shop! Mine is neither heated nor air conditioned.

Thank you Sir