Workshop Lighting

I've looked at the price of LED's and it's too expensive at the moment. Fluorescent fittings and tubes can be obtained quite cheaply and are more efficient than they used to be.

As a point of interest I used to work in a Darkroom many years ago and we used Red tubes which were (ortho) film safe. One of the 8 foot tubes lasted 18 years before it needed to be changed!

You don't lose it - your room thermostat transfers it and the cost to your gas bill!

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

You have the opportunity to loose it, if the room/building is warm enough the thermostat won't kick in thus no extra gas burnt. If you have air conditioning it will also reduce the amount of cooling that needs to be done, thus can save money there. I guess as is so often the case it depends on your circumstances.

Baldric

The strobe effect from a double fitting will be exactly the same as that from a single unless they are fed from different phases of a three phase supply. Much easier just to use high frequency types (or LEDs).

Russell.

I quite like the look of these but wondering if four will be enough for a 5m x 3m space. The Lathe and Mill will each have a unit mounted almost directly above.

http://www.wickes.co.uk/5ft-Waterproof-Fluorescent+Tube/p/162290

Later in his post John explained how a local circuit puts the two tubes out of phase.

Neil

Sorry, missed that.

Russell.

Went into the city yesterday, went to LED's Are Us, a shop I had not seen before, the sign said 20 to 50% off all stock, ah ha says I this looks good, I went in and found the prices were four to five times those of any other retailer in town??, I was just looking to see what they had that I could use to replace the lights in my living room, and what they had for $NZ 75 I could get from another shop just a couple of blocks away for $NZ 12.

Ian S C

Are these led fluorescent tubes a straight replacement or is there something else that has to be done to get them to work ? Can the bothersome starters be done away with ?

I think it depends on the fitting. I'm sure someone who knows the details will be along in a minute.

Funny, I was reading about LED replacements that plug straight into legacy fittings just this past week - many of them work with either inductive or switching ballasts. Presumably the starter won't do anything and can be left in place (inductive) and the LED driver is designed to tolerate the HF voltage (switching).

There are direct replacements for strip lights and all the other single ended types as well, in a whole variety of colour temperatures. Of course, there was no discussion about pricing but there must be at least some cost justification otherwise nobody would be interested in using them. LIfetimes of 15-20k hours were mentioned. Hopefully the reliability will on a similar par.

Murray

You take out the tube AND the starter and replace it with the LED tube. Instant on - no waiting and no more fiddling with the starters on cold mornings.

graham.

I'm curious. Say you replace a fluorescent tube with an LED one, removing the starter, ballast etc then someone else comes along and unwittingly replaces that tube (the LED one) with a regular fluorescent tube. Presumably it won't work but are there safety issues as suggested in some quarters?

I've also seen it suggested that removal of the starter/ballast and fitting an LED tube would invalidate the electrical approval of the fixture (UL in North America - whatever .... VDE? ....in Europe). I wonder how that would affect homeowners' insurance.

I needed to replace the 5' double tubes fitment my workshop recently. Sadly, no one seems to offer an LED replacement fitting, just an adaptation of the existing one. Only the old fashioned low frequency fluorescent tube fittings seem to be available at any sort of reasonable price locally, so I ended up with the same as before. Disappointing really. Still, if it needs replacing again in 20 yrs it probably won't be my problem.

Rod

I'm sure the LED replacement I looked at a year or two ago

could be fitted in a standard fitting with a choke ballast and required the glow switch starter being removed

(maybe the adjacent pins were connected together so the starter would connect the mains supply across the choke ! )

this LED "tube" from GE lighting comes with its own starter

**LINK**

note - a rewire is required for use with electronic ballasts

John

PS

  Rod  I guess £500 for a 47W LED light could be the reason  not many outlets sell LED luminaires !!!

           http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/ceiling-lighting-battens/8003704/

Edited By john swift 1 on 31/08/2014 21:02:08

My experience of lighting in my workshop, (approx 3 m x 2m and 2 m to the sloping ceiling). The walls, not that you see much of them for shelves, and ceiling were painted gloss white eleven years ago.

On the ceiling, above the central narrow aisle are two 5 foot fluorescent tubes, the second is switched from the first when required.

The Mill/Drill has progressed from 2 x 60W filament worklights, positioned on each side, through CFLs to LEDs.

Above the vice is a similar worklight, with similar history, with a 3 or 9 watt LED.

These give a good white light , no detectable heat, and consume minimal current.

The lathe came witha 24V 50W Quartz halogen lamp which gave a warm light and plenty of heat, but the lamps failed often. After filing two diametrically opposed slots, about 8mm wide on the outer edge of the reflector, to improve ventilation, lamp life has increased dramatically. (just as well as the lamps are not obtainable locally in East Anglia!

About 600mm above the lathe, I recently installed a short mains fed LED strip (£9.99 from Aldi or Lidl - can't remember which) giving a bright white light which makes the Q H lamp look orange. It has certainly improved visibility on the lathe.

The ceiling mounted fluorescents are feeling their age, so I am interested to know what would be the best / cheapest form of replacement; LED tubes or LEDs strips.

Howard