Lighting advice

Hi all,

I have a 12ft x 10ft shed and my lighting in there has never really been adequate.

would anyone be able to recommend any lights that would give me plenty of light in my shed. I’d like it to be nice and bright.

thanks

chris m…..

My workshop is approx 18 x 7 and I used to have fluorescent tubes, I replaced these with 7 LED tubes, the light is now much easier to work with and a bonus is that the cold in winter doesn’t affect the light output as it did with fluorescents. Dave W

Scaling from my (300sft, white painted) shed, you'll want about 200W of lights for it to be nice and bright. It doesn't matter whether they're flourescent (which I prefer) or LED. They give the same amount of light per Watt.

I use 6 x 5' LED tubes in my 18' x 9' workshop. Warm white as I find the others a bit too blue and glaring. Most important paint the ceiling white to reflect the light. With LED tubes you do not even need fittings just find a way to fix them up. Pipe clips, conduit clips or make some. I 3D printed ends for mine which have the advantage of holding them up and covering the wiring.

Longer bracket and cover at the wiring end and short one for the non-live end. Unlike fluorescent tubes the LED types only need a connection at one end. You can make a connection using a suitably sized 'choc-block'. I find the LED lighting to be very good, clear and even, no buzzing and instant on.

John

I have six 5 foot fluorescents in about that space (3 pairs), partly for brightness and partly to reduce shadows. The ceiling and one wall are painted white, which made a noticeable improvement.

I prefer daylight lamps to the usual domestic type which are warmer (more yellow). I don't want cosy in a workshop, I want to see what I'm making a mess of.

The machine light on the mill isn't needed.

If I was installing the lights today, I'd use LEDs because they are brighter, cooler, and cheaper to run.

Dave

I use led tape, fitted in an aluminium extrusion with a diffuser fitted. May be the same output as equivalent led tube but lower profile - less likely to get damaged when swinging long objects around. I tried some cheap tape direct from China but replaced it with UK-sourced tape which was much better. The plan is to add a few individual led spots for specific machines, probably separately switched.

Is that true? I thought the whole point of LED tubes was to use fewer watts for the same light output?

I favor the LEDS, we have a 16 x 9 kitchen and I put two 6 foot LEDS batten type in years ago and we rarely need more than one on. They are low profile, projecting only 1 inch from the ceiling and are also much safer than a glass tube.

Just recently I replaced a 6 foot fluorescent tube in my loft with a single led bulb (100W equivalent ) and was amazed at how bright and well lit the loft space was. Perhaps say 4 of these bulbs in a medium sized workshop would be a cheaper alternative to led tubes...just a thought.

Doug

My shed is 9ft x 7ft. I have two 4ft single-width LED lights mounted across the short span. My walls and ceiling are concrete and painted white which makes for a very bright environment (to my eyes). The ceiling is quite low.

In your size workshop I would probably install 3x 6ft lights, single width across the short span if mounted directly to a ceiling. If you have a high ceiling or roof it might pay to later add some reflectors to the light fittings if available and compatible.

Ed.

Unfortunately it is:-

4ft 36W tri-phosphor fluorescent 3,500 lumens

4ft 22W LED 2.200 lumens

The fluorescent tubes generally give a better CRI as well.

Where people see a benefit is the same as when they think link belts are better than V belts. They replace an old fluorescent tube with an LED tube and it's brighter because the fluorescent tube should have been replaced 5-10 years ago...

I have florescent lights in my workshop, I'm not keen on the led fittings, we have them at work and they don't have the light spread of the old tubes.

I have 10 Led fittings set in the ceiling and they use 10 x 10watt led bulbs from DAZZ LED which are really bright , I also have a 5ft Fluorescent tube fitting which is only switched on when I need to paint something.

Have a look at this if you are in any way likely to be swayed by statements that fluorescents are as good as LEDs.

Simply put, they are not. In more ways than one, too. Efficiency, cost, and disposal are all factors. You won’t need 200W for your little shed, unless you mis-arrange them or buy the wrong spectral type.

Check Here

Err, 3500 lumens from 36W is 97,2 lumens per watt, and 2200 lumens from 22W is 100lm/W.

it's an interesting comparison though - this screensot is from a well-known supplier whom I dare not name (Screwfix):

Says a 3350 lumen fluorescent is equivalent to 36W and a 1600lm LED to 80W. Hmmmm.

Meanwhile, this site says LEDs win hands down.

One confusion may be that fluorescents radiate in all directions, wasting light, whilst LEDs are directional - the light goes where it's aimed.

Any lighting experts out there - I'm confused

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 28/08/2022 22:20:03

Lighting expert here😃 forget fluorescents they are being banned from sale next year. LED fittings are more expensive but will last a very long time, probably longer than the typical model engineer. Try and get “flicker free” otherwise you might get in difficulties with strobe effects also headaches! Go for a warmer colour temperature 3000k, avoid anything over 4000k, colour gets worse. Linear fittings directly over benches and machine tools is good except mills where you need a fitting each side of the head to get light down to the workpiece.

Pretty much all lamp replacement products are poor so avoid unless you need a direct swap into an existing light.

Cheap is crap! Really don’t buy on price.

Compare lumens not watts. As above a 4’ fluorescent gives around 3300 Lumens. This is a good number to aim for at shed height over a bench or lathe, the higher you go the less light ends up on the. task.

I hope this helps!

Kevan Shaw

I can see where fluorescent tubes might exhibit flicker but why should LEDs?

Edited By Peter Greene 🇨🇦 on 29/08/2022 01:40:48

Only on cheaper, low cost items that don’t have a good, smoothed DC conversion from the mains supply. Not so much ‘flicker’ - more like a slightly ‘oscillating’ output.

A long time ago, I thought my 20W lidl LED was failing. Seems I was wrong and it was the power supply that was the culprit.

My lidl tube LED lamps are brilliant. One 20W (maybe 22W?) tube replaced a 60W fluorescent in the kitchen and one is in my workshop. My wife has been very happy with the kitchen light - brighter, immediate switch-on, no problems of slow start-up (particularly when cold), better colour. I’m happy because she has no excuse for leaving the light on and the reduced running costs (as well as the otherimprovements).

Edited By not done it yet on 29/08/2022 06:31:32

In my workshop, I replaced the 2 original 80 watt fluorescent lights with 6 standard size LED lamps of 9 watts each (equivalent to 60 watt incandescent). This not only halved the power consumed by the lights but brightness was improved as well. I have also fitted switches so that the two banks of three can be switched on and off as required. 27 watts may not seem much of a saving to some, but every little helps.