Workshop lighting

Hi, regarding Mike Haughton's article on workshop lighting I would like to add details of the lighting that I use in my workshop & garage.

Firstly I hate florescent lighting and seem to be constantly replacing tubes or starters. I have replaced all 10 units with LED units which I made from 50mm pvc trunking with the led self adhesive strips on the front face and the led driver on the inside of the trunking, with end caps in place the look quite neat. With this system you can tailor the fittings to your own requirements. The smd strips come in 5 meter lengths and in 2700 kelvin to over 6000.

Just a little correction to Mike's reference to the stagecoach wheels in old movies, this was due to the shutter speed of the movie camera.

Hi Clive

How long have you had your LED strips running? I made up strips for under cupboard lighting and in the begining the light was fantastic but over a short period of time (months) they dimmed. Inspection of the strip showed burn marks around the resistors. I used an ordinary wall wart smpsu with 12v regulated output. When the output was measured it was 12v. It could have been because they were behind a pelmet and so sat in the heat that they generated. A lighting website I was looking at suggested the strips should be mounted on heatsinks.

I have moved and at the moment I only have a single CFL plus machine lights and its not enough.

I was going to go back to florescents, when they failed replace them with LED tubes but that's expensive.

Cheers Michael.

These posts on workshop lighting have certainly gone to great lengths. Me? I like to keep things simple. What I have may not be the ideal lighting and power, but it suits me.

I bought my workshop (these seem to be called 'sheds' these days) on eBay, It is in timber and would easily store two cars although at the moment I store one kitcar and four motorbikes and still have lots of room. I had always wanted a decent, large workshop and for a mere £700 this fits the bill. To collect it my son and I hired a 7.5ton truck, and drove from Kent to Lancashire to dismantle it. As we live on the side of a steep hill, I created extensive foundations and a concrete floor. The workshop consisted of large tongue & groove panels and went up quickly. The roof has a shallow pitch and a strong steel A-frame holding the side walls together.

Anyway, back to the electrics. I fitted four large double fluorescent lights on the ceiling and most importantly, about five triple socket power points at waist height around the walls. I have a cantilever light alongside the workbench and a similar one next to the lathe.

The floor is covered with the old lounge carpet and a Calor Gas heater warms the place in the winter.

I had been using rather ancient starterless fluorescent strip lights. I'd guess the lighting units were installed in the 70's. One definitely was, another I bought used from a scrap yard. The starterless ones are what factories usually fit and last for ages. Tubes may last several years. Reasonable quality ones definitely do. I would say I have fitted 3 maybe 4 over 23 years. For some reason it seems these can only usually be bought from electrical wholesalers, The sort electricians use. They take the larger diameter tubes.

More recently as i am interested in photography and sometime post shots that will be viewed by rather critical people I have changed my workshop lighting to the colour temperature I should be using. The units have electronic ballasts. No idea how long etc these will last but no problems so far over maybe 2 years.

I decided to try these lights from Ikea for machine lighting. Nice even pool and no need for them to be close to the work. The can be clamped to a shelf or wall fixed. They come with 2 bases.

Trouble with the new main lighting - mix it with flash and what looks like rust / corrosion appears on some bright shiny bits. Might be something to do with using a Nikon V2 too. On the other hand it's handy and compact.

Yes the is a sink under one end of the lathe. Big belfast type too, circa 1911.

John

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"Constantly replacing tubes and starters" In the last 27 years I have replaced 3 tubes and 2 starters, all fitted to units bought originally in 1960s. All 5ft 75/80W.

Must be somehing about the quality of tubes you buy and where you buy them.

I don't get it either KWIL. We have one strip light with a starter that probably got fitted in the 70's or even earlier and still no problems with it. Actually I have never replaced a tube in that one but it's only turned on and off a couple of times a day. The others are on a lot of the time. My workshop one virtually all day as there is no natural light. My PC is there too.

Perhaps the answer to avoid buying off DIY stores or ebay. Find an electrical wholesaler. If an electrician fits something it's expected to last.

Things are "improving". I fitted a D light into a bathroom. The first tube lasted a very long time, it came in the light. The replacement lasted maybe 18 months. I complained when I replace that one around 3 years ago. So far so good.

One thing to watch I fitted 2 in another bathroom - these D lights take a fair old current spike when they are turned on. One can stop the other from firing up correctly. House probably rewired by the MEB and min sized lighting wire used.

John

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just a reminder to mr paul narrowmore watch that calor gas heater I scrapped mine due to it being a danger to my health

I have had the LED strip lighting in my shed for 3 years now. I would not have anything else. I am slowly converting the rest of the work areas with LED strips as well. The better ones are with the Ali extrusion and have a scatter / frosted plastic diffuser, the 1st ones were just mounted underneath the tool shelf without any covers. I have had no issues with either yet. I like the instant Turn on, and the now lower power bill as well. Not driving KW's of lighting in the shed anymore. The incandescent were changed with LED, but I really do like the better light spread from the underneath side of a shelf. I see now there are a larger choice in the light spread of the LED's now , angle of spread, and a huge variety of colour temps as well as varing lumin output per meter length.

Neil

The Ikea wall / clamp on light is LED. I prefer to buy LED lighting from Ikea because unlike some the don't offer high colour temperature led lighting. Most of it is 2,700K. Sweden is always cautious and I feel they are right to do that in this area because of the amount of blue that needs to be added.

John

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Off the topic some what, to Paul Narramore. Paul what was the cost of hiring the 7.5 ton lorry , does that include insurance and does one have to have a HGV licence to drive one. John

If you have cat C1 on your licence you can drive a vehicle up to 7.5 tonne. Otherwise I think it's 3.5. They are classed as medium sized vehicles. HGV's are something else again, the truck part might weigh more than 7.5 tonne with a laden trailer on the back of it.

Quick google

**LINK**

I think most UK full driving licenses have C1 E on it.

If you do hire one you might find air brakes a little different. It seems some do.

John

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Reversing a 3.5 tonne air braked down hill is quite an experience if you want to use the "handbrake".

On the subject of so called low power LED lighting versus old fashioned Fluorescent, how do you heat your workshop?

I see no difference in paying for the power wastage from the lighting to the equivalent electrical power used for heating! Apart from that, machine motor power losses are probably higher as well.

If some one wants to hire something big I would suggest a flat bed. That way visibility is good and if the item isn't strapped down enough it can be watched as it comes off rather than going through the side of whatever it is.

Heating cost over the house in my case = zero but I haven't got a lot of space.

People with an attached garage would probably find it cheaper to extend the central heating and add a radiator valve - one of the early wax stat types from what I have heard about some of the newer ones.

John

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Mike Haughton is correct in his comments about Led light longevity. I have installed a lot of GU10 LEDs in house and workshop, and some lasted a very short time. Also I installed LED strip in the kitchen as under-cabinet lighting about 4 years ago, but the output has dropped drastically in that time. On the other hand I installed a LED GU10 in the loft to deter squirrels (very effective) which has been burning continuously now for 9 years - 80,000hours!

A tip which may be useful: GU10 lights have a self-contained led driver in the base, so it is possible to use this as a remote unit and affix the LED panel in places where a full-size unit would be too large.

I have just changed the 2 almost new 5 foot fittings in the workshop for the latest LED fittings 40watt. These do not have a tube. The spine of the fitting has the led strip attached to it directly. These are the new type yellow squares. without the diffusers on they are blinding. Probably 1.5 times brighter than the fluorescent ones. Will see how long they last. UK made items from local elect wholesaler. CEF.

Steve.

Like others on here I have also looked at the lighting in my garage/workshop. I originally had 6 x 8 foot fluorescent tubes, plus 4 foot tubes over the bench and the lathe.

I opted for six 600 x 600mm LED light panels suspended on catenary cables. The difference is frankly outstanding. I now use my bench, lathe and mill without the small local lights. I can also rebuild my bikes without using any additional free standing lighting. In order to get the best efect for working I opted for Cold White panels.

After the change, some 3 years ago I have not needed to replace any panels and they are also effective during bright summer days. The panels are really as cheap as chips on ebay, and I would not even consider strip lights regardless of type.