Need quick turnaround on light options for 16x26x13 shop

[mercifiknow]

Have a handyman coming over to do a few things (getting old blows) and one thing he is doing is putting in my new shop light bulbs I have yet to install in my porcelain light fixtures. I was going to put in porcelain light shades from a 1920 Railroad station but they will hit the car on garage car lift.

Currently have 75 watt led bulbs but it’s not bright enough. I was told the ones that have fold fans put out light like the sun but not sure you want gonzo eye balls when you come out. I have 6 light fixtures.

Thoughts?

 

[carlaisle]

If aesthetics are a concern, those fold out fan bulbs may leave something to be desired. You know how much light you have. How much more light do you need (want)? Do you need more even distribution (dark spots/shadows) or only to increase the brightness from your existing light sources? LED light bulbs in a standard configuration are readily available up to well over 150 watts equivalent.

 

[txvwnut]

I have one of the "fan" type of led lights in my two car garage and it's pretty bright. The I have you can rotate the led panels so I rotated them to point at the ceiling and it lights the garage up pretty well. In the shop I have led fixtures from https://www.primelights.com/.

 

[mreisner]

I have a couple of those as they call them deformable screw in bulbs and while they provide a lot of light but light temperature is pretty harsh on them. I feel really good luck with the diamond plate 4 ft long LED top light fixture from Harbor freight. The right when it's cold, provide really good light, are affordable, at the end of the day the color temperature doesn't seem to be hard on the eyes. The downfall is they don't screw into a regular Edison light socket they plug into an outlet, but I've been very happy with them. The wings or deformable as some of them call them ones are nice and a large pole barn for quick light however. I have two of them my 40x80 buildings and they work well, they light off when it's cold also which is great because those buildings aren't heated. It's nice that you can adjust them to concentrate the light where you need it also.

 

[mercifiknow]

Thanks everyone for the help! The handyman suggested the fan type as well. They are definitely popular. I’m going this weekend to see them and others.

I’m glad I’m not the only one that has trouble with color as well. Unfortunately I’m not going to install the tube lights. I’m probably the only one in the modern world that wanted the porcelain fixtures but I’ve got a plan for those old porcelain light shades. They’re going to be installed but they need some work done on them before I get them hung up.

I was looking at the “suggested” lumens for my shop and it’s just under 59,000. So that would be 10000/fixture. Color is suggested to be 5200k-5500k so the eye strain is mitigated. Going to be interesting…

 

[nadogail]

I replaced the F40-T12 fluorescent Shop Lights with the Fan Style LED screw in modules.
My only regret was I didn’t do it sooner.

 

[mike93lx]

Thanks everyone for the help! The handyman suggested the fan type as well. They are definitely popular. I’m going this weekend to see them and others.

I’m glad I’m not the only one that has trouble with color as well. Unfortunately I’m not going to install the tube lights. I’m probably the only one in the modern world that wanted the porcelain fixtures but I’ve got a plan for those old porcelain light shades. They’re going to be installed but they need some work done on them before I get them hung up.

I was looking at the “suggested” lumens for my shop and it’s just under 59,000. So that would be 10000/fixture. Color is suggested to be 5200k-5500k so the eye strain is mitigated. Going to be interesting…

Lumens aren't the way to size lighting, but if you are choosing to use porcelain fixtures, your lighting will never be even anyway.

5200-5500 will be a very cool light. Personally, I run 4000 for shop lighting and find it far more pleasant to be around

 

[bugzilla46310]

If you are talking just the screw in light bulb, I put (similar to) these panel led 5000k in my pole barn. Originally had 3 rows of 6 lights. Eliminated half the lights. Very happy with them. Been about a year and none have failed yet.

 

[mercifiknow]

Lumens aren't the way to size lighting, but if you are choosing to use porcelain fixtures, your lighting will never be even anyway.

5200-5500 will be a very cool light. Personally, I run 4000 for shop lighting and find it far more pleasant to be around

Agreed about unevenness. I thought lumens was the standard as far as measuring an area being lit up for a certain purpose. Correct?

I was looking at more lights again and I’m starting to think there’s not a lot of options if you’re tied into using an E26 fixture. Unless you use.a fan type.

 

[mike93lx]

Agreed about unevenness. I thought lumens was the standard as far as measuring an area being lit up for a certain purpose. Correct?

I was looking at more lights again and I’m starting to think there’s not a lot of options if you’re tied into using an E26 fixture. Unless you use.a fan type.

Lumens is a Stat that you use to compare fixtures and is part of a measure on efficiency (lumens per watt). But when you look at lighting needs for a space, it doesn't tell you how much light is reaching the workspace because that's impacted by more than the fixture itself.

You are right on the lack of options for screw in fixtures. Solutions for the tend to be focused on the crowd that just need their garage/attic a little brighter, not someone that is looking to light up a space for doing work. You are seriously limiting yourself with this requirement

 

[NUTTSGT]

I prefer 48" strip lights with LED conversion bulbs. Cheap, easy to find for replacement and work fine for me.

My layout has always been, where I need the light not what looks good/symmetrical on the ceiling. In doing so, I put those lights on a different switch. I'll only turn on what I need.