Garage lighting upgrade- before and after

PapaBuilds · Jun 10, 2026

I had two week halogen bay lights in my garage/ workshop. I tore them out, and wired in six LED Barrina 5000k 5000LM 4 ft lights. Night and day difference, no pun intended.

AC-WC · Friday at 7:52 AM

Please keep us updated on the longevity of these lights. I've read some not good reports from fellow GJ members about warranty support. Agree with the 5k/5k it's a huge change.

PapaBuilds · Friday at 10:05 AM

Will do! I doubt they'll warranty mine. I spliced and extended the daisy chain wires to get more of a spread on them

SusKatCas · Friday at 10:18 AM

...and there was light!

rwilly · Saturday at 4:18 PM

The Barrina lights I put in my garage are starting to fail at a rapid rate after 5 years. I’m currently looking for another, longer lasting brand.
The Barrinas are nice and bright when they are working, they were also inexpensive, but I want a longer lasting option. I hope you have better luck.

PapaBuilds · Saturday at 11:18 PM

rwilly said:
The Barrina lights I put in my garage are starting to fail at a rapid rate after 5 years. I’m currently looking for another, longer lasting brand.
The Barrinas are nice and bright when they are working, they were also inexpensive, but I want a longer lasting option. I hope you have better luck.

Here's hoping, they weren't too much work so if I get 5 years out of them I'd call it a success.

rwilly · Sunday at 11:45 AM

Doing the math.

I have 15 sticks running the length of my garage, if I have to replace all 15 every 4-5 years at a cost of $200.00, that comes to roughly $4.00 a month.

Is that considered good?

The Cobbler · Sunday at 11:51 AM

I still like using/converting florescent fixtures to by pass LED tubes. then when a bulb fails all you do is replace it .
Fluorescent fixtures can be bought used for very cheap .

PapaBuilds · Sunday at 11:56 AM

rwilly said:
Doing the math.

I have 15 sticks running the length of my garage, if I have to replace all 15 every 4-5 years at a cost of $200.00, that comes to roughly $4.00 a month.

Is that considered good?

I've got 6 in mine, obviously I don't WANT to replace them. But IF they go out in 4-5 years I dont think that's too bad.

PapaBuilds · Sunday at 11:56 AM

The Cobbler said:
I still like using/converting florescent fixtures to by pass LED tubes. then when a bulb fails all you do is replace it .
Fluorescent fixtures can be bought used for very cheap .

Smart I like that

u2slow · Sunday at 12:00 PM

What I like about those Barinna strips is how skinny they are. I put them on the edge of shelving that runs the length of my shop.

R07AG · Sunday at 1:06 PM

Looks really good! I hear good and bad about Barrina so I'm curious how your experience turns out.

I did something similar last year with Harbor Freight lights and it's hard to think about how I was able to work before them.

OccupantRJ · Sunday at 1:12 PM

R07AG said:
Looks really good! I hear good and bad about Barrina so I'm curious how your experience turns out.

I did something similar last year with Harbor Freight lights and it's hard to think about how I was able to work before them.

Just yesterday I added a HF light over a darker area of my materials storage building to brighten things up a bit. There is an $18 coupon for them at the moment.

PapaBuilds · Sunday at 7:20 PM

R07AG said:
Looks really good! I hear good and bad about Barrina so I'm curious how your experience turns out.

I did something similar last year with Harbor Freight lights and it's hard to think about how I was able to work before them.

Thats how I feel. I'll never be able to have sub-par lighting again!

PapaBuilds · Sunday at 7:21 PM

OccupantRJ said:
Just yesterday I added a HF light over a darker area of my materials storage building to brighten things up a bit. There is an $18 coupon for them at the moment.

I can FEEL the difference that made

duneslider · Monday at 5:45 PM

Just for reference, I have had Barrina lights in my garage for almost 5 years. They get turned on at some point everyday and they are on a timer to auto turn off at midnight. So, they have a lot of hours and are going strong, just as good as some other "name brand" led lights in other areas of my house. At this point, if they do die I would be fine buying the same ones again.

OccupantRJ · Monday at 5:48 PM

duneslider said:
Just for reference, I have had Barrina lights in my garage for almost 5 years. They get turned on at some point everyday and they are on a timer to auto turn off at midnight. So, they have a lot of hours and are going strong, just as good as some other "name brand" led lights in other areas of my house. At this point, if they do die I would be fine buying the same ones again.

I just happened to catch a shop video today where the guy says he gets about 3 to 5 years out of them because they gradually dim. First time I heard of the brand was on GJ yesterday.

PapaBuilds · Monday at 6:24 PM

OccupantRJ said:
I just happened to catch a shop video today where the guy says he gets about 3 to 5 years out of them because they gradually dim. First time I heard of the brand was on GJ yesterday.

Now everyone tells me

OccupantRJ · Monday at 6:44 PM

PapaBuilds said:
Now everyone tells me

At least you can see well in the interim!

PapaBuilds · Monday at 6:48 PM

OccupantRJ said:
At least you can see well in the interim!

Who knows, maybe my lights will be the outliers haha

duneslider · 2026-06-16T09:33:58-0400

OccupantRJ said:
I just happened to catch a shop video today where the guy says he gets about 3 to 5 years out of them because they gradually dim. First time I heard of the brand was on GJ yesterday.

I went and checked my Amazon history and I ordered my lights Nov 7, 2021 and had them put up as soon as they came. I have no noticeable dimming and none have died yet either. Mine are on virtually everyday from about 5pm until midnight and longer on weekends. I don't expect them to last forever but the way they are installed it would be super simple to replace them and just take slightly longer than a screw in bulb to swap out. It appears I can still buy the same ones.

I have also purchased barrina led grow lights and in the late winter early spring we have those on 24/7 for several months, those only have 2 seasons but zero issues there either.

PapaBuilds · 2026-06-16T09:40:39-0400

duneslider said:
I went and checked my Amazon history and I ordered my lights Nov 7, 2021 and had them put up as soon as they came. I have no noticeable dimming and none have died yet either. Mine are on virtually everyday from about 5pm until midnight and longer on weekends. I don't expect them to last forever but the way they are installed it would be super simple to replace them and just take slightly longer than a screw in bulb to swap out. It appears I can still buy the same ones.

I have also purchased barrina led grow lights and in the late winter early spring we have those on 24/7 for several months, those only have 2 seasons but zero issues there either.

I had the same thought. Plug and play really.

jlv03 · 2026-06-16T14:19:05-0400

PapaBuilds said:
I spliced and extended the daisy chain wires to get more of a spread on them

Depending on how long you need, looks like you can get extension cables: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFQ1BS8P?tag=atomicindus08-20

Garage lighting upgrade- before and after

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