SAMs club 4ft led lights

[Glacial_Speed]

Also I wonder how these compare to the HD Commercial Electric units for $4 more (I know some people got these at $25 awhile back by using east coast zip)
http://m.homedepot.com/p/Commercial...H=RV-_-rv_mobileweb_rr-2-_-NA-_-205331022-_-N

Looks like the pull chain? is in a different location on the HD vs Sam's

When I click on the link they come up at $39.98, I just can't get the deals you guys do

 

[Ign]

When I click on the link they come up at $39.98, I just can't get the deals you guys do

This was months ago. Basically you could "trick" the HD system by putting in a MA zip, then have it shipped to you anywhere. Many of us ordered, most of us saw our orders cancelled allegedly because of extended backorders. There's a thread in Hot Deals somewhere.....not that it would matter now.

I only brought it up 'cause I know many board members DID get the HD lights and thought someone might be able to compare to the Sam's units.

edit: that said, the ~$25 price may still be available for people physically in MA (I think it was MA - I dunno most of those east coast states blend together for me), something about local subsidies, so maybe just certain municipalities.

 

[Glacial_Speed]

I ended up ordering some from Costco, kind of surprised I don't have to be a member to buy some (just had to pay a 5% penalty for not being a Costco member).

I got the two pack for $50, which has $5 shipping. I got hit with State sales tax, but I didn't have to leave my desk or become a member of Costco.

The final total was about $31 each shipped to my door; didn't even have to move from my desk.

I was kind of wondering how Lights of America had significantly more lumens for their light......then I ran across "FTC sues Lights of America over deceptive claims for LED lamps", while that was in 2010 for some different LED lights it does make me wonder.

EDIT: The Judge finds guilt and fines Lights of America $21 Million in 2014.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/246355581.html

 

[bams50]

Interesting thread since I just bought one of these from Sam's a couple weeks ago and have been marveling over it. The output is amazing, and some say that they use as much as 90% less electricity than comparable florescents.

I have a two bay garage that was a gas station in the 30s, and all the fluorescent fixtures, eight of them, were dead. I took them down and tossed them. I bought one of these LEDs as a test figuring if they worked out I would by seven more. But this one is so much brighter I need to rethink the number of fixtures; I may be just fine with four LEDs.

So yes, another huge fan of LEDs here.

 

[cajunfirehawk]

Picked up a few of these for a test and wondering if anyone figured out how to hard mount these to the ceiling and direct wire them?? But not sure its possible since the back is solid other than just drilling holes thru the back for the screws and wires??

 

[jabin]

I bought two of the Sam's Club for my dad as task lights in his unheated garage, but after seeing the light output I went and bought two more for me.

 

[Daveco]

I bought one of the SAMs fixtures just to see for myself.
The switch broke on the second pull, but this thing is so bright that I don't even care!
Truly, shockingly bright!
My shop currently has 20 ancient 8ft HO flourecent fixtures. As the tubes burn out or ballasts die, I'm just going to replace each of the eight footers with two of these fixtures.

 

[Daveco]

Ref photos:

 

[Daveco]

The chassis is a surprisingly nice aluminum extrusion, the top is bare (unpainted)




The bottom side is white, the L.E.D. strips are in protective tubes.




The end caps are plastic.




The switch/cord end cap has a sleeve that extends into the extrusion to house the power supply.

 

[Daveco]

The end caps are two piece and snap together.




Power supply circuit board.




(opposite end) L.E.D. strips are in series.




It would be easy to miss this ground upon reassembly




It goes under one of the end cap screws.

 

[1320stang]

I put outlets in the ceiling of my garage for cheap shop lights and they're on a switched circuit. I need to go pick some of these up.

 

[knuckleduster271]

Can these be hard wired to the switch on my wall? I have 4 8 footers in my shop and would like to put 8 of these in their place

 

[vartz04]

Can these be hard wired to the switch on my wall? I have 4 8 footers in my shop and would like to put 8 of these in their place

Just put outlets where the power comes in to the 8 footers and then plug these into the outlets. They sell adapters for the octagon boxes in the ceiling that allow you to install a regular duplex outlet.


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[Ign]

So is the thicker area between the diode strips just air space? 'Cause if so I have zero problem drilling thru and hard-mounting (to steel in my case).

 

[Daveco]

Except for the first four inches at the switch/cord end, the center section is just an empty tube.

 

[davo727]

So who makes the best quality light please?

 

[Daveco]

Other than the crappy switch, I'd say these Sam's Club fixtures are hard to beat. Big question being how long they will last.

 

[James E]

I just bought four of these last night and installed two of them to compare to the T8 fixtures I had hanging in my shop. The LED's were $40 at Home Depot and I really like them. the light is brighter and distributed more evenly around the shop. The box says 3200 lumens.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-4-ft-White-LED-Linkable-Shop-Light-54103161/205331022

I also bought one of these fixtures for $55. The box says 4000 lumens. I'm going to hang it in the other bay in the shop and see if it's worth the extra $15. If not, I'll take it back and get more of the $40 fixtures.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-42-in-LED-Brushed-Nickel-Shop-Light-54264141/206028859

 

[bullnerd]

Maybe Im missing it, but to the guys that cant figure out how to hang these, isn't there two holes in each of the end caps for hanging?

 

[Strouty]

Other than the crappy switch, I'd say these Sam's Club fixtures are hard to beat. Big question being how long they will last.

They say 50,000 hours, be interested in knowing how they came up with that? Also I wonder how much of that time is reduced every time they are switched on and off?

I know LED brake lights in my trucks do much better than the incandescent bulbs, but they still have individual LED failures, looks like you would have to replace the entire fixture if they get too dull versus being able to replace a bulb.

As you can tell, I am not ready to switch to LED lights.

 

[Showkey]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^Yes..............there has been HUGE issues with the life and output claims in the past by many manufactures.

The T8 LED bulb where you see the individual LEDs is red flag as reported in several other posts.

 

[MScott]

Not sure about the longevity, but I just picked up a pair of Plug and Play LED replacement tubes at Costco to try as a replacement for the T8s (We don't have Sam's Club here.) I replaced two of the fluorescent tubes in one of the quad fixtures and the difference is phenomenal. Much brighter and, when you consider that the wattage is not much more than half that of the T8's (17 vs 32 - very important when you are off grid as I am) it is obvious that I will be replacing all of the tubes in my garage.
Also, the cost of 2 was $27 at Costco vs $18 each at HD.

 

[Showkey]

Link to a post where I documented the LED drop bulbs vs T8

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=302649&highlight=Costco+led

The T8 LED prices continue to drop, the bulbs I used are now $11 cheaper.

 

[Cougar]

How bad if at all do these interfere with FM reception.

 

[cajunfirehawk]

How bad if at all do these interfere with FM reception.

I put up two in my garage with the fm radio on all day Saturday and didn't hear any noise from them what so ever.

 

[Cougar]

I put up two in my garage with the fm radio on all day Saturday and didn't hear any noise from them what so ever.

Great.

Thanks!!!

Think I'll order a couple.

 

[J king]

well these things are gonna break me... bought 5 more today and just put them up... love these lights. my shop is lit like a ball park. I have more than I need but in a machine shop it needs to be bright.
I have 9 lights up in a 13x24 room.. need sunglasses. lol. no but it is very nice now. only 30 more to buy for the garage! yikes!

 

[cajunfirehawk]

Gents I love these sams club led lights and am about to pull the trigger on 10 or more for my shop BUT in doing some researching on the web I stumbled across these and what appeals to me about these IS: you can link up to 9 lights together with their coupling cables and with their supplied splices, take two 4ft fixture and tune it into one 8ft unit! These are about $5 more then the sam's club lights but I really may have to look into these http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-4-ft-White-LED-Linkable-Shop-Light-54103161/205331022

Any thoughts?

 

[TerryH]

Gents I love these sams club led lights and am about to pull the trigger on 10 or more for my shop BUT in doing some researching on the web I stumbled across these and what appeals to me about these IS: you can link up to 9 lights together with their coupling cables and with their supplied splices, take two 4ft fixture and tune it into one 8ft unit! These are about $5 more then the sam's club lights but I really may have to look into these http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-4-ft-White-LED-Linkable-Shop-Light-54103161/205331022

Any thoughts?

The HD lights are rated at 3200 lumens. Sam's are 4500.

 

[cajunfirehawk]

The HD lights are rated at 3200 lumens. Sam's are 4500.

I understand BUT if you snoop around the internet you will discover the company (Lights or America) that makes these lights had a legal issue over "advertised lumens" in the past, keep in mine I already own 4 of these so I know how bright these are.
See this ---> https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/pre...light-companys-deceptive-claims-its-led-bulbs

I plan to buy one other HD units and do my own comparison.

 

[G8rDuc]

Gents I love these sams club led lights and am about to pull the trigger on 10 or more for my shop BUT in doing some researching on the web I stumbled across these and what appeals to me about these IS: you can link up to 9 lights together with their coupling cables and with their supplied splices, take two 4ft fixture and tune it into one 8ft unit! These are about $5 more then the sam's club lights but I really may have to look into these http://www.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-4-ft-White-LED-Linkable-Shop-Light-54103161/205331022

Any thoughts?

I'll let you know. I just ordered 10 of them for my new garage along with the linking cables

 

[cajunfirehawk]

I'll let you know. I just ordered 10 of them for my new garage along with the linking cables

Yeah the linking cables really make sense for me, they would be less outlet boxes I would have to add on my runs for lights in the ceiling

Not that I don't love the sam's lights, cause I do so far.

 

[husky_jerk]

Has anyone noticed the light omitted from the SAMs club lights has a yellow tinge to it.?


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[Showkey]

The SAMS by me no longer has Lights of America........they now have boxes marked Honeywell.

NOT a buyer at this time. They still are the bulbs where you can see the individual LED in the tubes.

 

[J king]

Has anyone noticed the light omitted from the SAMs club lights has a yellow tinge to it.?


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i am flooding my shop with these lights.not yellow at all. more of a blue white

 

[kingchevy]

I understand BUT if you snoop around the internet you will discover the company (Lights or America) that makes these lights had a legal issue over "advertised lumens" in the past, keep in mine I already own 4 of these so I know how bright these are.
See this ---> https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/pre...light-companys-deceptive-claims-its-led-bulbs

I plan to buy one other HD units and do my own comparison.

That is some interesting info on the LoA lumens ratings. I just bought 10 of the Sams Club lights but I'm returning them in favor of the linkable Home Depot lights.

 

[mtbmitch]

I have converted several of my 4 fters to led. One can pick up the led bulbs on ebay for about 8-10 $ a piece. Takes about 10 minutes to rewire the old fixture. I prefer a mixture of 5k and 6k bulbs for my older eyes.

 

[jives]

Not a thread hijack, but what happens to the downstream lights if one of the linked LED fixtures goes out? Does it shut down all the remaining LEDs, like on a strand of Christmas tree lights?

 

[zendriver]

Not sure about the longevity, but I just picked up a pair of Plug and Play LED replacement tubes at Costco to try as a replacement for the T8s (We don't have Sam's Club here.) I replaced two of the fluorescent tubes in one of the quad fixtures and the difference is phenomenal. Much brighter and, when you consider that the wattage is not much more than half that of the T8's (17 vs 32 - very important when you are off grid as I am) it is obvious that I will be replacing all of the tubes in my garage.
Also, the cost of 2 was $27 at Costco vs $18 each at HD.

Since watts count for you and if you feel inclined, to dig onto the lights, you might check your documentation to see, if those tubes can be wired directly.

I purchased some similar from Sam's club, that were PAP compatible with "some" electronic ballasts, but my fixtures were all old and luckily these tubes could (and was suggested to be) wired directly. I just cut out and removed the ballasts and wired all tombstones on one end to hot, the one's on the other end to neutral.

You'll save the watts the ballast use (18-30w), since they no longer do anything, but use electricity and create heat.

 

[cybrdyke]

You'll save the watts the ballast use (18-30w),

Whoa.
That's not right.

With a ballast in place, 2 F32T8's use 59 watts.

With LED tubes installed on the same ballast, you would add the wattage of the tube plus approximately 2 watts per tube for ballast losses.
CD