The Best Light Fixture Ever!

[going4speed]

Installed 6 fixtures and still have six to go. I am fully impressed with the setup in the first post. This is with no drywall yet and the change is beyond dramatic. The 4k bulbs are great too. Thanks so much Platonic.

 

[LB62]

I installed 14 fixtures over the weekend in my 22 X 32 garage. Platonic thank you for the info on the best light fixture every.
I used the ;

MaxLite LSS2XT8USE4803 - 2-Lamp T8 LED Ready Linear Utility Strip - Lamps not included – 75303

212 Lumens 4ft DLC LED T8 Tube - 18 Watts - Daylight 5000K - James T818W1200BIXXDF50F1

 

[builthatch]

I installed 14 fixtures over the weekend in my 22 X 32 garage. Platonic thank you for the info on the best light fixture every.
I used the ;

MaxLite LSS2XT8USE4803 - 2-Lamp T8 LED Ready Linear Utility Strip - Lamps not included – 75303

212 Lumens 4ft DLC LED T8 Tube - 18 Watts - Daylight 5000K - James T818W1200BIXXDF50F1

any pics?

been lurking for a while and finally joined to post.

i am stuck between the 4000k and 5000k James (now called "Diva Lite" on the Bees website). i did the appropriate math to make use of the Kruithof Curve and the math dictates that both will be in the same basic range of "pleasing white". i have a solid understanding of color temperature as i work for a global lighting manufacturer in the automotive aftermarket but i find too much variation between some Asian manufacturers when it comes to color temperatures.

i may just order one of each and see which looks better before i place the full order. i am doing 24 bulbs overall in my layout.

 

[joeyhsauce]

anyone tried these?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N37HZRS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[LB62]

any pics?

been lurking for a while and finally joined to post.

i am stuck between the 4000k and 5000k James (now called "Diva Lite" on the Bees website). i did the appropriate math to make use of the Kruithof Curve and the math dictates that both will be in the same basic range of "pleasing white". i have a solid understanding of color temperature as i work for a global lighting manufacturer in the automotive aftermarket but i find too much variation between some Asian manufacturers when it comes to color temperatures.

i may just order one of each and see which looks better before i place the full order. i am doing 24 bulbs overall in my layout.

I used the 5K due to my dark walls.

 

[39 Chev]

Am I reading this wrong, or has the lamp holders gone up to $15.96 each? When I click on the link in the first post, that's what it shows. Are these still the best option?

Thanks...

 

[nsula_country]

Check out ShineRetrofits.com These people are good to work with. I just ordered a mess of lights from them.

Lampholders. Start out at $0.59

$15 bucks for lamp holders is insane!

CT

 

[builthatch]

he meant fixture, not lamp holder.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Here's a 2 lamp LED ready strip light (linked) from Bee's lighting @ $14.97.
Regardless the distributor, if you're buying 10 or more you should negotiate a lower price and/or reduced shipping.

 

[nsula_country]

Here's a 2 lamp LED ready strip light (linked) from Bee's lighting @ $14.97.
Regardless the distributor, if you're buying 10 or more you should negotiate a lower price and/or reduced shipping.

For the record, I am a forum member... Not a troll or affiliated with lighting companies... But ShineRetrofit had free shipping on fixtures March and April. They may continue to do so. Also, I spoke to an inside sales rep and she did give a price break for quantity order, along with free UPS Ground...

I just ordered today 24, specular, 4' highbay T8 (1.18 BF), 4 bulb fixtures @ $75; 12, 8' tandem fixtures (BF 1.18) @ $43; and 150, 3200 lumen, 5k lamps @ 2.33. All shipped FREE! Also bought some emergency backup lights and exit signs... Why not? Power goes out, I don't want to trip and fall!

I haven't got on the LED waggon yet. Also cost was an issue. But I can always retrofit when I need to re-lamp in the future.

CT

 

[39 Chev]

he meant fixture, not lamp holder.

Yes, I meant fixture, not lamp holder...

Please excuse my ignorance when it comes to this stuff

 

[nsula_country]

No prob 39 Chev.

Some people still call it a fluorescent bulb or tube. Technically its a lamp. And a fixture does "hold" the lamps!

CT

 

[yuronggj]

Hi Platonic Solid,

First time poster, been following this site for about eight months. Thanks for the massive amount of information and to those who contribute.

Please give me advise for lighting in my small Toronto Garage.

It is 12 X 20, with a 13' peak vaulted ceiling with an 8/12 pitch, with four 4"X6" cross beams 8' feet high. It will be dry-walled and painted white.

It has three skylights facing north approximately 48" X 24". A glass double door and a 48" wide by 40 " high window, both facing north.

The garage will be used as a small art studio.

I would like the lighting on two circuits. One circuit with down lighting and one with indirect lighting that bounces of the vaulted ceiling (ideally no direct line of site to the light source).

My preference is definitely for LED lighting, I have it throughout my house and am very satisfied with the light it provides. I would like both circuits to be dim-able. I need advise on how to accomplish this also.

I have seached and scoured over about a third of your thread.

Any assistance and advice you can provide will be much appreciated.

Regards,

Yurong

 

[ATM]

*********************************************
Best bang for the buck LED bypass 4ft 2-lamp strip light known as of 11/23/2015:

Price for 10 2-lamp 4ft LED bypass fixtures:

18W James LED $11.99 x 20 = $240 + Free Shipping
(Be sure to get frosted lens)

MaxLite LED Ready Strip Hsg $12.50 x 10 = $125.00 + $20 shipping

Total = $385 / 10 = $38.50 per complete fixture (all tax and shipping included),
4500 lumens, 36W, 125 Lumens per Watt
*********************************************

If I order the above, that is the light fixture, and lamps. I will only need to wire it up correct?. I don't need to get anything additional?

 

[Platonic Solid]

Correct ATM. You might want to get this housing instead: 2 lamp LED ready strip light (linked) from Bee's lighting @ $14.97, since it's a little cheaper and from the same supplier as the lamps.

 

[revamped]

Purchased 6 fixtures from Bees Lighting and I'm very happy with the quality of the housing and the lamps. Cost was $37.76 per fixture with lamps.

I ordered fixture MaxLite LSS2XT8USE4803 but they were out of stock.
Bees Lighting called me and suggested CTL fixture. Good solid fixture with multiple knockouts.
http://www.beeslighting.com/product-p/st48232-led.htm


Lamps are James T818W1200BIXXDF50F1 18W - 2212 Lumens - 4ft DLC LED T8 Tube - 5000K -
http://www.beeslighting.com/product-p/t818w1200bixxdf50f1.htm

Thanks Platonic Solid for this thread.

Thanks for everyone's perspective and experience on this thread. I am breaking ground and this thread has given me so much info, my head is spinning. I have 16ft ceilings except plan to use canned lighting in my loft and bathroom and bar that have 8ft ceilings. The work areas are for welding/cars/lift etc and I believe I should be using the products IndyJim has listed but am having a hard time understanding how to lay them out and how many... or if I am even using the right stuff!

I have watched this thread grow from T8 to modifying fixtures for LED to now not having to modify anything and its pretty confusing for the do-it-yourselfer, but damn it, I'm going to learn this stuff!

I am sure I am making this harder than it has to be; my budget is tightening quickly and I am on the hook for all lighting and electrical cash out of pocket so any advice to save money while keeping bright would be appreciated. Canned lighted areas will have soft colors bottoms of walls brown. Open Bay shop areas white walls and ceilings. Loft is a rec-room area for playing.

Thanks for any additional advice you can give

 

[39 Chev]

F.Y.I., I just ordered 15 fixtures and 30 lamps from Bees Lighting. Called direct and asked for a discount. The only thing they could do is to apply a May coupon for $10 off whole order (shipping was already free).

Thanks to the experts on here for this thread. I probably would not have considered LED until I read this thread...

Brad

 

[Platonic Solid]

As with all the distributors I've linked to thus far, I have no personal experience or affiliation with any of them. With that in mind, here's a contractorscommercial.com link that shows the following:
2160 lm 18W lamp available at $7.02
2460 lm 20W lamp available at $7.25

 

[Joe Cool]

As with all the distributors I've linked to thus far, I have no personal experience or affiliation with any of them. With that in mind, here's a contractorscommercial.com link that shows the following:
2160 lm 18W lamp available at $7.02
2460 lm 20W lamp available at $7.25

They also list the MaxLite fixture at $14.96 plus free shipping.

 

[nsula_country]

$7.25 ea for 20W lamps is a game changer!

I just ordered 150 T8's. But, I see down the road when relamping is required, LED may be viable option!

I just was not ready to drop $1100 bucks on LED lamps that have not 100% convinced me that they are better than a T8. I know a T8 can and will exceed 20k hours. I don't think any of us have owned a LED lamp 50k hours to prove they will last and all diodes are still working.

Keep the pics coming!

CT

 

[nsula_country]

revamped, that is a nice garage layout!

Have you broke ground on it or in the finishing stages.

CT

 

[builthatch]

any pics?

been lurking for a while and finally joined to post.

i am stuck between the 4000k and 5000k James (now called "Diva Lite" on the Bees website). i did the appropriate math to make use of the Kruithof Curve and the math dictates that both will be in the same basic range of "pleasing white". i have a solid understanding of color temperature as i work for a global lighting manufacturer in the automotive aftermarket but i find too much variation between some Asian manufacturers when it comes to color temperatures.

i may just order one of each and see which looks better before i place the full order. i am doing 24 bulbs overall in my layout.

quoted because i have put myself in a situation where i didn't order enough fixtures and have to order bulbs anyway, so i had to figure out a way to see which of the two test bulbs that i ordered were actually what i wanted to go with so i could get the job done in one shot. i realized these work with fixtures that have electronic ballasts, no bypass needed. i ran over to my other house, which has a bunch end to end twin t8 fixtures, all running 32w 5000k alto bulbs. i removed two of those bulbs and put the 4000k and 5000k James/Diva bulbs in. i flipped the switch.

first of all, the 5000k is definitely 5000k, which one expects to be about as white as possible before detectable blue. the 4000k looks slightly yellow compared to it, which is to be expected. but, the point is, i was worried about the color temperature being inaccurate and it's not. second - even after the altos warmed up, the LED bulbs, both of them, were MUCH brighter than the fluorescents. no question. i was shocked, actually.

i am thoroughly impressed and can't wait to have these all fired up!

 

[Skelly]

quoted because i have put myself in a situation where i didn't order enough fixtures and have to order bulbs anyway, so i had to figure out a way to see which of the two test bulbs that i ordered were actually what i wanted to go with so i could get the job done in one shot. i realized these work with fixtures that have electronic ballasts, no bypass needed. i ran over to my other house, which has a bunch end to end twin t8 fixtures, all running 32w 5000k alto bulbs. i removed two of those bulbs and put the 4000k and 5000k James/Diva bulbs in. i flipped the switch.

first of all, the 5000k is definitely 5000k, which one expects to be about as white as possible before detectable blue. the 4000k looks slightly yellow compared to it, which is to be expected. but, the point is, i was worried about the color temperature being inaccurate and it's not. second - even after the altos warmed up, the LED bulbs, both of them, were MUCH brighter than the fluorescents. no question. i was shocked, actually.

i am thoroughly impressed and can't wait to have these all fired up!

You on HT bro?

 

[Platonic Solid]

Updated Best Bang for Buck LED in post #1 (linked)

 

[builthatch]

ordered a bunch more dual lamp fixtures and a bunch more Diva bulbs from bees. i was looking at the pics of the cheaper fixtures and i stuck with the Maxlite. I like how there are minimal random holes (not knockouts, just open holes) in the Maxlite and the overall quality seems very high for something so cheap. i dunno.

used the "MAYPROMO" coupon to help a hair but cotdamn it was expensive for all those bulbs. sheesh. i hope you will all be able to see my garage from your location when i'm done and garage doors are open, though.

OP thanks for making this thread. it helped immensely.

You on HT bro?

no but i have heard of Solbrothers

 

[Joe Cool]

I placed my order for my Maxlite fixture/James tubes from ContractorsCommerical yesterday. Fixture and tubes went up by a $1.00 each and the shipping charge sucked but it was still considerably less than any option I could find locally.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that the stuff shows up correctly. Will keep you posted.

 

[brem]

Are these MaxLite fixtures the type where you just push the wire out through a hole in the ceiling and connect the wire with the wire nuts right in the fixture itself? e.g. no ceiling electrical box?

 

[hazexban]

As stated above I will wire this up just like regular light fixture? The housings in this thread don't contain a ballast correct? I was getting confused with all the ballast talk.

I will be ordering 16 of these:

http://www.beeslighting.com/product-p/t818w1200bixxdf40f1.htm

and 8 of these:

http://www.beeslighting.com/product-p/st48232-led.htm?CartID=2

This is for a single car garage, that's about 12 x 22. Is that too much light? Just enough? When I use the visual 3D tool it says I only need 3 housings...

My garage is weird in that the front half is like 8 feet ceiling height and the back is like 12 feet. I would like this to be very well lit.

Also can these be mounted directly to the sheet-rock or do I need to put in spacers, I am confused by that too.

Here is a picture of my disaster of a garage. You can see a 4 foot light fixture hanging for reference...

This whole thing is getting redone, ceiling taken down, new electrical run, studs being put up with insulation, sheet-rock, and racedeck.
Thanks!

 

[MJockey]

Looks like ContractorsCommerical has switch to free shipping but has raised the price to $9.06 a bulb.

Has anyone tried the Maxlite 6 bulb fixture BLHT6XT8USE4815? Still looking for a way to reduce the number of fixtures that will need to be installed.

 

[hazexban]

I placed an order, reread the description and you can mount it directly to the ceiling. Thanks so much for this post!

 

[nsula_country]

Looks like ContractorsCommerical has switch to free shipping but has raised the price to $9.06 a bulb.

Has anyone tried the Maxlite 6 bulb fixture BLHT6XT8USE4815? Still looking for a way to reduce the number of fixtures that will need to be installed.

I would like to see a picture of this installed with 6 x 22w LED's!

CT

 

[MJockey]

I would like to see a picture of this installed with 6 x 22w LED's!

CT

Me too. I hate to be the guinea pig here but I'm seriously considering the Maxlite 6 bulb fixture with 6 20w - 22W LED lamps.

So before I spend $1K on LED T8s, are the GJ members using the James Industry T8 LED's still happy with them?

 

[Mkamin100]

Hey Guy's, long time lurker, first time post. I've followed this for some time knowing I would eventually get my building built and it finally happened early this year. Now I need to light it, I plan to use the LED fixtures recommended by Platonic Solid updated on 5/7. The interior of the building is insulated with a white backing so all the walls and ceiling are white. I have tried but have a hard time understanding some of the lighting tools available. I want this to be well lit, the two front bays may be used to work on cars so I want to have light around them if I do. I've attached sketches of what I think might work, I would prefer to attach the lights directly to the purlins, regardless they will be mounted at the ceiling, not hanging down.
I'm hoping Platonic Solid or someone else with experience on lighting layout will comment on this layout. Just to be clear the carport is roof only, no walls.
I'm just outside of Houston, TX so it is humid here, any thoughts on if the LED fixtures I want to use will do well in the carport or will I need to use something specifically for damp locations? Thanks for the help guys!

 

[nsula_country]

mkamin100,

Nice set up there! I like!

Your layout looks good. I'm using the same spacing you are for my fixtures in a 40x60x17. They will be screwed directly to the purlins. I used Visual Interior tool to calculate FC.

Concerns about humidity is valid, but you do not need vaportite fixtures for the carport. I'm in Northwest Louisiana, basically the same climate as Houston. High humidity, but non-condensing. They are nice, and keep the lamps clean, but not necessary. An open fixture will be fine under the carport where it is sheltered from rain and MUCH CHEAPER.

Noticed the kegerator, nice! I have one too. Went to an Astro's/Red Sox game about a month ago. Astro's got a Grand Slam in that game!

CT

 

[cory58]

I apologize if this has already been covered, but I've read through most of this thread and haven't found the answer. What is the approximate amperage I should use for the 4 ft LED lights recommended in the first post, when planning the electrical circuit for the lights?

I see that the 2 options are 36w and 40w, but I don't know what power factor to use for an amperage calculation.

Thanks!

Cory

 

[Mkamin100]

mkamin100,

Nice set up there! I like!

Your layout looks good. I'm using the same spacing you are for my fixtures in a 40x60x17. They will be screwed directly to the purlins. I used Visual Interior tool to calculate FC.

Concerns about humidity is valid, but you do not need vaportite fixtures for the carport. I'm in Northwest Louisiana, basically the same climate as Houston. High humidity, but non-condensing. They are nice, and keep the lamps clean, but not necessary. An open fixture will be fine under the carport where it is sheltered from rain and MUCH CHEAPER.

Noticed the kegerator, nice! I have one too. Went to an Astro's/Red Sox game about a month ago. Astro's got a Grand Slam in that game!

CT

Thanks for the feedback! Maybe I'm not too far off the mark. I tried to use that tool but couldn't figure out what to use for "fc" or power density....
Any suggestion on how far away from the wall I should start my first fixture?

 

[nsula_country]

Thanks for the feedback! Maybe I'm not too far off the mark. I tried to use that tool but couldn't figure out what to use for "fc" or power density....
Any suggestion on how far away from the wall I should start my first fixture?

Since our buildings are the same sq/ft, (2400 @ 40x60) but different heights... Your's appears 12' Eve, mine 17' Eve. This "may" affect spread.

I am using 4x4' high bay fixtures, Which may be interesting surface mounted to a 3/12 pitched purlin... Your's will be open strips, but with a LED, which doesn't emmit photons 360*. With this being said... ... My suggestion, 5' off wall (1st purlin).

My purlins are 5' center. I'm using 1st purlins, skip, next to ridge purlins... Like your print.

CT

 

[ghlkal]

For less than 30 LED bulbs (last update 5/7/2016):

Price for 10 2-lamp 4ft LED bypass fixtures:

18W James/Diva Lite LED $10.88 x 20 = $218 + Free Shipping
(Be sure to get frosted lens)

Thanks for taking the time to do this originally, and for keeping it updated

 

[revamped]

revamped, that is a nice garage layout!

Have you broke ground on it or in the finishing stages.

CT

Thanks! I am really excited about it. Been a 2 year planning cycle, drew up the plans with my cousin and we had about 6 re-designs to get all I want in a decent budget. I am really at the extreme end of my budget on this one but have a feeling that I am going to do it right the first time and enjoy it into retirement. The builder breaks ground first of june on the excavation and hope to be dried out shell in 2 months. slab is going in last and I have to take on the electrical to save money.

Hoping GJ mentorship will lead the way since I really don't know what the hell I am doing! Lol

 

[going4speed]

anyone know the name of the clip that holds the plate to the bottom of the fixture?

Lost one