To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Workbench LED Light?

bulletpruf

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 28, 2013
Messages
11,306
Location
San Antonio
Lighting in my temporary garage is pretty damn lousy, but it's a rental, so I'm not going to do any wiring or light installation. What I'm looking for is a good light for my work bench.

This looks about right - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071ZFL133/?tag=atomicindus08-20 At $60, it's about 3x what I had expected to spend, but if it's as good as the reviews suggest, it's likely worth the $.

Anyone have any thoughts or recommendations?

Thanks
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

rsparks64

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 22, 2015
Messages
590
Location
Hill Country Texas
Those lights are okay, but you could hang a multi-tube led above the bench using an extension cord and only 2 screws or anchors in the ceiling above the bench. I have one of the 4 ft. 4 bulb led units from Home Depot and it lights up my bench quite well and also more area than one that clamps to the bench. I do have to use an extension cord, but it is not a problem. I also use three other two bulb four foot led light above my other bench, tool box, and work area and they work quite will.
 

CJ7VFR

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 13, 2015
Messages
2,942
Location
Central New Jersey
Those lights are okay, but you could hang a multi-tube led above the bench using an extension cord and only 2 screws or anchors in the ceiling above the bench..... I do have to use an extension cord, but it is not a problem. I also use three other two bulb four foot led light above my other bench, tool box, and work area and they work quite will.
This is how my garage, shed and basement workshop are lighted. I put two screws in the ceiling, about 4 feet apart, over whatever area I want to concentrate the light on and hang a 4 foot two tube LED shop light on chains on the screws. Then I use an extension cord to connect the shop light to a receptacle (if the shop lights electrical cord is not long enough to reach).

I like hanging the lights off of the screws because I can easily add screws in other locations if I need to move the lights around to where I need them if I want more light in different areas during a project build. And because they are on chains, I can raise or lower the lights as needed to have a wider light spread for general stuff, or get more concentrated light right were I need it.

Sometimes you put a light up where you think you're going to need it only to discover that it's not quite in the right spot. If you use the screws to hang the lights it's much easier to just add a few new screws where you need them to move the light than if you hard wire the lights into the ceiling. Then if you have to move a light a foot here or there because it's not quite in the correct spot it's a lot harder to do than hanging the lights off of the screws.

Since the OP is in a rented garage, using the screws to hang the lights off of also gives the ability to quickly remove the lights when you are no longer using the rented space.

Jim
 
OP
B

bulletpruf

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 28, 2013
Messages
11,306
Location
San Antonio
This is how my garage, shed and basement workshop are lighted. I put two screws in the ceiling, about 4 feet apart, over whatever area I want to concentrate the light on and hang a 4 foot two tube LED shop light on chains on the screws. Then I use an extension cord to connect the shop light to a receptacle (if the shop lights electrical cord is not long enough to reach).

I like hanging the lights off of the screws because I can easily add screws in other locations if I need to move the lights around to where I need them if I want more light in different areas during a project build. And because they are on chains, I can raise or lower the lights as needed to have a wider light spread for general stuff, or get more concentrated light right were I need it.

Sometimes you put a light up where you think you're going to need it only to discover that it's not quite in the right spot. If you use the screws to hang the lights it's much easier to just add a few new screws where you need them to move the light than if you hard wire the lights into the ceiling. Then if you have to move a light a foot here or there because it's not quite in the correct spot it's a lot harder to do than hanging the lights off of the screws.

Since the OP is in a rented garage, using the screws to hang the lights off of also gives the ability to quickly remove the lights when you are no longer using the rented space.

Jim
Jim - do you have a drywall ceiling? If so, do you just screw into the sheetrock?

Thanks,

Scott
 

CJ7VFR

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 13, 2015
Messages
2,942
Location
Central New Jersey
Jim - do you have a drywall ceiling? If so, do you just screw into the sheetrock?

Thanks,

Scott
I actually have both. The garage and shed ceilings are open to the joists, so I just add the screws where ever as it is easy to get to.

The basement has some drywall on the ceiling in spots, so I use a stud finder to find the joists and then add in the screws as needed. Once I had a few sets of screws in the basement ceiling it was a lot easier to judge where the joists were since they are all on 16 inch centers.

As a side note, I found some screws/hooks at Home Depot that have a loop formed onto one end so that I use on the drywalled part of the ceiling. The loop on the end of the screws/hooks accept the chains from the lights so that I can quickly and easily move the lights from one set to another as needed.

Some of the 4 foot long shop lights are a bit too heavy to hang on screws that are just in the sheetrock. If you do that, the lights will most probably just pull the screws right out. Try to hit joists to hang the lights. Either that, or use larger wall anchors that can hold heavy objects if you are just going into the sheetrock.

Jim
 

engineer2

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 13, 2009
Messages
11,861
Location
Chicago burbs
I put a shelf above my workbench and then installed a 48" undercabinet light under the shelf. Not prefect, but good enough, since you have to install it facing away from you to prevent glare. You could come up with a glare shield out of a strip of plastic or something.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

jives

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 4, 2013
Messages
2,828
Location
Central NY
I bought the cheapest 3500 Lu, 5000K LED flood lights with cord I could find on Amazon. A pack of 4 cost $50. Affixed one to an old 3 arm articulated desk lamp without the original head, attached high up on the wall, now have a moveable work light over my work table. Works great.

The other 3 lights I placed in switched outlets that are about 18 ft high up on my garage wall. They are temp until I can wire in real ceiling lights.
 

Bopbop

Well-known member
Joined
May 25, 2016
Messages
180
Location
Savannah,Ga
What kind of exiting lights do you have in the garage now? Strip tape or screw in bulbs? In the garage attached o the house I replaced the 4 screw in bulbs with 4 of the cheap 4 panel fold down LED light liked sold on TV. I got some 10,000 lumen ones from Amazon. I have had them about 2 years and the garage is really bright.
 

lilredex

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Messages
5,956
Location
Toronto
These would get my vote for a temporary set up and not so temporary too. Use a similar one over my lathe.

 
OP
B

bulletpruf

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 28, 2013
Messages
11,306
Location
San Antonio
What kind of exiting lights do you have in the garage now? Strip tape or screw in bulbs? In the garage attached o the house I replaced the 4 screw in bulbs with 4 of the cheap 4 panel fold down LED light liked sold on TV. I got some 10,000 lumen ones from Amazon. I have had them about 2 years and the garage is really bright.

I've got bulbs. I'll check out the 4 panel lights; those look like they will really help.
 
OP
B

bulletpruf

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 28, 2013
Messages
11,306
Location
San Antonio
These would get my vote for a temporary set up and not so temporary too. Use a similar one over my lathe.


Ok, I ordered a 4 pack of similar lights (more lumens) for $43.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom